


Can't Seem to Let You Go

by Piper_Ronnie



Category: League of Legends RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternative Perspective, Angst, Bratting, Caps POV, Caps wants to be an ADC now, Condom-Gate 2020, Consent Play, Denial of Feelings, Double Trouble™, F/M, FNATORTS OTP, Feels, Fluff, Gossip, Hmmm...Mett!, Hylimom and Bwipodad are basically married but dont admit it, Idiots in Love, Life Coaching (with the best), Light BDSM, Love Confessions, M/M, Martin is an idiot, Mikyx is a hardcore sub, Most gamers just have these tragic virgin vibes..., Multi, Nemesis POV, Nemesis doesn't know what friendship is, Partially unsafe sex, Pining, Players log onto the "DreamServer" when they sleep, Plot Twists, Power Play, Quickies, Rekkles POV, Rekkles is a sad boi, Selfmade is a Rekkles fanboi but also wants to get inside Nemesis' pants, Slow Build, Smut, Tag-Team-Teasing, The whole Fnatic squad shares one braincell, They call him SexPeke, Waiting for the Revelation™, a LOT of references, alcohol consumption 'cause drama, and "versatile", another supernatural twist, awkward fapping, eventual mostly happy ending?, real life elements (Spring Split results), when it comes to hairstyles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:55:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 60
Words: 400,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22352188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piper_Ronnie/pseuds/Piper_Ronnie
Summary: When the news of a surprising Roster change sweep the LEC after Worlds 2019, the lifes of three certain professional players, as well as the rest of their teammates, will never be the same again.This is a story about the glorious off-stage-adventures of Fnatic and G2 (players, associates and crew). There's drama, angst, love, friendship, rivalry, fluff, smut - and lots of stupid fun.Are you ready for a show? Then 'ayaya' ("Angst yet Arousal yet Alienation" - it's way nicer to use than CSTLYG, let me tell you) might be just what you've been looking for ;)(If you'd like to exchange thoughts about this fic or others in an easier way, our Discord server, The DreamServer™, might be the perfect place for you! Even though we predominantly talk about this particular fic, it's a space for the whole LoL RPF to hang out ;) If you'd like to join, swing by the newest chapter and check the description!)(This fic is actually finished now, can you believe it? No more fear of abandoning it randomly halfway through :'))
Relationships: Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez/Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen, Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martinez/Lauri "Cyanide" Happonen, Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martinez/Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen/Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer, Luka "PerkZ" Perković/Other(s), Martin "Rekkles" Larsson/Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson/Rasmus "Caps" Winther, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson/Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek, Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle/Luka "PerkZ" Perković, Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle/Luka "PerkZ" Perković/Original Character(s), Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle/Rasmus "Caps" Winther, Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek/Rasmus "Caps" Winther, Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek/Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek, Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov/Gabriël "Bwipo" Rauh
Comments: 593
Kudos: 312





	1. Part 1: Martin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my girlfriend](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+girlfriend).



> Each chapter features different perpectives, sometimes on the same events (hence the names of the chapters). 
> 
> I've already written quite a bit & plan to post on a regular basis.  
> I'd be very excited about Kudos! And, of course, feel free to ask questions or leave any other comments below - I'll try to reply as fast as possible! :)  
> 
> 
> Sidenotes:
> 
> \- If you enjoy the fic and/or are a huge Fnatic/G2 fan, you might also enjoy my girlfriend's and my Fnatic/G2 meme account on instagram: fnatic_memes; some of the characterizations/pairings of this fic make an appearance in the memes too!

It was one of these nights again. Even though Martin had a meticulous sleep schedule in order to keep up with going to the gym and training with his teammates, during nights like these, he could never seem to fall asleep. Yes, tonight, his brain just wouldn’t seem to shut up.

There was no particular reason for it – at least, none that he could think of. But, as his thoughts kept wandering aimlessly, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some pattern behind this. And while his gaze remained on one of his trophies won in the past - which was particularly visible due to a ray of moonlight hitting it just right – he remembered. He had, indeed, had a night like this just roughly a year ago.

Now that he thought about it, he felt all of these emotions coming back up – for a moment, it was almost as if his chest had tightened up to a point where he could barely breathe. It was not like this was the only time he had been restless during his designated sleeping time; but the day that came after that fated night scarred him. It was the day that _he_ had left him.

“…left you? You do realize that he left _our team_ …? You are such a weirdo, I swear!”, Gabriël said with a big goofy smile whilst casually playing with his OnePlus phone.

Him and Martin were sprawled out on the big couch in Fnatic’s gaming apartment in Berlin in between scrims. During breaks like these, the players would ever so often seek the chance to talk to one another about things _besides_ League of Legends. In this case, Gabriël had initiated the conversation because he noticed Martin looking even _more_ solemn than usual – and a simple “what’s up with you, dude?” was enough to cause the serious Swede to open up about his feelings about Caps leaving.

It had only been a couple of days at this point. Maybe that was the reason why Martin took Gabriël’s remark to heart and got up without saying another word – _but, in the end, he couldn’t have known it any better, right?_ Martin thought _._ After all, he hadn’t known the truth back then. The twists, the turns, the love, the heartbreak – it all came back to Martin now, at 3 in the morning, while he was lying in bed in his one-bedroom apartment.

Why did he have to remember it now, of all times? There was a big day coming up, and, even though his hopes of getting to the gym at 7 am were slowly fading, he was still convinced to try to get as much rest as possible.

As he stared at the ceiling of his room, desperately thinking of a way to send himself off to dreamland, his hand started to slip into his pants ever so slowly. Martin made his way into his boxers and carefully wrapped his hand around his cock. He closed his eyes and started to move his hand a little while trying to think about something arousing. It was the oldest trick in the book, but he couldn’t seem to make it work today.

Maybe it was because the most arousing thing he could think of was still _him_. Or maybe because it had only been a couple of hours since he had last found the sweet relief he was searching for right now – _even though I was not alone then_ , he thought. Slightly ashamed, he sighed and retrieved his hand from his boxers, admitting defeat. He covered his eyes with both of his hands and took a deep breath before he turned to his side, facing the wall this time. Maybe if he just looked away – if he just turned his back on these memories right now – maybe then, he could finally fall asleep.

Despite his best efforts, Martin had barely spent more than a minute sleeping that night. The next morning was, therefore, no less than hell for him. With deep circles under his eyes, a portable coffee mug in hand, and a grumpy expression on his face, he arrived at the building where Fnatic’s gaming apartment was located around 10. He tried to fix his hair while staring at his reflexion in the glass window of the front door for a second until he finally reached for the doorbell. He had, of course, forgotten to take his key due to his morning rush.

He was prepared to deliver a snarky comment instead of the normal “good morning”, but as the door swung back to allow him to enter, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He couldn’t bring out a single word as he stared at the stranger in front of him. Nothing particularly stood out about the guy; average height, light brown hair, no distinct facial features…No, the thing that took Martin off-guard was the fact that the door of the office he went to every single morning was suddenly opened by a completely unfamiliar face!

_Well_ – now that he thought about it for a second, maybe he didn’t seem _completely_ unfamiliar… but where had he seen him before? The silence had been way too long at this point, so Martin decided to speak up.

“Good morning, how can I help you?”

_Oh god_ , Martin thought, the extreme lack of sleep had really turned him into the most awkward version of himself. The stranger raised one eyebrow in confusion before replying:

“…What do you mean? Eh, you must be pretty tired, dude. Good morning to you too. I’m Oskar by the way – I guess we never really officially met”

The guy who had now identified himself as Oskar reached out to shake Martin’s hand. As he slowly met the request and squeezed Oskar’s hand loosely, the wheels in Martin’s head kept turning. Oskar…Oskar…ah! _Of course_ , he thought, _that must be him_. Fnatic’s new jungler, otherwise known as “Selfmade”.

Martin cracked a half-smile as he nodded in agreement. Yes, he was pretty tired. Yes, he now remembered that this was the reason he had urged to get enough sleep the night before in the first place – the first official meeting of Fnatic’s new roaster. Both of the guys clumsily made their way into the apartment without speaking another word. Martin thought he was early, but, to his surprise, the whole team was already there, sitting at the big dining table, which doubled as a place were “official” meetings would be held every now and then.

Gabriël and Zdravets were sitting next to each other, giggling about something – same old. Martin’s eyes met with Alfonso’s, better known as the former support player “Mithy”. He greeted him with a big smile, and, Martin had to admit that the button up shirt suited him quite well, just as well as his new position as Fnatic’s head coach. As Martin sat down next to his newly acquainted jungler Oskar, he was more than happy to look across the table to see a particularly familiar face.

Tim was not looking back at him – as usual, he was captivated by his OnePlus phone and barely paid attention to his surroundings. Seeing him was still enough to make Martin feel a sense of security and calmness for just a second - just in time for the meeting to start. Alfonso nervously stood up and began to speak,

“Think we’re all set! Might as well get started now. Good morning guys, thanks for coming in or, uhm, well, getting up early to do this. Means a lot. As you can imagine, we have a lot of work to do before the Spring Split 2020 takes off. I’ve already talked to each of you individually, but this is the first time that we have come together as a team – which reminds me: welcome to the team Oskar! I hope you can settle in without any problems. As I can tell so far, Tim will probably be a great help with getting you used to everything around here.”

As Tim heard his name, he looked up for a brief moment to nod in agreement. Martin was surprised – those two know each other from somewhere? How? Why didn’t he know? He was puzzled. Then again, his mind was not working at its normal capacity this morning, so he decided to dismiss these questions for now. He still had this weird feeling in his gut – as if something bad was about to happen at any moment. Finding out whether Tim and Oskar shared some kind of history was, therefore, not exactly his top priority right now. On the other side of the table, Oskar chuckled and gave Tim a big smile before turning to Alfonso:

“Happy to be here! Tim already showed me around a bit since I was uhm, a bit early you could say. I think things will be smooth sailing from here on out.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Alfonso replied promptly with beaming eyes, “and, to be frank, it is what the team needs to hear too. Our competition has not been sleeping, like always…”

_Same_ , Martin thought as he watched Alfonso roaming through some loose papers which he had sprawled out on the table. As he finally found what he was looking for, Alfonso cleared his throat.

“As you know, our fiercest rivals, G2 esports, will not simply stop pursuing the top spot of the pack just because they have experienced a great loss at the World’s finals. If anything, this will only make them hungrier – I’m sure at least three of you will agree with me on this matter. And they won’t stop surprising us either…as you recall, last year, the roleswap of Caps and Perkz took us all off guard”

_Caps_. Martin felt himself breathing in with a suddenly increased intensity, as if hearing his name had startled him somehow. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to pull away from the thoughts which had already haunted him all night long. In fact, he closed his eyes just long enough to miss Tim’s concerned gaze from across the table. When he looked back up to face Alfonso, he saw him holding up a collection of tweets and headlines, printed out on a piece of paper. He tried to make out what they were saying, but Alfonso couldn’t seem to stop waving the paper around as he explained:

_“_ Well, they are doing it again. It’s all over the internet. Martin, Zdravets – next split, you will be facing Caps on the botlane.”

_Ah - so this is why_ , Martin thought to himself while clutching his knees with both of his hands. Alfonso continued to explain what they needed to focus on moving forward, but Martin didn’t listen. He couldn’t listen. Not after this. It was the answer to the question he had been asking himself since the first few cursed hours of the day when he couldn’t fall asleep: _why now?_ Superstition had never been a part of the Swede’s nature, but it was impossible to ignore the obvious at this point.

Just like one year ago, his life was about to change. And he couldn’t help but feel panicked because of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think about Rekkles' perspective?
> 
> I'd be excited to hear your thoughts!


	2. Part 1: Rasmus

The loud noise of his favourite mug shattering to a million pieces was barely enough to shake Rasmus out of his morning gloom. He didn’t even flinch – he simply looked down to inspect the damage. He would like to think that, during a different time of his life, he would have been devasted – hell, he even would have tried to get hot glue and fix it right away. It had been a gift from a person once so prominent and so desperately important to him.

But today, he felt close to nothing at all. In these last few weeks, that was all he seemed to be able to feel. _That’s so unlike you_ , people would tell him. His mom had already urged him to talk to at least one of his teammates about it – she said he was supposedly “depressed”. Rasmus didn’t really see that, as he had had phases like this after major losses before. He would bounce back to his regular self in no time. _Yes_ – of that, he was convinced. As Rasmus leaned down to pick up the pieces of his lost treasure, Jankos poked his head into the kitchen:

“Hey man, I heard some weird noise and I thought I would – oh dude, your mug!”

Rasmus looked up to meet the concerned gaze of his jungler as he mumbled, “It’s nothing Mar-…Marcin.”

 _Of course_ , Rasmus thought. Of course all of these memories had to come up now. The midlaner flinched and looked down, avoiding eye contact with his jungler. Until a short while ago, he would have been confident enough to say that he had left it all behind. He was able to call Jankos Marcin without a thought, and he even started to call Wunder by his first name about six months ago. But right now, the thought of saying his name out loud made him feel like throwing up. Martin.

What exactly was it that he was feeling right now? Confusion? _Yes_ , he felt kind of dizzy. Anger? _Yes_ , somehow, it felt as if his vision had been tinted into a red hue – or was that…

“Dude – you’re bleeding!” Marcin screeched as he quickly grabbed a tissue and kneeled down next to Rasmus.

While he pressed the tissue against the cut on Rasmus’ hand, he rambled on about how he should have been more careful or asked for help – but Rasmus had no capacity for Marcin’s motherly concern right now. In his head, his worries began to pile up; how was it possible that he cut his hand and felt nothing? It was as if his ability to feel had been swept away by all the hurt of the last year – as if he had shoved it all out of sight. When he left his home to a join a new team; when he buried himself in work to forget his sorrow; when he almost reached his goal of becoming a world champion but didn’t in the end. Recalling all of his failures made him feel like it was all a big joke – and such a bad one, too.

 _What was the point of all of this?_ This thought forced a crooked half smile on his face, and, as he held back his tears, he looked up and said,

“Marcin?”

The jungler quickly looked up from Rasmus’ hand, which he was still pressing the tissue against, and replied: “yes?”

“I need to make a change.”

And that was that. After sleepwalking ever since their defiant loss at Worlds, he finally managed to look back and think about what happened – and he couldn’t allow history to repeat itself. This time, he felt the need to take charge of his fate. He finally got up and, after sweeping up the remaining bits of the mug he once cherished and throwing them in the trash, stormed back into his room, leaving Marcin on the floor. He processed what Rasmus had said just in time to shout after him,

“Okay, but what does that even mean??”

A few hours later, the whole G2 team had come together to sit around their dining table for their first official meeting for the upcoming Spring Split 2020. Rasmus had not been seen again until this point, as he had buried himself in statistics and tactics in his room in order to make a proposal for this “change” that he wanted to make. In the beginning, he hadn’t been sure what exactly he wanted that to look at all – but now, it was clear. It was like waking up from a nightmare that had lasted a whole year long. The only thing left to do now was to prove to his team that this was the only way to move forward.

As Rasmus was the last one to arrive, Fabian fulfilled his duty as head coach and started the meeting as soon as he had taken his seat.

“Okay, thank you guys for actually showing up on time- oh, what’s up with you, Rasmus? Do you want to take the lead today?” he jokingly said while pointing to all the papers the midlaner had piled up in front of him.

Mihael and Luka, who were seated suspiciously close to each other on the opposite side of the table, started to laugh into their fists. Marcin and Wunder were giggling too, even though not as audibly. But the room went quiet as Rasmus stood up to say,

“Yes, actually, I would like to. To start things off: we have all been pitying ourselves for too long. Yes, we were this close to winning it all, and we all had our good reasons to want that more than anything else. As for me, I think that I’m just as hungry for that win now, if not more; but we are never going to get there. Not like this.”

The mouths of his teammates, as well as their couch, were wide open in shock. Never before had they experienced their normally so goofy and gullible midlaner this serious and concerned. The only things he would normally contribute to team meetings like this were crazy champion picks and outlandish game strategies, always presented with a smile that was almost too big for his slim face. Today, they all searched for even a hint of a smile on their midlaner’s face – unsuccessfully so. Marcin was the first to speak up after this moment of silence and disbelief.

“That’s why we have to make a change? Is that what you meant earlier when you…” he slowly pointed towards the band aid on Rasmus’ hand, not feeling the need to elaborate. Rasmus nodded slightly as he continued,

“Yes. We need to change. But that’s what we were going to talk about anyway. The reason why I brought these statistics with me –“ he stopped to hold up the loose pieces of paper in his hand clumsily, flopping them back and forth “- is because I think that I’m the one to do it. I have to.”

He ever so slightly bit his lip as he passed around the handouts he had put together during the last few hours for this occasion. As his teammates were scanning through the facts and figures, Rasmus clutched his hands, which felt cold and sweaty at the same time. It was as if his fate relied on this very decision, as if his life would end if his teammates were to disagree. But, in this moment, he saw a big grin forming on Luka’s face – and that was exactly what he was hoping for.

“You really want to do this?” Luka asked, not even trying to hide his excitement.

Mihael, on the other side, looked back and forth between his ADC and his midlaner with a concerned look on his face. Fabian finally stood up to meet Rasmus on eye level, and then started speaking up,

“Rasmus. This might be it. They will never see this coming - you truly understand what our team is all about. I say let’s do it! Let’s reverse the role swap. I know how impressive your marksmen performances have been on the midlane, in scrims, in SoloQ – but the fact that you took the time to collect all of this data confirms your dedication. All in favour?”

And after all of his teammates had nodded in agreement, Rasmus felt a weight being lifted off of his shoulders. As he opened his eyes after a long, relieved sigh, he noticed Mihael staring at him with a solemn expression. Rasmus didn’t avoid his gaze – instead, he raised one of his eyebrows and tried to convey as much confidence as his tiny frame offered at this moment. He knew that working with a new ADC might be difficult for the support player, but this cooperation was key for the success of Rasmus’ plan. He was ready to do anything to make it work – even though he could not yet anticipate the lengths he would have to go to.

But right now, this triumph made him feel a rush that reminded him of the reason why he was here. And so, for the first time in weeks, his teammates saw their midlaner smile from ear to ear again.

Later that night, after a long run down of possible future strategies and marketing decisions - and a lot of snarky and silly comments - Rasmus found himself lying in bed, staring at the blank ceiling of his room. I did it, he thought. To be fair, he hardly had to try at all – of course his teammates would love a risky move like that.

It’s not like anyone had asked him why he wanted to do it in the first place. They didn’t know about what happened back then, when he was still with Fnatic. They didn’t know about his history with Martin – _the real Martin_ , he thought. But he remembered. And now that he had decided to face his past head on, he felt his body tingling from head to toe. Was he excited? Or maybe scared? He couldn’t know for sure. All that that he knew right now was that this was going to be one of these nights were his mind just wouldn’t shut up – and sleep was nowhere in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think about Caps' perspective? 
> 
> I'd be excited to hear your thoughts!


	3. Part 1: Tim

As a person who normally prefers to sleep until noon, Tim was more than surprised to wake up at 6 am to the sound of birds singing outside of his window. It was still pitch-black outside, since Berlin’s merciless winter nights were cold and ever so long. But, somehow, the midlaner felt wide awake. He shuffled back and forth a bit to find a more comfortable position – without success.

 _This bed is too big_ , he thought and sighed. If it was up to him, he certainly wouldn’t be sleeping on his own most nights of the week; but, after all, it was not up to him. And, in the position he was in right now, he didn’t dare to question the order of his arrangement with _him_.

He never thought that he could be the person to long for sleeping next to someone this badly – for the longest time, he assumed he would stay a lone wolf forever. Maybe it was because he had happily lived in his own world for so long. Maybe it was because he was taught to keep his emotions to himself. For the longest time, the only thing he had felt passionate about was League of Legends. The only times he had searched for human contact before joining Fnatic had been in the form of playing DuoQ every once in a while, after all – besides that, people might have described him as a truly shut-in introvert back then. They might still do today, for all he cared.

He turned over to face his nightstand, where he, to his surprise, spotted the forgotten wrapper of a condom. He felt the heat rising in his cheeks and instantly sat up to grab it – _guess we were in a hurry last night_ , he thought, feeling slightly ashamed. He quickly got up to toss it into the trash bin underneath his desk, but he stumbled across the clothes of the previous day which he had carelessly thrown onto the ground, barely keeping his balance.

As he stood there, in the middle of his dark room, at 6 am, with the condom wrapper still in his hand, he couldn’t help but think that somehow, everything felt out of place. Why did he feel so agitated in this very moment? _It’s always because of him, isn’t it?_

Even though he had planned to get rid of it right away, he sat back down onto his bed and blankly stared at the condom wrapper in his hands. Last night was the first time he had been brave enough to ask him to stay over after they were done – in an attempt to convince him that the others wouldn’t mind, that they wouldn’t care, that he just wanted to be with him so badly… Well, he didn’t mention that last part. The fact that _he_ was the first one to ever make him feel this much also caused him to be too scared of losing him.

Yes – he was determined to keep up his walls as much as possible. But he couldn’t deny his truth, even though he had tried to for a long time before finally giving in to his desires. Even if it is just sex right now – even though he knew that there was something else occupying his ADC’s mind – he couldn’t deny that he was hopelessly in love with Martin.

Tim let himself fall back onto the bed with a big sigh and closed his eyes again, in an attempt to block out the rush of emotions which grabbed a hold of him as he inspected the condom wrapper. He searched for something to take his mind to a more pleasant place – after all, he had been down this road many times and it never ended in anything but a long-lasting bad mood. And, even though his teammates did not expect him to be the ray of sunshine that lights up Fnatic’s apartment or anything, he still didn’t want to be gloomy on a day like this. Wait - a day like this?

 _That’s it_ , he thought, and started to smile just the tiniest bit. Since he was not used to being up this early, he completely forgot that he was currently witnessing the first, dark hours of a new day – the day that his new jungler and close friend, Oskar, would be introduced to the Fnatic squad.

He had been waiting for this day for a while now, as Oskar had turned to him the minute he had gotten the offer to join the team. After the disappointing loss at the semi-finals at Worlds, this was what had gotten Tim out of his awfully consuming grief. Oskar had been there for him. They would play DuoQ together so that Tim wouldn’t forget why he was so passionate about League of Legends. They would stay up late to watch movies and eat pizza, or, sometimes, just talk. In fact, he was the only one that Tim had ever told about what was _really_ going on between him and Martin – and Oskar had shown nothing but compassion and genuine interest in helping his friend.

 _I don’t understand why he’s so scared about the others finding out about us_ , he thought to himself. They would understand, just like Oskar did – right? At this point, Tim was so wide awake that there was no way to go back to sleep. He instead decided to text Oskar, asking him when he would arrive at the apartment today. The meeting was scheduled around 11 am, so there was still a ton of time until the others would get up – and, of course, until Martin would arrive. Tim jumped up with renewed energy, grabbed his sweatpants from off the floor and put them on before he opened the door of his room as quietly as possible to sneak out.

To his surprise, Oskar replied within three minutes. Tim was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth with minimal accuracy, as he got the notification. _He must be pretty nervous to be up this early_ , he thought. Then again - so was he. Once he had put away his toothbrush and grabbed his OnePlus phone, there was a total of three messages which read:

_Woah, who are you and why did you steal Tim’s phone?_

_He would never be up this early!_

_When will I arrive? See you in 15._

He couldn’t help but chuckle. Oskar surely was the weirdest guy he knew, but they were a pretty good mix together. He accepted that Tim preferred not to talk too much – Oskar made up for the silence with loads silly comments. Most of the time, he knew exactly how much space Tim needed in order to feel comfortable.

There were, however, times where that had not been the case – Tim remembered a hand remaining on his shoulder just a little too long; their knees touching when Oskar sat a bit too close during movie nights; Oskar’s lips being too close to his ear as he tried to bend over him to point out something on the midlaner’s screen. But this was the first time Tim had ever called someone a “close friend”, even if it was just in his mind. Yes, he had been close with his big brother back home, but he wasn’t sure whether that even counted. So he tried to convince himself that he was just too unfamiliar with the concept of friendship – and that Oskar wasn’t.

Barely 14 minutes had gone by when Tim heard his phone buzzing again. At this point, he had successfully splashed some water into his face and combed his hair loosely; just in time to open the front door to find his new jungler smiling at him.

“You are a man of your word,” he mumbled unenthusiastically as he turned around to slouch back into the living room. Oskar followed him, carefully placing his heavy backpack on the carpet without causing too much noise.

“Yeah,” Oskar whispered when he finally let himself fall onto the couch next to Tim, “I was close by anyway”.

Tim gave him a half-smile for that lame joke and then turned to face Oskar while simultaneously bringing his knees up to rest his head onto them before he replied,

“You don’t have to whisper, you know. The rooms are all the way down that hallway, we won’t wake up anyone by talking normally.”

“Right! Okay, I just thought, well, it’s 6:30 am and all. Sorry, am I being weird?”

 _Yes_ , Tim thought. But that was okay – in fact, it was just what he needed today, to take his mind off of things. Oskar never ceased to surprise him, after all. Maybe having him close at all times, living in the same apartment, could bring some peace into his life. _Living together_ , Tim pondered. Oskar was, of course, not his first choice for that, even though he cherished his friendship dearly. _It should be Martin_ , he thought. But he did not dare to say this aloud - not now and not ever.

Instead, he shook his head ever so slightly at Oskar’s initial question and then asked him about what he could use all of this unexpected time for. They agreed on taking a quiet tour through the gaming apartment on their tip toes, grabbing some snacks from the kitchen on their way, before finally settling in Tim’s room to play some DuoQ, as Oskar had brought a laptop – initially for taking notes during the meeting – which sufficed for some low fps gameplay.

Tim kind of missed the sleep that he would normally be getting at this time of day, but he couldn’t deny that he was having fun. No matter the time, playing League never failed to lighten Tim’s mood. And, as he finally heard people getting up and running around the apartment around 9 am, there was a final thing that he had to ask before he could face the day.

“You won’t tell anyone, right? He doesn’t want them to know.”

“What? Tim…” Oskar almost whispered as he turned to look at his midlaner before replying “why would I do such a thing? It’s not my place to tell anyone. I’ll keep my mouth shut – even though I don’t think that anyone would have a problem with it.”

 _Exactly_ , Tim thought as he flinched before nodding. He took a deep breath and finally felt ready for the team meeting. If he had known what would happen, he surely would have jumped right back into bed to burry himself under the covers. But in the end, he didn’t know.

And now, he would never forget what Martin’s face looked like when Alfonso told him that he would be facing Caps on the botlane in the upcoming Spring Split. He would never forget the sharp pain he felt in his chest as he realized _why_ Martin didn’t want anyone to find out about them. He would never forget how much he wanted to scream as he realized that he still loved Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last perspective of Part 1! 
> 
> What do you think about Nemesis' perspective? I'd be excited to hear your thoughts in the comments :)
> 
> The part will conclude with the first episode of the "DreamServer", which is the supernatural element of this fanfic and a lot of fun (i hope) - the next parts will be a bit longer & more eventful, hope the build up is not too slow for you guys!


	4. Part 1: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: For anyone reading this for the first time, a Cheat-sheet for the DreamServer-episodes is available as a seperate work on my profile. 
> 
> If you have trouble with figuring out who's who, you can check it out for the answers! If you'd rather guess yourself, you won't be spoilered this way. 
> 
> Hope you have fun with it :) That's what the DreamServer is all about!

_Supernatural events of any sort occur at the most surprising times and seem to have the most absurd causes. Many people have tried to pinpoint a causal relationship between the occurrence of an unexplainable phenomena with earthly or scientific factors – but why ruin the fun of it all like that?_

_For reasons that may or may not include the cognitive wires that connected the professional League of Legends players beyond the actual game server, strong emotions emitted by some of them, or simply an unpredictable mood of nature; yes, for whatever reason, some of the players would find themselves logged on to the “DreamServer” when they fell asleep. It was some sort of platform where they could talk to each other while they while sleeping, no matter what distance lay between them._

_But, naturally, the DreamServer had its very own terms and conditions, just like any other earthly game server would. Every night, a new username was assigned to the players, which was mostly based on the emotions they had felt during the day. Every night, the players would enter the DreamServer with the goal of talking about what occupied their minds the most that day. Every night, they would forget their own names as well as the name of everyone involved in their stories._

_If you tried to apply logic to this supernatural phenomenon, you could say that remaining anonymous made it a lot easier to about personal troubles. Then again, why try to make sense of something this far out there?_

_Now, one of the most peculiar mysteries surrounding the DreamServer is the question of whether the players could actually remember any of the events when they wake up the next day. It can only be assumed that, just like with any other dream, parts of it could subconsciously influence the way the players would feel and act moving forward. But is it possible to predict exactly what information will or will not stick with the players after they have left the DreamServer? Will it be criticism, advice, funny remarks? One can only speculate._

\- **[mostly_indifferent]** and **[excited]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[excited]:** hey, hi, what’s up? How you doing? What brought you here today?

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** hi.

 **[excited]:** okay I will start then!

 **[excited]:** I can barely contain my excitement because tomorrow is going to be a big day!

 **[excited]:** HUGE!

 **[mostly_indifferent]** you don’t say.

 **[excited]:** yes, I’m sure it will be great

 **[excited]** : I’ve been waiting on this guy I like for a long time now, you see?

 **[excited]** : I absolutely can’t stop thinking about him!

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** I feel like I have someone like that too

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** Was with him today.

 **[excited]:** then you must know how amazing it feels!

 **[excited]:** anyway

 **[excited]:** tomorrow, I feel like I’m finally going to make a move

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** mhm

 **[excited]:** …yes

 **[excited]:** and the guy he likes will be there too…

 **[excited]:** So that might be bad?

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** another guy, huh

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** and you think you got a shot at this because…?

 **[excited]:** ehm, well – that is because…uhh

 **[excited]:** I mean, we are getting closer and closer and will be living together now as well

 **[excited]:** and the guy he likes is nothing but trouble!

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** you better be hot, man

 **[mostly_indifferent]:** cause no one’s gonna jump ship just because someone is “trouble”

 **[excited]:** eh – what?

\- **[adrenaline_high]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[adrenaline_high]:** what’s up party people??

 **[adrenaline_high]:** I’ve had quite the day! …I think

 **[excited]:** oh really? What happened, man?

 **[adrenaline_high]:** Made a huge decision

 **[adrenaline_high]:** Took charge or something – dunno the specifics

 **[excited]:** sounds exciting. You could say that I’m also about to take charge…

 **[excited]:** See, there is this guy I like, and I’m finally going to go for the kill soon -

 **[excited]:** if you know what I mean…

 **[adrenaline_high]:** Ohh? That sounds exciting!

 **[adrenaline_high]:** I also have someone like that!

 **[adrenaline_high]:** Well – I guess things are complicated between us at the moment…

 **[adrenaline_high]:** But I’m going to change that!

 **[mostly_indifferent** ]: geez, you guys really need to chill 

\- **[mostly_indifferent]** has left the DreamServer -

 **[adrenaline_high]** : lol, what was up with that guy?

 **[excited]:** I know, right? What a weirdo

 **[excited]:** he had like, NO IDEA what he was talking about

 **[excited]:** Anyway, I guess I should get going.

 **[excited]:** Lots of stuff to do!

 **[adrenaline_high]:** Good luck, dude. Here’s to taking charge!

\- **[excited]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[adrenaline_high]:** looks like I’m alone huh

 **[adrenaline_high]:** surely wish there was someone I could talk to

 **[adrenaline_high]:** I can’t wait to find out about his reaction

 **[adrenaline_high]:** I wonder if he’s happy about it? Maybe a little bit?

 **[adrenaline_high]:** I mean, I can’t see him with anyone else – he couldn’t have moved on, right?

 **[adrenaline_high]:** guess I will have to give it some time

\- **[adrenaline_high]** has left the DreamServer –

\- **[seriously_superstitious]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[seriously_superstitious]:** oh my god, finally!

\- **[seriously_superstitious]** has left the DreamServer –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 - done!
> 
> How did you like the DreamServer? How long did it take you to realize who's who? Are you enjoying the dramatic irony?
> 
> In the next parts, more & more characters will pop up in this format - I hope following it won't be too difficult :)


	5. Part 2: Martin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out I'm way too impatient to only post twice a week! So here it goes - 
> 
> As long as I've got enough material I will, therefore, post as often as I feel like it. 
> 
> Thank you for your comments and kudos - you guys are truly amazing! :)

Fnatic’s first meeting for the upcoming Spring Split 2020 must have felt like the longest Martin had ever attended. Normally, he took pride in participating and contributing as much as possible, since he was the clear veteran of the team – but this time, he could barely even follow the heated debates his teammates and his new coach were engaging in.

Learning about G2’s roleswap had frozen him up to the core. His thoughts revolved around Caps, and Caps alone. _Rasmus_ , Martin thought. He had already thought about him all night long, with this weird feeling in his gut. Now, he had to think about how he would face him – how he would react, what he would – no – what he _could_ show on stage. And maybe it was because he had never told a soul about the unfortunate relationship he and Caps had shared – yes, maybe that was why he felt so alone with all of these overwhelming emotions. They hadn’t talked one-on-one at all this past year. Would that change now? Would he be able to play up to his own standards against him? Martin’s eyes, which were fixated onto the table, widened a bit as another thought crossed his troubled mind: _what if he beats me?_

While Alfonso was too busy with trying to keep his cool during the first meeting, most of the Fnatic squad tried to contribute to the conversation with as much fun in mind as possible. The atmosphere was mostly light-hearted and relaxed, even though the topics that came up might have called for a different tone. Maybe it was _because_ this was their first official meeting as a team that only one of his teammates noticed that something was wrong with the way Rekkles. Yes – when the plagued ADC looked up after the last thought, which caused him to panic a little, his eyes met with Tim’s.

It was not unusual for Tim not to talk too much during meetings, as he never did; but he usually only had eyes for his OnePlus phone when they sat at the dinner table, which was a universally accepted truth. The unexpectedly concerned gaze of his midlaner was enough to make Martin’s heart skip a beat. It was almost enough to bring him back to his senses, as the audio, which he had previously shut out completely, started to return. It was as if Tim had thrown him a lifeline _._

 _Yes_ , Martin thought - it was different this time. Even though his feelings for Rasmus were still as complicated as ever, he had found a way to distract himself during these past few months. _Maybe ‘distract’ isn’t the right term_ , he thought, slightly ashamed. He could not put his feelings for Tim in words, no matter how hard he tried. He only knew two things for sure: 1) he didn’t feel the same as he did with Rasmus; and 2) he desperately needed Tim right now.

Martin counted the minutes until the meeting finally found its end. Normally, he would have left the office as quickly as possible to get home or head to the gym, as he had not been able to do so this morning – but, right now, he had something else in mind. Without as much as a second glance, he asked Tim to run through some patch notes and disappeared in his room without even waiting for his midlaner to answer. As he stood there, in front of the window in the rather small room, he crossed his arms and thought about what to say.

Thirty seconds passed, and he was still alone. _What is taking him so long_ , Martin thought while eyeing the sloppily arranged pillows on Tim’s bed. According to his calculations, the Slovenian should have been right behind him. Since Martin was, both, overly exhausted _and_ overly emotional today, he couldn’t help but wonder about all the possible reasons why one, then two and finally three minutes passed until Tim finally entered the room and carefully closed the door behind him.

As they stood in front of each other, Martin realized that he hadn’t come up with anything to say – yes, why did he even need to speak to Tim this badly? He bit his lip and tried to look into his midlaner’s eyes, which was basically impossible because Tim was avoiding Martin’s gaze at any cost. With his eyes still fixated on the floor, Tim finally mumbled a quiet “yes?” – and, as Martin had no idea in hell what he could say, he simply grabbed Tim’s waist with one and his chin with the other hand, forcing the midlaner closer to him. With a pained expression and a surprising amount of force, he pressed his lips against Tim’s and cause a soft moan to escape from his lips.

The slightly taller and much more powerful Swede started to push Tim back against the empty wall of his room. He slipped his hand under the jersey of his midlaner while kissing him with a lot of passion and even more tongue. But, as their lips departed from each other for just about a second so that Martin could catch a breath, Tim freed himself from the ADC’s embrace and pushed him away as hard as he could – causing Martin to stumble back. Confused, Martin stared at Tim and mumbled:

“What are you doing?”

“What are _you_ doing?!” Tim hissed as a response.

He still didn’t look Martin in the eye, but the ADC could tell that he had seriously misjudged the situation. In a desperate attempt to close the gap between them, he slowly set one foot back into Tim’s direction.

“I’m sorry, okay? I should have explained myself – I just really need you right now,” he softly said as he reached out to touch Tim’s cheek, “please?”

Tim audibly flinched before dodging Martin’s hand and sitting down on his gaming chair in front of his desk. As he already turned on his PC to launch the League client, he simply said:

“I’m not in the mood to fuck. I agreed to play DuoQ with Oskar. You should leave.”

If it had been anyone else, Martin might have tried to explain his desperate situation. He might have shown this vulnerable side to get some comfort, even if it’s just out of sympathy. _But this is Tim_ , he thought while letting out a big sigh. As great as the sex was – it had never really been more than that. Why should he tell him that he felt as if he was drowning if his midlaner would simply shrug and turn away? _Yes_ , Martin thought as he slowly made his way to the door and exited Tim’s room with a heavy heart, _it would be a waste of time_.

When Martin exited Tim’s room with his head hung low to make his way to the front door, he noticed Bwipo and Hylissang standing in the hallway, carefreely chatting about something he could not yet make out. As he noticed Gabriël turning to him with beaming eyes, he realized that he had to get it together more quickly than anticipated.

“Hey man, did you get everything you needed?”

Martin froze. Bwipo raised one of his bushy eyebrows, surprised about the weird reaction of his ADC, and followed up on his own question, “…you talked about the new patch notes, no?”

“Yup – yup, got it now. Time to go home!” Martin exclaimed with an almost robotic voice as he hurried to get to the front door without any of his teammates noticing his relief about not having been caught exiting his lover’s room in defeat. He had already grabbed the door handle as Gabriël jumped forward.

“Wait! We wanted to – eh, I mean I wanted to ask you whether you would like to hang out? We want to check out a new bar around the corner, Alfonso agreed to come as well. To celebrate the first meeting, you know?”

“Uhm…” Martin stuttered as he saw his chances of ever escaping this nightmare of a day decreasing rapidly “sure, why not.”

If their coach was to come, the conversation would probably revolve around work – maybe that was what he needed to cool off right now. Maybe it was also the thought of being alone right now that scared him more than the possibility of having a lame evening with his toplaner and his support, which lead him to agree to come along. He forced himself to smile while he put on his white sneakers and his winter coat. Zdravets and Gabriël were already giggling about something else as they each put a hand on Martin’s shoulder and pushed him out of the door.

The waiter had already brought the first round of drinks and some extra-cheesy nachos as Zdravets announced that Alfonso had been held up and won’t be joining them after all while eyeing his OnePlus phone. Gabriël was not necessarily affected by these news as he had already started to attack the mountain of nachos in front of him with an eager expression. Hyli put his phone away and caught a hold of this sight, which caused him to roll his eyes.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough of these?” he said while pinching Gabriël into his belly.

The toplaner laughed and said something about “how OP” some extra pounds made him, which caused Zdravets to reply with another snarky and yet playful remark. Martin watched the back and forth between the two of them, who were seated across the table, while lazily stirring the ice in his drink with the included bamboo straw. _This is exactly why I don’t like hanging out with them_ , he thought. This so-called “marital bliss of Bwipo and Hylissang” was famous, even outside of Fnatic’s team. Even though the both of them had girlfriends, they managed to act like a married couple around each other, which was already hard enough to endure. And there was another thing the both of them were avoided and feared for…

“So, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Bwipo said as he smirked after practically inhaling all of the nachos that had been piled up in front of him just a moment ago.

 _Here it comes_ , Martin thought as he let out a long sigh. _The Gossip._ Zdravets nibbled on his straw before he began to lay out the newest talk of the town – well, of Fnatic’s staff – to the others.

“Obviously, we have to talk about how Selfmade’s presence will affect our team. Gabriël and I have already discussed his relationship to Tim at length, but what’s your take on this, Rekkles?”

It was almost cringe-worthy just _how_ serious both Bwipo and Hyli looked while staring at him from across the table. He frowned and turned back to his drink in an attempt to consider the question for a moment – what exactly did they mean by Oskar’s and Tim’s relationship? He couldn’t make sense of it earlier during the meeting and he was just as puzzled now. That was, of course, not something that he wanted to show his overly eager teammates – they could sense this kind of insecurity like it was blood in the water. As Martin felt the hungry gossip-sharks metaphorically closing in on him, he decided to just go with what he wanted to believe.

“I think they are friends. I don’t understand why you guys would make such a fuss out of that.”

“A fuss? Is this a joke to you?” Zdravets whispered while shaking his head in a disappointed manner.

Gabriël put his hand on the support’s shoulder before he picked up where he left off, “we are not making this up. I went to the toilet around 7:30 this morning and _heard them in Tim’s room_. I’m not sure whether he stayed the night or just arrived super early, but they are keeping something from us for sure!” he exclaimed.

Martin was baffled. While Zdravets was wildly gesturing something with his hands while rambling something about _working environment_ and _trust issues_ , the ADC’s thoughts were, yet again, spinning at a rapid speed. He was so tired of it – besides being actually very tired due to the extreme lack of sleep, that is. Because of the new evidence presented by the first-class investigator Gabriël himself, a new worry had entered Martin’s already so troubled mind. Could he actually lose Tim completely – and to his new jungler, on top of that?

He closed his eyes and started to massage his temples with two fingers each as he tried to block out all the noise of the crowded bar. _I need to get a grip_ , he thought. There must be a way to deal with all of the issues he was facing right now – playing up to his standard against Caps on the botlane, dealing with all feelings he had pushed aside for so long, somehow keeping Tim close to him – but how? With the Spring Split being only a couple of weeks away, it seemed to be impossible. It just felt like too big of an issue for one person alone; but, in the end, he was alone. And, despite being in a bar that was stuffed to maximum capacity at an unusually early time of day, Martin had never felt as alone in the world as he did in this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you feel about the tricky Situation Martin has found himself in?
> 
> Do you enjoy more things actually "happening" in a chapter or do you prefer a lot of insight into the character's mind? 
> 
> Thanks for tuning in! Tim's perspective will follow this time :)


	6. Part 2: Tim

After the news of Caps rotating to the botlane had metaphorically slapped Tim across the face, he did not dare to look up from his OnePlus phone for at least 10 minutes. Most of the time, he chose to not do so during meetings, as he had no interest in social bonding beyond the League Client. But this time, he was simply unable to move – paralysed by the fear of looking across the table and seeing the expression on Martin’s face.

He had, by now, realized just how fucked up the situation really was _. All this time_ , Tim thought while he felt his stomach turn and the saliva gathering in his mouth. From the outside, it was impossible to identify the storm that was currently raging inside the midlaner’s mind – he was perfectly still. He had been taught to keep this level of composure at any time from an early age, after all. The news of the man he loved holding feelings for his former teammate that Tim had happened to replace a year ago, did, however, really test the Slovenian’s abilities. He wondered whether he had been a replacement for this role, too. Whether the ADC was simply playing with him since his old toy was no longer available. Of course, this was all just speculation; _maybe I’m overreacting_ , Tim thought.

After taking another deep breath, he finally lifted his head to catch a glimpse of Martin. He didn’t look back at him – in fact, it looked like he was facing the table, or his hands, or anything besides his teammates. Tim stared at him. It was unusual for Martin to keep quiet during meetings, and it was definitely strange for him to avoid eye contact. A few minutes passed until the midlaner saw his ADC timidly looking back at him for just a moment; and just that moment was enough to know for sure. _He is hurting_ , Tim thought. He still couldn’t exactly bring up any sympathy for the man who was breaking his heart.

When the meeting finally found its end, Tim felt as if he had been asleep for hours, finding it incredibly hard to get up to move forward. His teammates were eagerly jumping around and left the dining table at a rapid speed. Before Tim had even managed to leave his chair, Martin had already announced that he wanted to talk to him about patch notes or whatever and stomped into his room. “What the hell was that about?” He murmured quietly. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, and, as he looked up, saw that Oskar had stayed behind with him.

“Hey man, everything alright? You were kind of quiet – I mean you looked kind of troubled, that’s what worried me a little. You wanna talk about it?”

Tim sighed. Oskar meant well, that was for sure – but he was still so perplexed by this strange day, and, frankly, he wasn’t even sure what he was feeling right now. He only knew that it was bad. He decided that it couldn’t get worse by telling Oskar about it. Heck, he might even have some practical advice.

“Rekkles is still in love with Caps. I’m 99% sure I’m just a replacement. He asked to see me a second ago and I’m not sure whether I should go.”

Tim didn’t face Oskar as he said this, and his voice remained monotonous and without notable intonation. For anyone that didn’t know him, it might have sounded like he was talking about the weather. But Oskar knew him. He frowned and replied with his hand still on Tim’s shoulder,

“Frick. If you are sure about that then I would advise you to keep your distance for now. You deserve better, Tim… how about we play some DuoQ games now, to take your mind off of things? If he’s still in your room, you should tell him to leave - until you know what to tell him.”

Tim heard Oskar’s voice trembling as he tried to give some reasonable advice to his midlaner; advice that he decided to follow. Three minutes had already passed since Martin had stormed off into his room, and, despite everything, he still hated to keep him waiting. As he forced his chair backwards to get up, he nodded a few times to clarify that he would take Oskar’s advice. The boys walked into the direction of their rooms and Tim saw Oskar disappearing through the door right next to his. He took a deep breath before reaching for the door handle – _this won’t be easy_ , he thought to himself as he stepped in.

Martin was standing in front of his window, with his arms crossed and a concerned look on his face. Tim walked towards him and thought about what he could possibly want right now, out of all times. His heartbeat was increasing as he got closer to his ADC, not really knowing what to expect. He didn’t look up to face him as he felt his cheeks become rosy when he murmured a barely audible “yes?”

His mind went completely blank when Martin started to kiss him violently while pressing him up against the wall. It took all of the self-control and power that his tiny frame had to offer to resist – of course, his body screamed _yes_. But there was a louder voice which overpowered his desire. He was simply too scared about being hurt even more. Why should he care about Martin _needing_ him? Why should he let him fuck him when he _knew_ he would be thinking about Caps? So he pushed Martin away. And so he told him to leave. And, instead of crying, he hopped onto Discord and started playing DuoQ with Oskar, without saying as much as another word about ADC.

The next morning, after a night of tossing and turning, Tim woke up to some loud rumbling noises in the kitchen. Since he hadn’t slept much at all, he felt disgruntled – _who the hell would make this kind of noise this early in the morning_ , he thought while crawling out of his bed. As he clumsily put on some sweatpants, he noticed that it was not as early as he had thought. Maybe it was because he had woken up at a truly outlandish time the day before; but it didn’t seem as if that would become a habit.

He reached for the door and pushed it open ever so slowly, almost as if he meant to sneak, when, in reality, he was simply slouching because he was so tired. It might have been a coincidence, but the mysterious people who had caused the racket in the kitchen did not hear him precisely because of how stealthy Tim walked towards them – which was why they continued their ominous conversation, and what they said caused Tim to stop in his tracks.

“Oh my god – would you _please_ stop putting _even more_ sugar into the dough?” Hylissang’s voice sounded utterly distressed as he urged his toplaner to put away the overly big container of white sugar.

Tim heard some slurping noises as Bwipo replied, “Oh, come on, this is not sweet enough _at all!_ It tastes almost as salty as Rekkles was last night, I swear.”

When Tim heard them talking about Martin, he couldn’t help but push himself against the wall, concealing his presence in a manner that he picked up while playing Tomb Raider, in order to listen in on the conversation. He _had_ to know what Martin did after he had sent him away last night – and of course, what Bwipo and Hyli knew about it.

“I’m just saying that you should try to cut at least _some_ carbs… This is getting out of hand! But – you are right. He did seem really out of it when we asked him about Tim’s and Oskar’s relationship,” Hyli continued as he poured the dough into a hot pan, causing it to sizzle loudly.

Bwipo hummed in agreement, “he seemed shook! I guess he is just really _that_ clueless, don’t you think?” Judging from the loud scratching noises echoing through the hall, Tim figured that Bwipo was probably trying to get the rest of the dough out of bowl with a spoon.

“Do you really – hey, stop that! …that’s better. Do you really think he looked that upset just because he didn’t figure it out himself? I think he’s jealous of what they have,” Hyli almost whispered that last part, feeling all secretive.

Tim could practically see Bwipo’s overly surprised expression as he heard him gasp loudly, and in an excited manner he exclaimed, “oh boy, so you thought so too! I really think he’s got the hots for Selfmade, dude – the way he avoided looking at him after he met him for the first time yesterday, he seemed so flustered! Totally unlike him, if you ask me!”

Tim’s heart dropped to his stomach as the pancakes were dropped onto a plate.

With a concerned voice, Hyli responded “Hmm, that does sound logical, but, then again – it might also be because of Tim?”

Tim heard the second loud gasp of the conversation, and Bwipo was almost giggling “Shit – that’s even better. You think he’s into Nemesis? I mean, even if he was – it’s not like _he_ cares about anything that’s not League or his OnePlus, am I right?”

And, suddenly, it was as if Tim saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Beside the fact that Bwipo’s and Hyli’s theories were all over the place, they did provide him with some usable information. _Maybe he cares about me after all_ , he thought. Maybe, just maybe, pushing Martin away to spend time with Oskar instead really did make the Swede jealous – maybe keeping his distance really was the way to finally win him over.

With slightly renewed confidence, Tim left his stealth position to slouch into the kitchen, grabbing some snack from the fridge while grunting, “You guys are way too loud, some people want to sleep around here”.

Without as much as another look, he left his toplaner and his support quarrelling over their pancakes as he headed back to his room. Even though they had scrims scheduled for later that day, Tim felt as if he could finally face Martin again fearlessly with the help of this newly acquired intel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you feel about Nemesis' POV? Also, is he a worthy Lara Croft? 
> 
> There will be no Caps' POV in Part 2, so the DreamServer is next up - but, dont you worry, Caps' chapter in part 3 will be a bit longer to make up for it! I guess the upcoming chapters will be a bit longer anyway, since some major things are coming up!
> 
> I (partially) used Part 2 to introduce Hyli's and Bwipo's dynamic; please tell me what you think about them (and look out for them on the DreamServer) ;)


	7. Part 2: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the DreamServer (Part 2)! 
> 
> For those of you who have been sticking with me for some time: thank you very much, and also, there has been an update to the description of the DreamServer in Part 1! I've received some great feedback from you, and there are also some further remarks on the format of the DreamServer in the comments of Part 1 :)

_After a long day of wandering up and about, many souls found themselves on the DreamServer that night. With their hearts full of troubles and questions, they ever so eagerly engaged with each other, in hopes of finding peace, or at least a few answers._

\- **[quiet_storm]** , **[lonely]** and **[doubting]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[lonely]:** Hey, is anyone here?

 **[lonely]:** Oh please, please I need someone…!

 **[lonely]:** Can anyone hear me?

 **[quiet_storm]:** Yes.

 **[doubting]:** Yeah, I mean, I think so…?

 **[lonely]:** Oh, thank god! I really feel like everyone is turning their back on me lately – I feel so alone, even though I’m constantly surrounded by people…

 **[quiet_storm]:** Well, sometimes it can work wonders to let go off something you love…

 **[doubting]:** What are you implying?? That I should go on a diet?

 **[doubting]:** I swear, everyone is forcing this on to me… Like my boy- I mean girlfriend? Yes - I definitely have a girlfriend…

 **[lonely]:** wow, could you be ANY more sensitive? The NERVE…

 **[quiet_storm]** : mhm.

 **[doubting]:** What? I didn’t – I’m sorry I didn’t want to come off this way I just – do I look fat to you guys?

 **[quiet_storm]** : Is that a real question

 **\- [rising_hope]** and **[smashing_it]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[lonely]:** oh man, more people. Hi, would you like to hear about how my life is slipping through my fingers??

 **[rising_hope]:** Would you like to hear about me finally getting closer to my crush?

 **[quiet_storm]:** do any of you consider to, like, just chill a bit

 **[smashing_it]:** that is awful advice, I say go forward at max speed!

 **[smashing_it]:** I mean, sure – sometimes people may not agree with the way you do things…

 **[doubting]:** that didn’t sound awfully convincing to me

 **[doubting]:** ...but are you implying that it is okay to still keep on doing things your way?

 **[smashing_it]:** oh definitely, I’m this much closer to achieving my goal already!

 **[smashing_it]:** So I think it’s healthy to do things this way

 **[doubting]:** Healthy?

 **[doubting]:** Oh man, why you gotta do me like that…

 **[rising_hope]:** I never lost sight of my goal and I’m awfully close to my crush right now…

 **[rising_hope]:** So close, he even turns down his soon-to-be-ex-lover to spend time with me!

 **[lonely]:** that sounds so nice…

 **[lonely]:** I wish someone would like _me_ this much…

 **[lonely]:** Maybe I’m just unlovable?

 **[quiet_storm]:** your attitude certainly doesn’t help, dude.

 **[quiet_storm]:** You need to own your worth.

 **[doubting]:** own my worth…?

 **[doubting]:** Yeah, I’ll tell him that! I mean her – him?

 **[doubting]:** Uhm my weird significant other who keeps nagging me

 **[doubting]:** no idea why I’m having such a hard time with this right now.

 **[smashing_it]:** who cares about gender man, love who you love

 **[lonely]:** oh god, can you lend me some of your confidence?

 **[lonely]:** I feel like I really need some for tomorrow

 **[lonely]** : ...like I have to face someone really important?

 **[quiet_storm]:** wow, grow some balls of your own, dude

 **[doubting]:** no more talk about growing!!

 **[rising_hope]:** uff, I feel like something’s growing in my pants right now? Is this a new kink?

 **-** **[quiet_storm]** , **[doubting]** and **[rising_hope]** have left the DreamServer –

 **\- [wondering]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[smashing_it]:** haha, what was their problem?

 **[smashing_it]:** Must be tough, I mean, sure, I’m also dealing with this dude who’s supposed to help me but he’s acting all weird?

 **[smashing_it]:** Nothing that can stop me, but…

 **[wondering]:** Do you realize how hard it is to help someone as stubborn as a mule??

 **[lonely]:** Wow, I mean, at least someone is TRYING to be there for you…

 **[smashing_it]:** ehm wtf guys I don’t even know you – I’m just saying that he’s asking me to do things that I’m not really comfortable with and -

 **[wondering]:** yeah, pancakes are delicious, but going on a diet is not the end of the world!!

 **[wondering]:** How is that so hard to understand??

 **[smashing_it]:** …

 **[smashing_it]:** okay then

 **[lonely]:** you really seem to be going through it – I feel like we have already talked about some extra chub on here today…

 **[lonely]:** DEFINITELY nothing that I have to worry about though

 **[smashing_it]:** mhm, you don’t say… I’m really into buff dudes

 **[wondering]:** now, I didn’t say I was into dudes! I have a girlfriend – I think

 **[smashing_it]:** a fattie, huh?

 **[wondering]:** no dude!! Ah, whatever

 **[wondering]:** I’m also worried about my friends, there is some serious drama going on and I’m not sure what to do about it…

 **[wondering]:** I mean, romance between teammates, that can’t work out – right?

 **[lonely]:** how could romance ever work out?

 **[lonely]:** It _never_ seems to work out for me…

 **[smashing_it]:** romance across rivalling teams, now THAT is hot…

 **[wondering]:** you guys are no help at all 

**[wondering]:** I guess I can only rely on my own smarts...

 **\- [wondering]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[smashing_it]:** no way haha, the dude’s got no humour

 **[lonely]:** yeah, uhm, what you said earlier really did sound kind of hot

 **[lonely]:** I mean I’m kind of desperate at this point

 **[smashing_it]:** I don’t know, man, you might want to take some time for yourself

 **[smashing_it]:** confidence is what really makes a man sexy

 **[smashing_it]:** the dude I’m after might even be described as a bit cocky...

 **[smashing_it]:** but he really has _earned_ the right to be cocky…

 **[lonely]:** oh please, spare me the details

 **[lonely]:** I’d rather go back to feeling sorry for myself than to hear about this ominous larger-than-life guy, thank you very much

 **-** **[lonely]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[smashing_it]:** suit yourself then!

 **[smashing_it]:** now, to the issue on hand

 **[smashing_it]:** am I going to sell my body to achieve my goal or not?

 **-** **[smashing_it]** has left the DreamServer -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you figure out who's who? What kind of conflicts are you excited for in Part 3? 
> 
> As always, thank you for tuning in! As per usual, Rekkles' POV will be the first of the next part :)


	8. Part 3: Martin

As the days went by, Martin felt as if he was sleepwalking. Scrims, team meetings, even going to the gym – he felt nothing of it. It was as if his head was always up in the clouds, so far away that no one could reach it. Well – he didn’t exactly feel like his teammates were _trying_ to reach him. Especially Tim had been so distant after the last time Martin tried to – well, what was he even trying to do back then? As he fumbled around with his hair, which just didn’t seem to sit right today, he felt the heat rising to his cheeks. _I’m such an idiot_ , he thought.

Now that Tim preferred to spend his evenings with Selfmade, not even looking Martin in the eyes all day long, he really felt like he made a fatal mistake. He reached for the hairspray, slowly but surely getting just as frustrated with his hair as he currently was with his love life. Today, he would have really needed Tim to be by his side – not just physically, he would be standing next to him after all. No, what he really needed was some kind of reassurance. He needed to feel like he was not alone, like he was wanted. How was he supposed to hold up otherwise when he might see _him_?

He combed back his hair with an unnecessary amount of force – _what am I even doing? I need to own it_ , he thought to himself and put down the brush. And yes, maybe he meant that he would own his bad-hair-day during the official photoshoot for the Spring Split 2020 – or maybe he meant finally getting back to his old confident self, as some quiet voice deep inside his mind told him to.

As Fnatic’s van rolled up to the studio, Martin had a hard time maintaining a calm headspace. His teammates were even louder than usual – Hylissang and Bwipo were arguing about the "skintight" fit of Gabriël’s jersey, Alfonso was urging Oskar to really open his eyes for the camera while Tim was practically sleeping right next to them – it was pure _chaos_. Sure, Martin cared about looking good on the pictures for the promo; but that was not what he was really worried about right now.

When he exited the car, he spotted G2’s van parked just a few meters away from them. _Fuck_ , he thought while slightly clenching his fists. Of course their schedules had to collide – at this point, it didn’t feel like it was a coincidence anymore. Martin felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused the Swede to almost jump up, shaking him out of his gloom for a moment.

“Whoa, sorry Martin, didn’t mean to startle you – are you ready to shoot?” Alfonso smiled at him, but it was not wide enough to cover his slightly concerned expression.

Fnatic’s new coach seemed a bit worried about the upcoming photoshoot. Martin briefly ran his fingers through his hair, as if that could magically fix the blonde nest he had tried to tame earlier that morning. He didn’t want Alfonso to worry because of him – no, he didn’t want to be a _professional burden_ on top of all of his other bullshit. So he cracked a half-smile and replied, “Yeah, sure, I was just thinking about what kind of pose I could come up with today.”

Alfonso chuckled as he slowly tried to gather all of Fnatic’s members who were escaping the van, guiding them towards the entrance, almost like he was the shepherd of a confused bunch of sheep. Martin was in no hurry to get inside, so he was the last to slouch after his teammates, who were still eagerly deliberating over who knows what.

When he finally stepped inside, he noticed a couple of people dressed in dark blue jerseys entering the designated location for the photoshoot – _MAD lions_ , Martin thought while inspecting them closely. He noticed that Tim was eyeing them just as intensely, lifting his gaze from his OnePlus for an extended amount of time. As Martin watched Tim looking at the logo of his former team with awe, he realized just how much he missed _being_ the object of his midlaner’s admiration – even if it was just for a brief moment.

When the squad passed a specifically ominous open door, Martin couldn’t help but to slow down his pace and glance inside to see if he could spot him – and there he was, staring right back at the Swede who had, by now, almost come to a full stop. Martin tried to look calm and confident, but when Caps dared to shoot him a cocky wink, he felt the heat rise to his cheeks. He turned away, but he found himself standing right there, in front of G2’s lounge, unable to set another foot forward. It was actually Hylissang that turned back and noticed the team’s ADC falling behind.

With a slightly concerned look on his face, he called out to him, “Rekkles! Are you coming?”

Martin quickly turned away, and, as he heard a childish giggle that could have only come from Bwipo, he signalled that he had to go to the toilet, which was located down the other hallway. He heard another quarrel unfold behind him, but he managed to block that out. His objective right now was to get a grip, since he, literally and figuratively, didn’t want his teammates to see him sweat.

Martin was rushing to pat his glossy forehead with a paper towel in front of the mirror when the door of the restroom swung open with a bang. He flinched but tried not to look up from his own reflection; he had a bad feeling in his gut. Paper towel still in hand, Martin grabbed the sink for support and closed his eyes. A wise decision, considering that, just a few seconds later, his knees almost gave in as he felt the hot breath of the intruder on his neck.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered, trembling in the anticipation of a hand on his shoulder, his back, or maybe…

”What do you mean? This is a public restroom, maybe I just want to check myself out in the mirror like you,” the familiar voice replied playfully.Martin could swear he felt the lips, which were almost touching the back of his ear now, forming a huge smile – the kind of smile which was simply too big for the face of –

“Caps. Please. Why did you follow me?” the Swede took the chance to swing around, now facing his former midlane with the most serious expression he could pull off. Caps didn’t move back, not even an inch; instead, he lifted his head to look directly into Martin’s eyes. They were not touching, but they were so, so painfully close to each other.

“Following you sounds a bit harsh, but yeah, maybe I wanted to talk to you,” Rasmus explained, still with a smirk on his face, “You must have heard the news, no?”

Martin swallowed hard. This conversation was uncomfortable for him for more reasons than he could count, and he certainly didn’t want to talk about the stupid role swap now; but what was the alternative? He could see Rasmus’ collarbone through the V-Neck of his slightly too big G2 jersey, and the sight of his light skin that he knew felt so soft to the touch – it took him to a dark and dirty place in his mind. A place that he had, even though he would never admit it, visited a couple of times ever since the news about Caps moving to the botlane spread.

“Oh, you want to talk about that now?” Martin almost hissed as he spoke, “I know that hurting me is a hobby of yours, but I didn’t think you would go this far.”

For a moment, Rasmus looked surprised and almost as if he wanted to say something. But instead, he decided to move in a little bit closer, placing both of his hands on the sink behind Martin. He still wasn’t touching him, but the Swede was backed up as much as he could – he was trapped.

Rasmus raised an eyebrow as he whispered, “Mhm, hurting you is not really what I had in mind…I don’t think that’s what’s on your mind right now either.”

Out of reflex, Martin closed his eyes when he saw his former midlaner’s lips move closer to his own – or maybe it was just that he, finally, couldn’t resist anymore.

Even though their lips had not touched in over a year, Martin felt as if they had never parted in the first place. It felt so warm, so soft – he could feel his whole body starting to tingle and, at this point, he lost all the control he was so desperately trying to hold on to before. He returned the kiss with a burning passion and reached out to enclose Rasmus into a tight embrace. While they tumbled backwards into one of the bathroom stalls, Caps ran his fingers through Martin’s messy hair and playfully bit his bottom lip, just like he always used to do a very long time ago. It drove the ADC insane.

He pressed Rasmus up against the wall of the stall and slipped one of his hands under his jersey, softly caressing the Dane’s naked back. They kissed each other as if they had been starving ever since the last time they eloped – it was raw, sloppy, perhaps even a bit animalistic. And, because they were moving so fast, it didn’t take long for both of them to notice that the bulges in their pants grew as they rhythmically grinded their bodies against each other. Martin pulled away from the kiss just for a second, still holding onto Rasmus’ with both of his hands, to look down.

He loosely inspected his raging boner, which was pressed up against his black sweatpants, and tried to find a clear moment to think about his options. But his mind, just as his vision, was blurry and clouded. When he looked back up into Caps’ blue eyes, which were watery and popped even more in contrast to his flushed cheeks, his heart skipped a beat – yes, there truly was _no way_ to make a smart decision right now. He dove back into the kiss and slowly let his hands slide down into Rasmus’ boxers. He felt Caps moan against his lips as he wrapped his fingers around his twitching cock. He tightly grasped onto the Dane’s ass with his other hand as he playfully bit into his neck and started moving just a little.

Rasmus breathed heavily, trying to keep the noise down, but it was obvious just how _impossible_ the Swede's touch made that for him. Usually, he would have tried to pull down Martin’s pants by now, eager as he was – but, for some reason, he didn’t move his hands away from the ADC’s hair and shoulders. This was, however, not something Martin was concerned with right now, in the rush of things.

He felt Rasmus’ cock getting even harder as he moved it up and down, and, as he brought their lips back together to muffle the moans, he slightly pulled down his own sweatpants to touch his dick, which was already aching for attention. Rasmus licked his lips as he watched Martin using both hands to rub both of their pricks together with increasing speed. The Swede pressed his face against the Dane’s shoulder and whispered _fuck_ under his breath as he felt his balls clenching up, just moments after starting the motion. Caps buried his fingernails in Martin’s back as he thrusted into his hands with a muffled moan. As they both came together, Martin realized just how much he had been longing for this sweet relief – and not just with anybody, but with _him_. They were still pumping hot semen onto the ACD’s hands, panting and trying to catch their breath, when suddenly, they heard the door swing open.

“Rekkles? This is taking a bit too long in here, we are up soon! So I’m here to get you,” Hylissang shouted into the restroom, not stepping inside at first. But, since Caps was pressing one hand onto Martin’s mouth and signalling him to stay shush with the other, there was no response.

“…Rekkles, come on, we really have to get going,” Hyli continued with a more concerned tone. After the initial shock was gone, Caps removed his hand and let Rekkles speak, while raising his eyebrows in anticipation this time.

“Is something wrong?” The voice of the concerned Support was coming dangerously close to the stall now.

Martin was still out of breath, but he managed to sound surprisingly normal when he replied, “Yeah, sorry, I think the milk in my coffee might have been bad today, but I’ll be there in a second!”

Rasmus nodded and looked pleasantly surprised by the spontaneous alibi his former ADC came up with. It took a moment, but it appeared as if it was enough to make the concerned support feel at ease again, and, with a soft “sorry to hear that, I’ll tell the others to be a bit more patient,” he left the restroom.

"Shit, that was close," Martin mumbled under his breath when he stared down to inspect the "damage" on his hands.

The cum of the ADCs had mixed together, compromising at a slightly milky colour and somewhat fluid, yet sticky texture. It was dripping down his fingers slowly, and the ADc prayed for the drops to miss his sweatpants. For a moment, Martin wondered whether Rasmus' sperm might have been clearer, thinner - whether he could have done this with someone else recently. He clenched his right fist slightly when this thought crossed his mind, causing even more of the cloudy fluid to flood out. But Martin quickly realized that this was not the thing he should be worrying about right now

As he snapped out of mesmerization, Martin pulled away from Caps and quickly grabbed some toilet paper to clean his hands with. Now, that the rush was over, he realized the gravity of the situation he was in right now. While he made an even bigger mess of his hands, which were now sticky AND full of toilet paper scraps, he thought about Tim finding out about this – and then, in the next moment, he thought about what _this_ even meant to him.

He stormed out of the stall to scrub his hands with some soap and water, and the panic took over his mind. Meanwhile, Rasmus seemed oddly relaxed – way too relaxed. He didn’t even attempt to wash his hands; he simply pulled up his sweatpants, slowly strolled out of the stall and, as he walked over to the door, whispered into Martin’s ear, “You really must have missed me, huh?” And, before the Swede could even react, the door closed behind the Dane – he was gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you been waiting for some actual smut to go down? ;) Have you maybe been expecting it?
> 
> As I promised, things will start to unravel a bit quicker going forward - how do you feel about that? I'd be excited to hear your thoughts!


	9. Part 3: Tim

Ever since Tim had decided to keep his distance from Martin for the time being, he felt a lot more at ease with himself. The whole back and forth with the ADC had really taken a toll on the midlaner’s heart – and, even though he still loved him so much that it hurt, taking charge of the situation made him feel a little less helpless. He did, of course, start to feel a bit lonely as the days went by. Luckily, Oskar had spared no effort to fill the times when Tim missed Martin the most with DuoQ-games and a lot of fun. But, naturally, he couldn’t be a replacement for the Swede – no, that was certainly not what Tim was after.

Even though the thought of him being a replacement for the Team’s former midlaner in more than just a professional sense had hurt Tim much deeper than he would like to admit, it was not enough to rid him of his feelings. His _desire_. He still longed for Martin like he did when he first kissed him, in his dark hotel room in Los Angeles where they stayed at for Rift Rivals the year before. And he wanted him, yes; but he needed to know that the ADC wanted him, too. He just needed to be a little more patient.

If Tim loathed anything more than getting up early, it was certainly getting up early to go to a photoshoot. He had arranged himself with the large amounts of photographs and videos he had to appear in since he had joined Fnatic, but the disturbance of his natural sleeping cycle for some dumb pictures was simply unforgivable. When he slouched into the direction of the team’s van, he had to fight the urge to run back inside to hide under his covers with all the strength he had.

He had popped in some earphones in the hopes that no one would try to talk to him – he needed all of his concentration just to stay awake. When he sank down in his car seat, he decided to close his eyes for just a second. The seat next to him was quickly filled with Oskar, and an overly eager Mithy followed. The conversations during the car ride were wild, ranging from another marital quarrel between Hyli and Bwipo to a full-blown lecture about successfully posing for a picture held by Alfonso – but the only thing Tim really noticed was what he was _not_ hearing _. Martin is so quiet today_ , he thought as he slowly dozed off.

With a loud bang, the door of the van swung open, which caused Tim to abruptly awaken from his slumber. Oskar was already pulling him a little by the sleeve, signalling him to get out of the car. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his teammate’s impatience. Even though Oskar didn’t leave his side, even after he clumsily climbed out of the van, he respected his headphones to the point where he didn’t attempt to talk to him. It was nothing too special, but Tim appreciated it.

Out of reflex, Tim looked back to find Rekkles as they started to walk towards the studio. It was unusual for the ADC to lag behind this much – he seemed off today. He quickly averted his gaze to the ground and relied on the chitchat around him to guide his way to FNATIC’s lounge, where they would wait for their turn to shoot. When they passed G2’s lounge on their way, he couldn’t help but glare into the room, scanning it for the man responsible for his current misery. It was hard for him to control his expression when his gaze met Caps’ – then again, he didn’t stop walking, so it could have only lasted a second long. The Dane couldn’t have realized that the anger in the midlaner’s face was directed at him, right?

As he thought about it, the man responsible for his misery was probably someone else – he glanced back and saw Martin standing still in front of lounge’s entrance. This sight caused Tim to flinch, but he didn’t freeze up. He kept walking. He felt Oskar’s hand on his shoulder for about a second – just long enough for him to feel the moral support, but fast enough for the other teammates not to notice. A thousand different scenarios crossed his mind as he sat down on one of the couches in Fnatic’s lounge, all decked out in black and orange. Hylissang was the last person to enter the room, and he didn’t close the door behind him. So Tim stared into the hallway, and he waited, and he was hopeful – but Martin was nowhere to be seen.

“…It’s not like I’m _monitoring_ it, I’m just saying that he normally doesn’t go to the toilet this often in the morning,” Hylissang argued loudly, and this particularly weird statement pulled Tim out of his mental prison for a moment.

He still wore his headphones, isolating himself from his team, but he decided to sneakily listen in on the conversation Hylissang and Bwipo were having right next to him. Doing so had, after all, provided him with valuable information last time.

“And you think saying that is any less strange? For god’s sake, let the man poop in peace!” Bwipo exclaimed while wildly gesturing with his hands. If Tim had had any less self-control, he might have started laughing – but he managed to keep it together, remaining in stealth mode.

Tim caught a glimpse of Hylissang rolling his eyes before he replied, “I’m not trying to stop him from doing that, I’m just _worried_!”

Bwipo’s elbow slightly touched Tim’s arm for a second as the toplaner crossed his arms; he seemed quite discontent with the fact that the support was worrying about his ADC. This certainly surprised Tim, and, just for a moment, he stopped thinking about Martin to consider the nature of the relationship between Bwipo and Hylissang. Sure, they joked about them being an old married couple all the time – but they both had girlfriends, as far as he was concerned, so he had never really thought about the actual possibility of them being anything beyond good friends. _Then again, what the hell do I know about romance_ , the Slovenian thought with a quiet sigh.

Since his train of thought had led him astray, he missed out on some parts of the conversation; the next thing he managed to catch up on was Hyli’s concerned gaze, which he knew oh too well by now. Especially during his first weeks with the team, Hylissang had treated him like a baby bird that had fallen out of the nest. Maybe that was what made him such a good support player – it just came natural to him to care about everyone’s needs.

Hyli was, indeed, “…such a mother! But yeah, if it makes you feel any better, how about you go and check whether he needs help with his diaper.” Bwipo chuckled and mimed cradling a baby with his arms.

Hyli reached out to pinch the toplaner, but Tim could tell that the support was giggling as well. As he watched Hylissang walk out of the lounge towards the restrooms, Tim checked for the time on his OnePlus phone. Roughly 15 minutes must have gone by since he had last seen Martin. Only 15 minutes. _Even in the worst possible scenario, nothing too bad can happen in 15 minutes, right?_ He tried to convince himself.

When Hylissang returned to the lounge alone just a couple of minutes later, Tim felt his heart grow a lot heavier. He didn’t let it show on his face, but he eagerly waited for the support to explain why he hadn’t dragged Martin back to the team.

“He said he drank some bad milk or something,” he explained as he sat back down onto the couch next to the toplaner.

“You don’t sound awfully convinced – do you really doubt his ability to let milk expire in the kitchen he never uses?” Bwipo remarked playfully.

Hylissang shook his head and crossed his arms – he seemed to get back into his “detective mode”. Tim fiddled around with some gum wrapper he felt in the pocket of his sweatpants, anxious of what the support player might have found out.

“It’s just that – have you ever gone to the toilet right after him at the office? Even if he did upset his stomach somehow today, I just don’t think it’s believable that the restroom wouldn’t _smell_ like it.” Hylissang stared towards the ground as he lay out the facts for his toplaner,

“…also, for a moment, I felt like I saw a black shoe in the stall even though Rekkles only wears white ones? I mean I didn’t bend down to _really_ look for his shoes, I’m not that creepy!” The support sounded a bit flustered as he murmured the last part – maybe he realized that his actions went beyond what could be considered normal.

“Your imagination must have played a trick on you there, man! Look – there he comes now, and he’s clearly wearing white shoes!” Bwipo said as he pointed towards the doorway.

There he was indeed. When Tim lifted his gaze to inspect the ADC’s face, he found him staring directly at him. For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, they just looked into each other’s eyes. No matter how much he wanted to, Tim couldn’t look away. No matter how much he didn’t want to notice, he saw the sadness in Martin’s eyes. No matter how much he didn’t want to know, he knew who the black shoes Hylissang had seen belonged to.

It must have been the worst photoshoot of Tim’s career, by far. Everything felt off – the way in which he had to stand right next to Martin without being able to talk to him, the way he had to look as confident as possible in his solo pictures even though he felt like bursting into tears, heck, even the way in which Alfonso tried to motivate them from the back of the set poked him the wrong way.

When they finally arrived in the office after an entire day of mental torture, the midlaner was more than ready to bury himself under his covers, hiding away from the world. But, before he even had the chance to take off his shoes in the hallway, he felt a firm grip on his arm – an oh-so-familiar sensation that he hadn’t felt in a while.

“Could we please talk? I know you – I mean we haven’t really, you know,” Martin stuttered, and Tim could tell how embarrassed the ADC was by the rosy colour of his cheeks.

Maybe it was because he felt the Swede’s desperation – or maybe it was because he was so desperate himself – that he decided to nod. The midlaner made his way towards his room without a word. Martin followed him swiftly without drawing too much attention from his teammates – all except for one, since Oskar stood in his own doorway, right next to Tim’s room. He stared at the both of them passing him but didn’t say anything as the ADC closed the door behind him.

Since Tim’s legs wouldn’t allow him to stand upright much longer, he decided to sit down on his bed. Almost instinctively, Martin sat down next to him – but with a cautious distance, making sure that their legs couldn’t touch. It had been a while since they had last been alone together like this. Something deep inside of Tim wanted to reach out to touch him, to finally be close to him again – but he remained still.

“Thank you for doing this,” Martin began, “I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t …urgent.”

Tim closed his eyes and nodded, determined to hear the ADC out first.

“These last weeks have been so hard for me, Tim. This huge distance between us; and you hanging around with Selfmade all the time…it was so hard to take for me,” Martin explained, and Tim could tell how nervous he must have been by how shaky his voice sounded.

He didn’t look at the ADC when he replied, “and that’s why you fucked Caps in the restroom?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim could see Martin’s shocked expression - there was a long pause.

“How…why…how could you-” the Swede stuttered in disbelief, but no proper sentence left his lips. Tim flinched and finally turned to face Martin.

“It was just a hunch. But yeah, I guess I was right.” The midlaner whispered with a pained expression on his face. Another pause.

“You have to understand – he tricked me, he used me, he just left me standing there in this mess like a complete joke and - and it was a mistake!” Martin exclaimed as he reached for the midlaner’s hand as a single tear made its way down his flushed cheek.

He wanted to, but Tim didn’t pull away from the Swede’s touch. Maybe he just really, really wanted to believe his words. Martin’s voice trembled even more when he continued to speak, “Please, please just give me another chance. I – I think I really want to be with you, you know?”

Tim fliched as the words pierced through him like daggers. _You think you do? After all this?_ He tried to gather his thoughts before he responded,

“I just don’t know if that’s…good. I think I need some time to think and –“ he looked towards his computer, “I promised Oskar to play some DuoQ with him after the shoot. You should probably go.”

Keeping up a strong front took every strain of self-control Tim had, but he couldn’t allow himself to sink into Martin’s arms. Not today, not like this. Suddenly, he felt Martin’s grip tightening.

“…Oskar? Oskar, Oskar, Oskar – my god, Tim, could you finally STOP this? You can’t really be stupid enough to _not realize_ how badly that dude wants to fuck you!” Martin was almost shouting at this point. Tim was baffled.

“I don’t – you don’t know what you’re talking about! He just cares about me…he’s my friend,” Tim said, barely whispering the last part.

He had pushed this thought away for a long time now – he didn’t want it to be true, above anything.

Martin jumped up and angrily hissed, “Fine, whatever, be like this then… I just can’t do this anymore! Make up your fucking mind!”

Before Tim had the chance to reply, the ADC had already stormed out of the room. As Tim sat there, alone on his bed, still shocked and confused, he didn’t know whether he wanted to cry or to scream. He didn’t know whether he was angry or sad or, anything, really. _So much for the plan_ , he thought as he let himself fall flat on his back. With no one to turn to, he let the helplessness overcome him. He closed his eyes with high hopes, as if he could find the answers to all of his questions in his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you feel about Tim's POV? Do you think he should have reacted differently?
> 
> What are your thoughts on detective Hyli's investigation? Let me know in the comments ;)


	10. Part 3: Rasmus

For the first couple of days after suggesting the roleswap to his team, Rasmus felt as if he was walking on air. Even though he still didn’t sleep too well during the nights, he was back to his old, overly energized self. Taking charge and facing his struggle head on – that’s what he wanted to do. The one thing he still couldn’t quite point his finger at was, however, _what_ exactly it was that he was trying to achieve.

As the first hints concerning the roleswap were already flooding social media, he was sure that Martin would stumble upon them in no time – so the confrontation was about to begin. But Rasmus couldn’t say for sure whether he just wanted to _get back_ at him, or if really wanted him back. Then again, maybe it was true to his chaotic nature that he just wanted _something_ to happen. He didn’t have much time to think about the specifics of the situation anyways, because the G2 squad had to put in extra work to make the big change happen.

Jankos and Perkz were playing a lot of DuoQ to get back into their old groove, and Caps and Mikyx also spent a lot more time playing together these days. Wunder was probably the one least affected by the roleswap, as he hadn’t cared for the first one either; you could call it the lonely life of a toplaner. Overall, the team's dynamics were changing. In order for his plan to work, Rasmus really needed this to _work_ , he needed them to succeed in the upcoming Spring Split more than anything. But, after a couple of days of playing DuoQ with Mihael, the first obstacle came up.

“Wow, uhm, we seem to be really unlucky today, huh?” Caps asked with a crooked smile as he took off his headset, the screen in front of him showing the stats of his fifth lost game in a row. Mihael, who was sitting right next to him, didn’t turn to look at him and seemed to be really frustrated.

“Unlucky? We SUCK man.” The support whispered angrily.

Rasmus’ smile disappeared, and, even though he tried to come up with the words for it, he couldn’t disagree. _We did suck_ , he thought and sighed. He had a hard time with understanding why they couldn’t seem to win. They used to play together all the time before worlds, as they got along quite well in general – but, somehow, it almost felt as if they had lost their synergy. They kept losing their lane, couldn’t find the right focus in mid- and late-game, and, finally, they couldn’t really coordinate well during fights.

Even though Caps was fairly new to the ADC role, he was still confident in his skills and didn’t feel as if he was playing worse than usual. But even if it was Mihael’s fault – he couldn’t just _say_ that, could he? While trying to be as careful as possible, he decided to ask his support about it.

“Look, is there anything we could do to improve the way we play together? Anything you did a year ago with Luka when he moved to the botlane?” he smiled warmly and turned in his chair.

Mihael let out a big sigh and, for a second, it looked like he was blushing. _Is he embarrassed?_ The support nervously fidgeted back and forth with his right leg while pulling the other one up – he was clearly uncomfortable.

“No – I mean, nothing that _we_ could do at least.” Mihael said after a long pause. Rasmus was confused.

“What do you mean? You don’t think I’m as smart as _Luka_?” He grinned, almost chuckling about his own joke.

“Yeah, okay, maybe not as handsome, but I beat him in boardgames all the time!” He giggled nervously as he awaited Mihael’s response.

Normally, he would have joined in with another snarky remark by now. But, instead, the support remained quiet. He looked oddly serious. Rasmus started to get seriously worried at this point – with one eyebrow raised in concern, he moved his chair a bit closer to his support.

“Seriously, what do you mean?” Rasmus said, and immediately, he saw Mihael’s mouth trembling, as if he was about to say something, for a moment; but then he shook his head.

“I just can’t tell you, you know? It would freak you out… No one knows about it. And we are friends, right? I don’t want that to change.” Mihael’s voice was shaking as he spoke.

Rasmus still didn’t understand, but he definitely didn’t like seeing his friend in this state. He put his hand on Mihael’s shoulder.

“Of course we are friends, that’s not going to change no matter what! But I really want to play, you know, good next Split. So please tell me what we can do to make that happen, pretty please?” He gave his support a wide smile in the hopes of unravelling this mystery.

“Even if I told you, there’s no guarantee that it would work but –“ he looked Rasmus in the eyes with weird intensity “- okay, I’ll tell you.”

\---

“Wait, wait, wait – you and Luka did _WHAT_?” Rasmus said for the third time, his mouth still agape in shock.

Even though he thought he could handle about anything at this moment, he surely would have never expected this turn of events. When he left Fnatic, he felt so sure about leaving this kind of drama at the front door. Now, he realized that he had simply turned a blind eye on what was so obviously right in front of him.

“Yeah man, we fucked. Like a lot. Until recently.” Mihael was still embarrassed and mostly didn’t look at Rasmus as he explained the situation, but his voice was no longer shaking.

“And that improved your performance…how?” Rasmus asked with the confusion still written all over his face.

“Well – it’s how we build our trust, I guess? He was rough with me and I guess I…” The support looked down at his hands, “…kind of need that? I know it sounds weird, but I just need to _feel_ the power dynamic when I play support.”

Rasmus noticed how flushed Mihael’s cheeks were. As surprising as this felt to him, he still admired the support player for coming forward – he could tell that it was incredibly hard for him. He took a moment to consider the new information; there was something that didn’t quite add up.

“Okay – okay. I mean this still sounds really crazy to me right now, but there is one thing I don’t understand. Why exactly were we able to play well together before Worlds, but can’t seem to make it work now?”

Mihael shook his head softly as a response, the words not leaving his lips. _Oh_ , Caps thought, _so it’s because they stopped_. He felt pearls of sweat forming on his forehead as he tried to weigh his options. Mikyx couldn’t really be asking him for what he thought he was asking for, right?

“I just don’t think we can be as good if we don’t – I mean, if no one really makes a mess of me…Sorry, I just don’t know how to say it,” Mihael stuttered as he brought his hands up to cover his eyes.

Rasmus realized that the support wouldn’t have suggested this if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, as embarrassed as he looked. It was, still, not any easier to deal with this extraordinary situation.

“Well, uhm, maybe it doesn’t have to be me? Maybe you could ask Luka to continue to, uhm, do you? And then you pretend I’m him or something, like you did before?” Rasmus mumbled with a nervous smile.

He couldn’t help but think about Martin. He never really fantasized or even _thought_ about kissing anyone else – in this past year, he had stayed completely abstinent. It didn’t really feel like a big deal until this point. But, now, as he was faced with the potential scenario of being intimate with his teammate, he was working up quite the sweat. _Could I really go through with it?_ He thought as he felt his head spinning. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Mikyx was shaking his head again.

“He won’t…I don’t think he wants to, really, now that there is no purpose. It was never more than sex to any of us. And, frankly, I don’t think it would work out as well if it’s not you and me,” Mihael explained with a solemn expression on his face. He turned to face his new ADC.

“I get it if you say that you are not into guys, but I just felt some vibes from you so maybe you- maybe you could consider it?”

Suddenly, Caps felt Mihael’s eyes beaming at him. He felt his heart drop a little, as his face hadn’t been this close to another guy’s in a long time – and, hell, he couldn’t deny that he thought Mikyx was easy on the eyes, either. He swallowed hard before he replied,

“Yeah, no, you guessed that right. I, uhm – I guess I didn’t have the best run with dating a teammate though.” This time, it was Rasmus who blushed.

Mihael gave him a soft smile, “I thought so. Let me guess – Rekkles?”

At this point, Caps’ face must have been as red as a tomato. He had not seen that one coming.

“Ehm – what? How did you know?” He stuttered clumsily.

“I’m not an idiot, man. I might be wearing glasses, but I still _see_ things – the way you always stare at him in the studio, for example…” Mihael chuckled, and it was the first time in days that Rasmus had seen him laugh.

He felt a bit embarrassed, as he had thought that no one knew about them – like it was this big secret. But, in a way, he also felt relieved.

“Yeah, it’s true. To be honest, I don’t know whether I’m over him at all – that’s also why I don’t know whether I can do _this_.” He paused. He hoped that Mihael would understand, that he would say that they would find another way – but he didn’t. The support sighed.

“That’s too bad. I really don’t know if we can win then – I really don’t. Maybe you could think about it a bit more?” Mihael put his hand on his ADC’s shoulder this time.

“I can tell how much it means to you to be successful on the botlane, especially since we will be facing off against _him_.”

Rasmus flinched. It was true, but he had tried to push his immense desire for victory to the back of his mind during this conversation up until now. It was a simple equation. No matter the specifics, if he couldn’t win, then he couldn’t get anywhere. He really couldn’t risk that – but could he go through with fucking another guy? It seemed to be an impossible choice.

“I guess I could, uhm, think about it at least. Give me a couple of days, okay?” He forced a smile as he felt his hands shaking.

With the Spring Split right around the corner, he really didn’t have much more time than a couple of days to think about it. For the moment, he decided to take things one step at a time – maybe he would know what to do once he saw _him_ again. With their photoshoot for the Spring Split coming up the next day, he probably wouldn’t have to wait long.

As Caps let himself fall onto the black couch in G2’s lounge, he let out a big sigh. He couldn’t exactly tell whether he was excited or nervous – either way, he couldn’t seem to really settle down. Mikyx sat down next to him, and Luka proceeded to take the spot on his other side. Surrounded by the former botlane of the squad, the Dane couldn’t help but think about what his support had confessed to him the night before.

He felt his cheeks flush slightly as he pictured what they might have done in the bedroom for a second – then, his eyes widened as he wondered whether they had done it in other rooms off the gaming apartment as well. _What about the bathroom? Did they fuck in the bathroom?_ He thought while glancing back and forth between them, with his expression changing as his thoughts were spinning. From the outside, it was quite a funny sight.

“…Caps? CAPS!” The loud voice of his jungler caused Rasmus to snap out of his daydream. Marcin stared at him as if he was expecting something.

“I ASKED you what kind of pictures you are getting, man! This is serious!” He repeated, even louder this time.

 _Ah, this again_ , Rasmus thought as a wide smile formed on his lips. The team had had conversations about “fan mail” on plenty occasions in the past – and, since Rasmus had assumed that his teammates were strictly heterosexual, he hadn’t exactly been honest about his preferences when it came to spicy pictures. Then again, he had never lied about it, either.

“Oh, you know,” he began while raising an eyebrow and running his fingers through his hair, making his best effort to mock Jankos, “It’s mostly hot girls, wearing nothing but my jersey…or less.”

Jankos’ mouth was wide open, and the outrage was written all over his face – beside Caps, Perkz started to laugh wholeheartedly.

“Oh my god, see, I told you that you were the only one with this problem, Jankos!” The midlaner was clearly having a blast. Meanwhile, Marcin had crossed his arms and looked like he was pouting.

“I don’t get it, man. I really don’t get it! You guys are drowning in pussy, and all I’m getting are dick pics! SO. MANY. DICKS. Am I really asking for too much here?” Jankos almost cried out his plead, now facing his teammates again,

“I mean, sure, most of them are fake, but who cares, right? Perkz, please forward me some nudes, oh please!” The whole squad was cackling by now, all at the expense of their pained jungler.

“I could also send you some,” Rasmus began, trying to supress his laughter, “but you would have to gank botlane every game in the Spring Split then!”

Jankos brought his hands to his face and gestured wildly with them as he responded, “Every game?? How dude, that’s just too much! Meet me halfway!”

Perkz lifted his hand and, with a more serious voice, interrupted the negotiations. “Hey, no fair! Leave the ganking out of this! Also – not all of the girls are fake, you know. I’ve met up with this one fan last weekend, and I can assure you that she is even hotter than in her pictures,” he smirked.

The laughter stopped abruptly, and the eyes of the whole G2 squad were suddenly directed at the screen of Luka’s phone. Since Rasmus was sitting right next to him, he also pretended to stare with enthusiasm to check her out – in reality, his thoughts were spinning around his “situation” with Mihael. If Perkz was actually seeing someone new now, and a girl on top of that, the chances of him going back to taking care of the support’s needs would get a lot slimmer.

He felt his forehead getting sweaty as he looked down to inspect the pictures. _Damn, she’s cute_ , he thought while flinching slightly. He was certainly not into girls, but he did have perfect eyesight. Jankos’ face was so close to the phone that it almost touched the screen; like a little kid, he asked to see more of the beautiful blonde girl with the _luscious_ lips and the _banging_ booty.

But Luka laughed and let his phone slide back into his pocket, “Nah man, the rest is reserved for my eyes ONLY. But it’s quite a sight, I’ll tell you this much!”

Jankos tried his hardest to convince Perkz otherwise, but, at this point, Rasmus stopped paying attention to the chitchat and, instead, glanced over to his right to see how Mihael was holding up. To his surprise, there was no change in the Slovenian’s expression at all – he still looked like he was having a good time with this. _Maybe there really is sex without love_ , he quietly thought for a moment.

Up until now, he never truly had to consider both of these things as separate ideas. And, of course, as the word “love” stumbled across his mind, he couldn’t help but think about his own beautiful blonde. _He must be coming in soon_ , he thought while staring into the hallway through the open door of the lounge. He nervously bit his lip, trying to think about what he would do if he walked past him right now. Or maybe now? He felt as if he was waiting for some bread to jump out of a toaster – staring at the door as if he could make Martin appear through his sheer willpower.

After an eternity of staring into the empty hallway – at least it felt this long to Rasmus – he saw Mithy walking past the lounge. _Oh, right, he’s their new coach_ , he thought as his eyes widened a little. His hands were clutching his knees at this point. _Any second now_ , he thought as he watched one Fnatic member after the other pass the open door. He barely noticed their faces, but, for the fraction of a moment, he felt an angry glare that send a shiver down his spine. Rasmus felt slightly irritated, but, since he couldn’t really pinpoint who it might have belonged to, he tried to focus on the task at hand.

And there he was. Rasmus felt as if the scene was playing in slow motion – or, maybe, Martin was actually just walking _really_ slowly. Their eyes met instantly, and neither of them looked away. Caps felt his heart beating hard and fast in his chest and, in the heat of the moment, decided to wink at the Swede, who had come to a stop. He couldn’t exactly tell, but he thought he saw a blush on the other ADC’s face, who turned on his heels and suddenly walked back into the direction where he came from, away from his team. Rasmus figured that he must have headed to the restrooms. He swallowed hard, unsure of what to do.

“You should go after him,” Mihael whispered into his ear as he gave his back a soft push.

Almost automatically, Caps got up on his feet and gave his support a nervous smile. _He really sees things_ , he thought as he gathered all of his courage and made his way to the restroom.

When Caps entered the restroom, he saw Rekkles standing in front of the mirror, looking mighty agitated. He licked his lips as he approached the ADC slowly. He didn’t think too much about what he was doing at this point – he just wanted to be close, to see how it would feel like. Plain and simple. He came to a stop right before his lips were about to touch Martin’s neck. _Fuck_ , he thought as he contained his desire to go through with it. It was a lot harder to act against his urges, as he had never really felt the need to do that before.

“What are you doing here?” the Swede whispered, just loud enough for the Dane to hear. He looked at Martin’s reflection – the ADC’s eyes were closed, and his expression was so soft. Suddenly, Rasmus felt a huge smile to form on his lips. Now, he really wanted to play.

“What do you mean? This is a public restroom, maybe I just want to check myself out in the mirror like you,” he replied cheekily. He realized that he felt most comfortable when he could be humorous; so why not use that to his advantage?

“Caps. Please. Why did you follow me?” Martin asked with a stern expression as he turned around to face Rasmus. The serious look on the Swede’s face couldn’t fool Caps. He could tell that his provocation was working. He dared the ADC to come closer, as he didn’t move back to give him any space as he turned around.

“Following you sounds a bit harsh, but yeah, maybe I wanted to talk to you,” Rasmus explained, as he let his smile grow wider, “You must have heard the news, no?”

He enjoyed watching Martin struggle to hide his emotions. He caught him looking down his body, as if he was inspecting him. Rasmus used the opportunity to do the same – he let his glance wander down to Martin’s sweatpants that were looking quite tight around his crotch and – 

“Oh, you want to talk about that now?” Martin almost hissed as he spoke, “I know that hurting me is a hobby of yours, but I didn’t think you would go this far.”

Caps was baffled by this statement. _Hurt you?_ He thought, his thoughts spinning rapidly. It was as if Rekkles had completely blocked out _why_ the Dane had left Fnatic in the first place – as if _he_ had been the one whose feelings had been crushed. But Rasmus didn’t want to argue. He wanted to _play._

The Dane carefully placed both of his hands on the sink behind Martin. He got as close to the Swede as he possibly could without touching him. As Martin’s eyes were flickering back and forth between his eyes and his lips, he knew that it was time.

“Mhm, hurting you is not really what I had in mind…I don’t think that’s what’s on your mind right now either.”

Without waiting for an answer, he closed his eyes and went in for the kiss. It was soft at first, as if he was only trying to test the waters. But, within seconds, he felt Martin’s arms around him and a tongue entering his mouth. He felt his heart skip a beat as he pulled the Swede towards one of the stalls.

As if nothing had changed between them, he bit Martin’s lower lip ever so slightly. He knew what a turn on that was for the ADC, since he always used to do that back then; but, as he was being pressed up against the wall of the stall, he realized that that was _not_ what he wanted right now. He didn’t want to go back to how things were. No – back then, he was weak. He was trying to please Martin so desperately that he forgot to care about himself. He was _not_ about to do the same mistake now.

Rasmus felt his whole body tingle as Martin softly stroked his back while they eagerly pressed their lips, as well as their bodies, together as if they attempted to melt into each other. The Dane could feel his erection throbbing against the Swede’s, and he was desperately holding back the urge to do something about it. As if Martin had felt Rasmus’ silent pleads, he moved away from the kiss to look down. Caps was breathing so heavily, he hardly noticed that his eyes were glossy – maybe he was more agitated than he was able to admit right now. He prayed that the ADC had not seen the tears which had almost escaped him as he gave his back a soft push and let their lips meet again.

He finally felt a hand make its way into his boxers and had to supress a loud moan when Martin’s fingers wrapped around his cock. He clutched his arms around Martins neck as if he was trying to hold onto him. His knees felt weak – it had been so long since he had felt this good. Even though Martin’s hands and lips were all over him, he still felt like _he_ was the one playing with the ADC, the one being desired. And, even though it went completely against his intuition, he kept his hands out of the Swede’s pants. He slightly pulled the ADC’s hair and enjoyed the arousal in his face – yes, he felt like he was in control. Maybe it was this feeling of power that caused his dick to grow even harder.

As Martin pulled down his own sweatpants, Caps quickly shot a glance at his cock. His hard-on was enormous; it was almost as if he could see the veins pulsing. He couldn’t help but to lick his lips slightly, remembering all the things he used to do with the steel rod dangling between the ADC’s legs. Martin’s eyes met his as he started to jerk their dicks off together, rapidly gaining speed. The feeling was amazing – or was it the way he looked at him, so aroused and so full of passion?

Martin pressed his face against Rasmus’ shoulder and whispered _fuck_ under his breath, sending the Dane over the edge. He dug his fingers into Martin’s back as he felt his body tense up. As they came together, Rasmus realized how much he had been longing for this sweet release – he didn’t just feel pleasure, he felt _free_. Seeing Rekkles scrambling to please him had satisfied him in a way their past sexual encounters never had. He thrusted into Martin’s hands one last time. He felt the hot cum dripping down his shaft, still pressed against the Swede’s. He couldn’t care less when heard the door swing open.

Rasmus enjoyed watching Martin try to come up with an excuse as Hylissang asked him why it was taking so long – teasing him about it, playfully covering his mouth or mockingly grinning at him, was even more fun. When Hylissang had finally left the restroom, there was a moment of silence before Martin attempted to clean up the mess the cum had made out of his hands with some toilet paper. Rasmus couldn’t help but chuckle.

When he looked after the panicked ADC, who ran out of the stall to wash his hands in a hurry, he felt like a million bucks. He pulled up his sweatpants, not minding a couple of drops of cum still sticking to his cock. Since he had not touched Martin’s dick at all, his hands were clean. As he casually strolled out of the stall, he remembered the countless times when Martin would get dressed to _leave_ the apartment as soon as they were done fucking after he had moved out to his own place in 2018. The memory felt like a stab in his chest - it made him want to play _even more_.

As he walked towards the door, he stopped to whisper into Martin’s ear, “You really must have missed me, huh?” His grin felt even wider than usual as he exited the restroom.

When he got back to G2’s lounge, his teammates were already in formation, basically about to head out to the photoshoot. Mikyx hurried to grab Caps as he saw him returning from the restroom, pulling him into the direction of the set.

“Sorry, am I late?” the ADC asked with a crooked smile.

“Just in time – I guess you had fun?” the support replied with a chuckle.

“Soooo much fun!” Caps murmured as he bit his lip ever so slightly.

Mihael glanced down at Rasmus’ crotch and then leaned in to whisper in his ear, “I can tell. You should pull down your jersey a bit, your sweatpants are full of cum stains.”

Rasmus quickly followed Mikyx’ advice and blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed. “T-Thanks. You know,” he whispered back, quietly enough for no one else to hear, “maybe we should try it. To fuck I mean.”

He saw Mihael’s eyes glow up in excitement as he nodded eagerly. He barely had enough time to pat his ADC on the back before they arrived on the set. As the new botlane of the team, both of them had to pose together on multiple occasions, and Rasmus could tell the was tension rising between them. Between actually _winning_ against Martin on the botlane or just learning about being more dominant during sex for their next encounter, Caps couldn’t decide what he liked more about the arrangement Mihael and him were entering. He only knew that it felt like a win-win-situation to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think about Caps' long awaited POV of the situation? 
> 
> Would you have acted differently in his situation? And what's up with him and Miky? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> Part 3 will conclude with another episode of the DreamServer :)


	11. Part 3: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to a new episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> As Part 3 has come to an end, new problems have arisen, new character's have been introduced... 
> 
> A spicy night lies ahead!

_After a long day of fulfilling their duties, many souls found themselves on the DreamServer that night. With their hearts full of troubles and questions after the twists and turns of the day, the desire to interact was ever so strong – but, since time is as relative as the question whether this whole “DreamServer” business is realistic at all, the first souls to arrive had to be particularly patient to see their needs fulfilled._

_-_ **[inquisitive], [jealous]** and **[impatient]** have joined the DreamServer **–**

 **[impatient]:** Sup my dudes

 **[impatient]:** Hope you guys are okay with me blowing off some steam, I’m kind of stuck and frustrated right now…

 **[inquisitive]:** Stuck in a literal sense? Please be specific

 **[jealous]:** I mean, if you want to share ANYTHING that’s great for me

 **[impatient]:** oh wow, getting right down to it – now that’s what I’m talking about

 **[impatient]:** see, I’m slowly getting closer to my crush and that’s cool…

 **[impatient]:** …but it takes FOREVER!

 **[inquisitive]:** Well, as long as you are moving into the right direction

 **[inquisitive]:** have you told your friends about this?

 **[inquisitive]:** what about your teammates?

 **[jealous]:** Oh you should tell them about it for sure! And don’t forget the details, the DETAILS!

 **[impatient]:** dude, what’s up with you…?

 **[impatient]** : I mean there are no details yet, haven’t even kissed him… so there is nothing to tell

 **[inquisitive]:** that’s okay man, just make sure that the both of you are comfortable with the speed you are going in

 **[jealous]:** …him? Oh man, I should have known we are talking about dicks again…

 **[jealous]:** It’s fine, okay, I GET IT. Love is love and shit

 **[jealous]:** but WHY am constantly surrounded by DICKS all day long with no hot girl in sight??

 **[impatient]:** wow, not cool man… and uhm well, I guess I technically don’t even know whether he likes me back?

 **[impatient]:** So no need to talk about any dicks

 **[inquisitive]:** You don’t even know if he likes you??

 **[inquisitive]:** You better ask him about that then, man

 **[inquisitive]:** consent is important!

 **[jealous]:** sure, sure, sure, consent… but no one seems to mind SHOWING me the pictures, just SENDING them to me is somehow impossible??

 **[inquisitive]:** what?

 **\- [needy]** and **[solitude]** have joined the DreamServer **–**

 **[needy]:** hey there, anyone else horny?

 **[jealous]:** are you a hot girl, by any chance??

 **[needy]:** I can be whatever you want me to be… 😉

 **[inquisitive]:** no, he means no

 **[jealous]:** …

 **[jealous]:** this is just TOO FUCKING MUCH

 **\- [jealous]** has left the DreamServer **–**

 **[impatient]:** the dude’s got no chill, huh?

 **[impatient]:** Haha what’s wrong with dicks man

 **[needy]:** well, they can get problematic if they don’t get the attention they need

 **[solitude]:** yes

 **[solitude]:** it can be problematic if people act like dicks, too

 **[inquisitive]:** oh no, poor little one, who hurt you?

 **[needy]:** …and can they do it to me, too?

 **[solitude]:** dude, gross

 **[solitude]:** I guess this guy I thought I was “dating” fucked someone else

 **[impatient]:** oh man

 **[inquisitive]:** oh no!

 **[needy]:** that’s kind of hot

 **[impatient]:** WOW man, have some decency here – this poor guy is going through it!!

 **[solitude]:** well, I guess I kind of knew he was still hung up on someone

 **[solitude]:** what hurt me more was that he said my best friend only wanted to fuck me

 **[inquisitive]:** that’s rough… I hope he is wrong about that!

 **[inquisitive]:** It’s important to have friends you can rely on after all

 **[impatient]:** ehm yes exactly

 **[impatient]:** why would a dude try to get into his friend’s pants haha

 **[inquisitive]:** wait a second

 **[inquisitive]:** are you backpaddling right now?

 **[needy** ]: I don’t see a problem with friends fucking, to be honest

 **[needy]:** that’s standard in my books

 **[impatient]:** ehh yeah, exactly, that’s what I said - no?

 **[solitude]:** honestly, he’s like, my first friend ever, if you count out my brothers

 **[solitude]:** I don’t even know what’s “normal” anymore at this point

 **[solitude]:** I guess I’m scared of fucking it up

 **[impatient]:** same, man, same…

 **[inquisitive]:** my detective-senses are tingling…something smells fishy around here

 **[needy]:** not me! But, honestly, you guys should just try to go for it

 **[needy]:** I got myself a new fuckbuddy today – one of my teammates, actually

 **[needy]:** just ask nicely

 **[impatient]:** wow, that’s like, terrible advice

 **[solitude]:** yeah, stay the fuck out of this!

 **[needy]:** oh yes, give it to me!

 **[needy]:** Fuck me up daddy

 **[impatient]:** oh my god, this is getting too freaky for me

 **[impatient]:** even if I were to just…oh, whatever, I’m out!

 **[needy]:** take me with you! Drag me more!

 **\- [impatient]** and **[needy]** have left the DreamServer -

 **[solitude]:** they gonna bang or what

 **[inquisitive]:** I don’t think that’s how things work around here…

 **[inquisitive]:** …also, that one dude is after someone already as far as I know, so the kinky guy won’t have a shot at getting with him

 **[inquisitive]:** but I’ve only talked to them for a minute or so, no guarantees

 **[solitude]:** wow, you are good at this

 **[inquisitive]:** haha I guess…I’ve been snooping around a lot lately

 **[inquisitive]:** something is off with my teammates and I’m trying to get to the bottom of it

 **[solitude]:** you sure you are not just distracting yourself from your own problems?

 **[inquisitive]:** what? Haha don’t be ridiculous…

 **[inquisitive]:** I mean

 **[inquisitive** ]: maybe I am kind of confused about my relationship with one of my teammates?

 **[inquisitive]:** not a RELATIONSHIP - I mean uh I have a girlfriend

 **[solitude]:** sure man, whatever

\- **[torn_apart]** and **[adventurous]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[adventurous]:** hi guys, what’s up?

 **[solitude]:** considering to just live by myself until I die alone

 **[inquisitive** ]: I’m constantly worried about my teammate and I can’t stop thinking about him all day and sometimes at night I wonder whether he’s thinking about me too

 **[torn_apart]:** wow, dude, that’s deep

 **[inquisitive]:** what? NOT in a gay way though!

 **[solitude]:** you’re pretty dense for a wannabe Sherlock Holmes, man

 **[adventurous]:** wow, you guys seem to be going through it, huh?

 **[adventurous]:** now I almost feel bad about how AWESOME my life is

 **[inquisitive]:** you – you guys are really missing the point here

 **[inquisitive]:** at least my GIRLFRIEND is not cheating on me!

 **[inquisitive]:** btw you should consider talking to someone about that – someone besides your friend who wants to bang you, I mean

 **[solitude]:** wow, that’s a low blow

 **[solitude]:** never called him my boyfriend, though

 **[solitude]:** maybe he just told me my friend wants to fuck me because he’s jealous, too

 **[torn_apart]:** phew, still sounds like a real dick move… trust me, I know what _being played_ with feels like! It’s not cute at all

 **[adventurous]:** sure, sure, everyone can relate and stuff

 **[adventurous]: …** but playing the game yourself? So much fun!

 **[inquisitive]:** oh my god, is there a reason why everyone is so god damn insensitive today??

 **[inquisitive]:** geez, I’ve had enough of this

 **\- [inquisitive]** has left the DreamServer **-**

 **[torn_apart]:** someone’s in DENIAL

 **[solitude]:** oh yeah, definitively

 **[adventurous]:** his advice sucked too

 **[adventurous]:** if I’ve learned anything recently, it’s that life is so much more fun if you just go for it!

 **[adventurous]:** Maybe your friend can teach you a new thing or two…

 **[solitude]:** idk man, I haven’t even really thought about whether he is attractive to me?

 **[solitude]:** I guess the other guy is my… first love?

 **[torn_apart]:** big words! I’m sorry to say this but

 **[torn_apart]:** I don’t think he loves you back if he really hooked up with someone else out of nowhere

 **[adventurous]:** thank you, next! Just think about it!

 **[adventurous]:** It was a surprise to me as well, but sex without love is like, a valid thing

 **[solitude]** : uff

 **[solitude]:** I don’t know… I mean he tried to explain the situation to me, and it seemed like he was sorry

 **[torn_apart]:** sounds like bullshit to me

 **[adventurous]:** called it – time to move on!

 **[adventurous]:** but, I mean, no one said you could only have one person at a time… it’s 2020 after all, maybe you could be into it?

 **[adventurous]:** I’m having a fantastic time with trying out new things

 **[torn_apart]:** yeah, well, I’m not having a great time with it

 **[solitude]:** yeah, no, this isn’t helping

 **\- [solitude]** has left the DreamServer **–**

 **[adventurous]:** haha, someone’s stuck up

 **[torn_apart]:** or maybe just hurt

 **[adventurous]:** what’s your deal, anyway? Down on your luck?

 **[torn_apart]:** not exactly – I think I was just greedy and now I might have just lost… everything

 **[torn_apart]:** including, but not limited to, my self-respect

 **[adventurous]:** what a bummer! Haha

 **[adventurous]:** sorry, my empathy is weirdly, like, non-existent today

 **[torn_apart]:** whatever, man

 **[torn_apart]:** It’s not like anyone could solve my problems right now

 **[adventurous]:** well, it depends – are you just worried about not getting your cock sucked for a while?

 **[torn_apart]:** ehm, what?

 **[torn_apart]:** That’s just offensive

 **[torn_apart]:** I’ve got people standing in line to do that…both girls and guys

 **[adventurous]:** eww girls

 **[torn_apart]:** oh, grow up, would you?

 **[adventurous]:** oh what, you seriously gonna tell me you like pussy?

 **[torn_apart]:** I mean yeah? But – my feelings and desires are a lot more complex than that!

 **[adventurous]:** sure, man, whatever

 **[adventurous]:** I guess it makes sense, huh?

 **[adventurous]:** you are what you eat

 **[torn_apart]:** did you just call me a pussy?

 **[adventurous]:** well, either that or a dick, an ass…

 **[adventurous]:** insert me rolling my eyes or sticking my tongue out here

 **[adventurous]:** your pick

 **[torn_apart]:** you see, picking one out of two is not exactly my strong suit right now…

 **[adventurous]:** yeah, no kidding

 **\- [adventurous]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[torn_apart]:** huh… well

 **[torn_apart]:** am I really the asshole in this situation?

 **[torn_apart]:** …

 **[torn_apart]:** no, it’s the others who are wrong for sure!

 **\- [torn_apart]** has left the DreamServer –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you enjoy this part's episode of the DreamServer? Were you able to figure out the "who's who"? 
> 
> Feel free to post your guesses in the comments with a spoiler warning - that was incredibly fun to read through last time and might help some other readers as well! :)
> 
> Next up is Part 4 (Tim's POV is up first this time!) - what conflicts are you particularly excited about? Would love to hear your thoughts on that! 
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in :)


	12. Part 4: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's day, everyone! In honor of the day of love, I've decided to upload yet another part today!
> 
> I wonder whether it will make your heart beat any faster? ;)
> 
> The LEC Spring Split is finally upon us, starting here in part 4! I'll try to incorporate as many actual results as possible. 
> 
> (Warning: part 4 features [partially excessive, although legal] alcohol consumption)

The first day of the LEC Spring Split 2020 finally arrived, and Tim felt almost as nervous as he had a year prior to this day, right before his first game on Berlin’s stage ever. In order to mentally prepare himself for this day, he had tried his hardest to block out his personal troubles – even though that was incredibly difficult, as he had to play with the people responsible for said troubles. To top things off, they would have to sit around in Fnatic’s lounge in the studio for hours, watching all the other teams face off against each other, as their match was the last one of the day.

As he sat down in his usual spot on the edge of the couch, he tried to go back to one of his old mantras in his mind _. A weapon has no emotions_ , he thought over and over again. But - how could he not look at Martin, who looked as pale as a brick wall when he watched G2 triumph in the first game of the split? How could he not look at Oskar, who looked like a constantly shaking, nervous mess? And how could he not be there for either of them? Even though he tried his hardest to block out all of these thoughts, his mind was flooded. Even though he hated to admit it, when Fnatic finally took the stage, he was not in a good shape. It showed in the way he played, and, somehow, everyone’s performance seemed off that game – he was not surprised about losing against Origen at all. That didn’t make it any easier.

As the first day of the Spring Split came to an end, tradition called for the team to go out for drinks to celebrate the kick-off of the new competitive season. This was, however, the last thing that Tim wanted to do right now. He wanted to be alone. Leading up until this moment, he felt as if that was possible – even when he was surrounded by his teammates. Ever since the day of their last direct confrontation, the midlaner had chosen to avoid being alone with Martin at all times. Simultaneously, he had felt increasingly awkward around Oskar – maybe because of Martin’s weird suggestion that the jungler only wanted to get with him, maybe because he wasn’t sure about what he felt himself.

In a weird way, this sort of social isolation - beyond playing League, that is – felt strangely comfortable for Tim. For the longest time, he had lived this way. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t miss being held by Martin or chatting with Oskar. If anything, it just meant that he was more comfortable with the thought of being alone than with seeking the confrontation with either of them. Sitting in a bar with them, far away from their computer screens, therefore posed a great risk for his peace of mind. _Well, at least there’s alcohol_ , Tim thought as he reluctantly slouched towards the team’s van.

One by one, Tim watched his teammates climb past him as they made their way into the van. He had taken up his usual spot, directly behind the driver’s seat next to the window. It allowed him to look out and let his thoughts wander as the chitchat raged on around him. Well – that’s what he would usually do. Today, in the rush of getting to their first game of the Split on time, he had left his headphones in his room. _Critical mistake_ , he thought as he tried to block out the obnoxiously loud voices around him. Probably the loudest one of them all belonged to Bwipo, who was located directly behind Tim. Rekkles and Hylissang had also chosen to occupy the seats in the last row, and they were eagerly engaging in discussions about what went wrong in their draft. The mood was not too bad overall, even though they lost. But Tim still didn’t feel like talking about it.

As Selfmade sat down next to Tim, he gave him a huge smile. The midlaner’s attention was, however, caught by something else. Their legs were touching – and neither of them made an effort to change that. Maybe he wouldn’t have given it a second thought a few days ago; but now, he was painfully aware of it. It was something as simple as that that made him think about the problematic relationship he may or may not shared with his jungler. He glanced over to look at him; he inspected his intensely blue eyes, his distinct jawline, his lips that curled up to form a grin – why was it so hard for Tim to define how he felt about him? Sure, objectively speaking, he was attractive. But did he feel _attracted_ to him? He never had to think about it this hard with Martin.

When the team's car finally came to a stop in the parking lot of their bar of choice, the first thing that Tim couldn’t help but notice was G2’s van, parked just a few spots away from them. It almost felt like a cursed déjà-vu. _There’s no escape_ , the midlaner thought with a sigh as he jumped out of the car. Normally, he enjoyed their visits to this local joint, as service was great and the overall style of the place, modern and clean, really spoke to him – back where he came from, all of the establishments were unnecessarily tacky, packed to the brim with decorations. Today, however, not even the fact that his favourite table had been reserved for the team could lighten his mood.

As if out of provocation, Rekkles chose to sit down as far away from Tim as possible, right at the opposite side of the table. Tim felt slightly irritated – he decided to start the evening off with ordering a Vodka-Bomb. “Emphasis on vodka,” he specified to the waitress. While he was, indeed, craving some Red Bull, his desire to start the intoxication as quickly as possible was stronger. Next to him, Oskar laughed into his fist as he signalled that he would take the same thing to the waitress.

The whole location was buzzing with life – every table was occupied, and that was also the reason why it was hard to even understand a word the person at the other side of the table was saying. Tim let his gaze wander around the room with annoyance written all over his face. He wouldn’t admit it under any circumstances, but he was searching for someone.

He bit his lip as he saw him – there he was, surrounded by the rest of G2’s squad, laughing with a drink in his hand. The sight of Caps having the time of his life felt like a punch in the guts for the midlaner. Tim had worked so hard for his standing, for everything he thought he had – _it’s just not fair_ , he thought while clenching his fists under the table. The titles, the recognition, even Martin; it felt as if everything Tim so desperately wanted just magically happened to fall into Caps’ lap. _He doesn’t even want him_ , he thought, desperation clouding his mind; _he doesn’t even_ -

“…Tim? Tim, are you listening to me, dude?”

The voice of his jungler finally caused the midlaner to snap out of his state of trance. He turned his head slightly and looked at Oskar, who’s face was surprisingly close to his. Tim noticed that he was still clenching his fists – he released the tension in his hands and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, dude, don’t worry about it,” Oskar said with a half-smile, “I was just hoping you could tell me what I could do differently tomorrow? I feel like our synergy was a bit off, from the first gank onwards…”

It was not hard to notice how agitated the jungler was. _It’s not how he wanted his first match to go down_ , Tim thought with a sigh. It was certainly not what he had in mind either. It reminded Tim of his own first appearance on stage in Fnatic’s jersey, just a year prior to this. He had felt just as bad after losing – as if it was _his fault_ that they had lost. But, back then as well as today, it was no use to blame just one of them – this loss was a true team effort. Tim decided to put his hand on Oskar’s shoulder for just a moment, just to give him a little reassurance.

“It was just lost early on, we all ran it down together. Don’t worry, we will be better tomorrow.”

He gave Oskar the hint of a smile. He felt as if his jungler suddenly looked a bit more relaxed – maybe even a little relieved. Tim pulled his hand away as he saw the waitress approaching their table. Finally with a drink in hand, Tim felt more relaxed as well. After Alfonso had given a short but effective toast, everyone was left to continue their individual conversations.

Tim was glad that Oskar didn’t want to talk about the game anymore; instead, they chatted about everything _other_ than League. He told Oskar about playing Tomb Raider on stream, about the way he liked to engage with his fans, and, yes, even how crazy cool it felt to _have_ this many fans to begin with. The jungler laughed about the midlaner’s stories, and he smiled, and he understood. For the first time in days, Tim felt light – as if the weight, that had pulled him down, was gone. Both of them emptied one drink after another, almost as if they tried to prove how much they could take. But Tim didn’t feel drunk at all – just light. At least he did until he looked across the table, about three drinks in.

Bwipo and Hylissang were having a seemingly heated discussion, and, to Tim’s surprise, they both looked quite serious about it. Under different circumstances, Tim might have tried hard to follow their argument, trying to make out what they were saying – but, right now, he had tunnel vision, looking right past them. Martin was cowering at the edge of his seat between the toplaner and the support, forcefully poking the ice in his glass with his straw. His gaze was fixated on the table were G2’s team was sitting, laughing, celebrating.

His eyes were flickering; he was chewing on his bottom lip; his cheeks were flushed. He looked awfully agitated. Tim felt his heart drop as he stared at his ADC, who felt as if he was even further away now. Maybe, deep inside, he felt like getting up, walking up to him, and slapping him across the face. Maybe he wanted to yell at him, to tell him how stupid he was for yearning after Caps when _he_ was right there, right in front of him. But, in the end, there was not enough alcohol in the world for him to actually do that. Instead, he let gaze drop into his half-empty glass. He decided to take another sip.

“So – anyway, as I was saying,” Oskar continued as if Tim had been listening to him this entire time, “I know this great magic trick, and, because I’m feeling generous today, I could show it to you.”

“A magic trick?” Tim frowned and gave his jungler an irritated look. He had no idea how this particular topic had come up, but at least it was strange enough to take his mind off of Rekkles for a moment.

“Yes, yes, exactly. So, get this…” he clumsily fingered around in his glass for a moment and took out a single ice cube before he continued, “I will take this plain ice cube right here, you see?”

“Ehm – yes?” Tim still had no idea where this was going. He narrowed his eyes a bit, as if the alcohol in his blood had caused him to need glasses all of the sudden. _I might be little drunk_ , he thought as he tried to follow Oskar’s elaboration.

“I bet that I can put this ice cube into your mouth without touching you _at all_! How do 10 bucks sound to you?” Oskar proudly explained as he waved the ice cube around in his hand, dripping all over the table.

“No way, dude. You must be really shitfaced already,” Tim mumbled, chuckling slightly. The midlaner didn’t care much for the money, but he enjoyed the thought of _winning something_ a lot at this point. This seemed like a safe bet to him. But why did he feel like his cheeks were getting hotter? He decided to ignore the sensation, blaming it on the alcohol. He reached out to shake Oskar’s hand to close the deal. As stupid as this was, Tim felt a bit excited when his jungler started to perform the trick.

“Okay, so, first of, I need you to make sure that I didn’t manipulate this ice cube,” he explained with a serious expression on his face as he put the ice into Tim’s open hand. The sudden cold and wet feeling in his hand, as well as the absurdity of this statement, caused the midlaner to laugh out loud. “Oh god – sure, sure it’s clean.” He stuttered, barely managing to calm his laughter.

“Okay, excellent. Now, of course, you need to open your mouth – I can’t work my magic through flesh!” The jungler explained as he took the ice cube, which had already significantly decreased in size, back into his hand. A bit hesitantly, Tim opened his mouth.

“Yes, okay, very good! Next, I’ll place it onto my tongue – and this is were the magic comes in!” Oskar exclaimed as he put the ice cube on to the tip of his tongue. Tim was staring at the ice cube, which was now moving towards him. He felt as if he heard Oskar mumble something that sounded like “affrahkadaffra” – and then, suddenly, he felt his lips press up against his. He held his breath – it felt like his whole body was tingling and as if his heart refused to continue beating.

Because his eyes remained wide open, he could see that Oskar’s were not. Slowly, he let his own eyelids close shut as well. Even though he had been caught off guard completely, he felt no urge to pull himself away from Oskar’s lips. As strange as it was, he caught himself enjoying the familiar feeling it caused in his guts. He felt the jungler’s tongue invading his mouth, tenderly pushing the ice in. The cold sensation sent a shiver down the midlaner’s spine. What only lasted for about a second or two felt like an eternity.

When the jungler finally pulled away from the kiss, Tim was left feeling flabbergasted and – well – there was an ice cube in his mouth. Oskar’s face was bright red, but he was laughing. Almost out of reflex, Tim started to laugh as well. “Sorry, my bad – that was total int!” Oskar said, still cackling as he pulled out his wallet to pay up. Still a bit baffled but with a grin on his face, Tim mumbled, “I can’t imagine that one ever working out man, you really suck at magic.” As Oskar put the money on the table, he smiled in a way that looked way too genuine for the supposedly funny situation they were in.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” He mumbled as he put his arm on the backrest of Tim’s chair.

There was a pause – Tim simply had to idea what he could say. He found himself glancing down as Oskar was putting his wallet back into his pocket, inspecting his crotch. _Did that turn him on?_ He thought as he was trying to figure out what his own body was feeling like. The jungler’s black sweatpants didn’t reveal anything – _Maybe I’m just imagining things_ , he considered for a minute. After all, the way his body tingled might have been caused by all the Vodka-Bombs, right? He decided to take another sip.

When Tim dared to look across the table once more, after his fourth drink, he realized that Martin was gone. He hadn’t even noticed him getting up – it could have been minutes, or even an hour ago. Now, he was just gone. _Maybe it’s a good sign that I didn’t notice_ , Tim thought, his vision blurry due to all the alcohol in his blood. It didn’t bother him any less, though. Almost out of reflex, his eyes fluttered over to the table were G2’s team was sitting – or, rather, were they had been sitting. Now, the table was vacant, and the squad nowhere to be found. _Must be a coincidence_ , Tim thought. Oh, how much he wanted it to be a coincidence.

For a moment, he considered whether Martin could have witnessed the “magic trick” that he had just been a part of – whether that was the reason why he had left. Even though Tim was quite drunk at this point, it still felt stupid to avoid spelling out what just happened to him in his own thoughts, the most private place imaginable. _He kissed me_ , he thought, and as the words finally crossed his mind, he swallowed hard. Maybe Martin saw – so what? He certainly had no business with being jealous right now. There was something more urgent for Tim to think about. _What am I supposed to do now?_

“Tim? Do you know where he went?” Oskar repeated his question as he realized that Tim had not listened to him the first time around.

“Huh? Who?” The midlaner asked with a confused expression on his face – did Oskar just read his mind?

“Rekkles, of course,” Oskar smiled as he pointed towards the cap on his head, “He’s missing – I thought you might know because you guys are, you know…”

Tim flinched. It was weird enough that Oskar kept wearing Rekkles merch that he must have purchased a while back, but the fact that he decided to ask Tim about Martin’s whereabouts after _kissing him_ almost felt like a taunt. He aggressively stabbed the ice cubes in his glass, which was almost empty yet again, in order to blow off some steam. He normally wouldn’t have allowed himself to present his feelings to the outside world this freely – but the alcohol left him no choice.

“Who cares where he is,” he hissed as he kept up the ice cube massacre, “It’s not my business anymore.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw Oskar lifting his eyebrows in surprise. The jungler put down his drink. He suddenly looked a lot more serious as he spoke up,

“What happened, man? I thought you were just taking a break from him?”

“Yeah,” Tim whispered as he finally let his hands fall on to the table, “that was before he fucked Caps in the restroom during the photoshoot.”

Oskar’s jaw dropped. He didn’t hesitate for a second – he instantly grabbed the midlaner’s hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Tim was surprised, but he didn’t pull back from the jungler’s touch. Yet again, he couldn’t really explain why.

“I’m so sorry, Tim! This asshole…you don’t deserve to be treated this way!” Oskar exclaimed, with the concern in his face slowly changing into anger.

“Oh yeah?” Tim whispered, slowly lifting his gaze to meet the jungler’s.

It might just have been because he was so drunk, but his eyes felt teary, kind of like he was about to cry. It was the last thing that he wanted to do in front of another person, much less in public, but he simply couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

“Is this not exactly what you wanted from the start?” he continued with a shaky voice, “You wanted him out of my life, didn’t you?”

Suddenly, Oskar looked incredibly pale. The shock was written all over his face. As he was still holding onto the midlaner’s hand, Tim felt him starting to tremble a little.

“No – no, I never wanted you to get hurt. Please, Tim,” he mumbled, not breaking eye contact with the midlaner, “I really care about you. Please, believe me!”

 _Oh, I know_ , Tim thought, slowly turning his head away from Oskar as he nodded hesitantly.

There they sat, absolutely drunk, clutching onto each other’s hand, in the middle of a crowded bar in Berlin; and yet, Tim felt as if they were all alone. In fact – as the midlaner let turned his head, he realized that they were _actually_ sitting at a completely empty table. They somehow must have missed all of their teammates getting up, saying goodbye, leaving the place… _I’m never drinking again_ , Tim thought as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. Did he want to leave as well? Or stay here, all alone with Oskar? Why did it feel like such an impossible choice to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a magic trick, everyone! 
> 
> What do you think about Tim's POV? And what do you think happened that night after the curtain's closed in this chapter?
> 
> I'd be excited to hear your thoughts in the comments, and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	13. Part 4: Martin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New part, new luck! 
> 
> For whatever reason, I was SO SURE about Caps playing Aphelios in his debut (maybe it was wishful thinking?)...
> 
> By the time I realized my mistake, I had already written both of the parts were this was thematized, and I kind of like them the way they are so I'm keeping it in (is that enough to make this an AU now?) 
> 
> Anyway - enjoy :)

The first day of the LEC Spring Split 2020 finally arrived, and Martin couldn’t have felt less ready for it. Even though he had been excited to play on stage again during the off-season, the events of the last couple of weeks had slowly taken over his mind. He didn’t necessarily play badly in scrims – at least not bad enough for his coach and teammates to notice. But he certainly was not in peak condition, either.

Tim was avoiding him, and he hadn’t had any contact with Rasmus after their last “encounter”. The ADC felt a bit on edge because of that. It was not only because he was alone; no, he could handle that. But the fact that he couldn’t even begin to decide _who_ it was that he wanted to hold close out of the two – now THAT really poked him the wrong way.

It reminded him of the talk he had had with his sister Emma a few years back. He had always been particularly close to her, so it was no surprise that he had chosen to come out to her first. He was a nervous mess back then, barely managing to get the words out. Emma’s reaction was perfect – she hugged him, reassured him, and promptly started to make a joke about it to lighten the mood,“So you like guys… _and_ girls? Well, lucky you, not having to decide like the rest of us!”

Of course, he knew that the curse - or blessing - of bisexuality had nothing to do with his inability to decide whether he wanted to be with Tim or with Rasmus. It was just a painfully ironic parallel that happened to cross his mind as he sat down in Fnatic’s lounge in the LEC’s studio.

Tim sat on the other end of the couch, basically as far away from the ADC as possible. Martin thought that the midlaner was acting a bit childish. Then again, he knew how much he had fucked up whatever they had had before when he hooked up with Rasmus. _Maybe he deserves to be a little childish right now,_ he thought with a sigh. He didn’t make a scene. He simply let the midlaner have his space.

He nervously shuffled around in his spot, attempting to find a comfortable position to sit in. The first game of the Spring Split was about to begin, and, _of course_ , G2 was playing. Seeing Caps’ debut as an ADC made Martin more nervous than the prospect of playing himself later that day. He couldn’t exactly point out what scared him the most about it. Was it just that he was going to see him again for the first time since their hook up? Or maybe the chance that he could find great success on the botlane and maybe even – god forbid – play better than him?

It had been a while since he had last watched a game of League with this level of intensity. His eyes rarely dared to leave the screen. He was absolutely captivated, watching Caps’ every move. _What items is he buying? How are the last hits looking? What’s the gold difference on the botlane?_ He was obsessed. In the beginning, things weren’t looking too good for G2 in general, and the atmosphere in Fnatic’s lounge was light-hearted. They were their fiercest competitors, after all – Rekkles was not the only one secretly hoping that the role swap would bite them in the ass.

But, in the end, it didn’t. The G2 squad turned the game around in the midgame and Caps’ performance on Aphelios, one of Martin’s current favourites, was extraordinary. The ADC finished the game with a phenomenal KDA (9/0/16), 100% kill participation, and the player of the game title. Martin swallowed hard as he watched the analysts praise Rasmus even more in the post-game lobby. The room was incredibly quiet – not even Bwipo was trying to make a funny remark. The pressure truly was on.

Since Fnatic was up last that day, Martin had a lot more time to brood than he would have liked in between watching Caps’ peak performance and playing himself. As petty as it seemed, Martin wanted nothing more than to storm on stage to play himself right now. All of this additional pressure fired him up even more. He wanted to play, and not just anyone – he wanted to show off his _own_ Aphelios skills. Ironically, there was no one Martin would have wanted to talk about this more with than Rasmus. But he couldn’t – right? He glanced over to his left. His teammates were still silent, each diddling on their phones idly. He couldn’t just leave the lounge; but maybe he could at least text Rasmus, after all?

 _But I don’t even have his number_ , he thought as he hesitantly stared at the screen of his OnePlus phone. It was not like it was hard for him to get the number. It was the fact that he would have to admit to himself how much he cared about the other ADC if he decided to ask someone to forward it to him. He had been so proud of himself, back then when he had deleted Caps’ number. As if it had symbolized him getting over the former midlaner. But did that even matter anymore right now?

He bit his lip and opened his chat with Broxah on WhatsApp. Since the jungler had recently left to play in NA, chances of him spreading any rumours around in EU were slim – plus, he was way too kind to gossip in the first place. He was the perfect fit. While typing the short message, Martin felt his hands shaking a little.

R: Hey, long time no hear

R: listen, I know this might seem a bit sudden, but I need Caps’ number

R: Hope you are doing well over there!

He closed the app and put his phone down, facing the screen on the wall again. He didn’t expect Broxah to reply too soon due to the time difference, so he might as well try to focus on watching the next game. To his surprise, he felt his phone buzz only a few minutes later.

B: Hey! Good to hear from you

B: I’m actually not in NA right now, Visa problems…

B: Funny that you ask for his number now

B: _sent a contact: Rasmus Winther_

R: thanks! Sorry about the Visa thing

R: why is it funny for me to ask?

B: oh, no reason

B: good luck with your first game later, I’ll make sure to watch 😊

Their conversation was brief, but just long enough to leave Martin feeling confused. Broxah’s ominous comment remained a mystery to him. There was, of course, no way for him to know that Rasmus had, in fact, also asked Broxah for Martin’s phone number just a few days earlier. In an unsuccessful attempt to be sneaky, both of them had done the same thing.

Totally oblivious to all of this, Martin considered to text Rasmus for a moment, still shuffling around on the couch nervously. But, as he hadn’t expected to have the opportunity to do so this soon, he couldn’t think of anything to say. In a way, he was still thinking about that when they took the stage.

Even after the game was lost, Martin felt as if he had _really_ tried his hardest to play well. In the end, he didn’t have a lot of impact with his Aphelios – with his 1/1/1 KDA, he certainly was no match for Caps’ performance of the day. Somehow, Martin felt as if all of them had not really been able to _do anything_ in this game, which was very unusual for the Fnatic squad. Their minds seemed to have been occupied with something else. Maybe that was the reason why Martin was not as _upset_ about losing as he normally would be. The discrepancy between Rasmus’ performance and his own did, however, really scratch on his ego.

During the car ride to their bar of choice, Martin sat in between Bwipo and Hylissang and, as much as he didn’t like to admit it, that was certainly never a boring thing to do. Both of them were quite vocal about what they thought went wrong in their game against Origen. Martin enjoyed this distraction – he put his phone back into his pocket after staring at the blank chat with “R.” for a while, trying to come up with something to say. _Maybe later,_ he thought with a sigh.

“So, basically, it was lost in pick & ban, I’m telling you,” Bwipo continued with an alarmingly loud voice. Maybe he wanted to make sure that Mithy, who sat next to the driver, heard him too.

“That doesn’t mean that you can just INT all game long!” Hylissang exclaimed, with a wide grin on his face as he reached over to pinch the toplaner’s arm.

“Me? YOU started it, remember?” Bwipo countered before bursting out in laughter.

“How about we agree that we all could have played better?” Martin said, slightly chuckling himself.

The discussion felt surprisingly playful; the ADC was more than glad about that. Tim, on the other hand, who sat in the row up front, had not spoken a word since their loss. That made Martin’s mission, namely giving the midlaner the space he needed, a lot harder. The fact that the team’s jungler wouldn’t leave Tim’s side didn’t make things any better, either. _More the opposite_ , Martin thought with a flinch.

When they arrived in the bar, Martin’s eyes instantly locked with Rasmus’ as the team walked past the table were G2’s squad was seated. It was merely a second of eye contact; yet, it was enough to make the ADC blush a little. He didn’t exactly expect Caps to be here, out of all places. _Can you still call this a coincidence?_ He wondered as he sat down on the end of the table, right on the opposite end of where Tim and Oskar were sitting. This way, he provided the midlaner with space, but he could still keep an eye on him. It felt a bit creepy and embarrassing for the ADC, but he couldn’t help himself. As much as Martin hated to admit it, he _really_ disliked the way the Oskar looked at Tim – the way he was too close to him all the time – and, of course, the fact that Tim was completely oblivious to all of this. Could anyone really blame him for his jealousy when there was such an obvious reason to be jealous?

Sitting right between Bwipo and Hylissang did, however, manage to take his mind off of Tim and Oskar for a while. Martin didn’t know why or when it happened, but the previously light-hearted and cheerful mood had somehow shifted; he suddenly found himself in the crossfire of his toplaner and his support staring daggers at each other. Bwipo had already inhaled half a plate of cheesy nachos at this point, and Hylissang was angrily sipping on his Bloody Mary while practically hissing across the table,

“…I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t have told me about this! You said you were tired, for god’s sake. You LIED!”

“Oh my god, since when do I have to to tell you every single thing, Zdravets??” Bwipo barked back while gesturing with a nacho in his hand.

In the middle of the fight, Martin was nibbling on the olive of his Martini; and, yes – he did feel like a comical genius when he ordered it and it was a mystery to him why no one laughed about it. He let his gaze hop back and forth between his toplaner and his support. _What are they even talking about?_ he thought. Even though he had known the both of them for over two years now, he couldn’t recall ever seeing them fight like this.

“You don’t _have to_ do that – I just expect you to be honest with me!” Hylissang replied with a hurt expression on his face.

“Jesus! You are totally overreacting, dude!” Bwipo said as he rolled his eyes, “How did you even find out, huh? Is anyone even _allowed_ to have a secret in this team??”

“You –“ Hylissang gasped, shocked that the toplaner would take it this far. He shook his head a little and then continued, “I just happened to see her sneak through the hallway when I went to the toilet. Don’t you dare make this about me!”

Martin still had absolutely no idea what they were talking about; the wheels in his head kept turning. _Something about a girl? And not being honest?_ It was painful how easy it was for Martin to find a connection to his own troubles. Carefully, he turned on his chair to look towards G2’s table across the bar. Caps was laughing, raising his glass, surrounded by all of his cheerful teammates. Martin sighed – it was such a nice sight. The mood around him was not quite as nice; part of the reason might have been that they didn’t have a victory to celebrate. _I bet he’s drinking something lame, like a freshly squeezed orange juice or somethin_ g, he thought while chewing on his bottom lip. The sound of Bwipo’s hand slamming on to the table brought Martin back to his senses.

“It’s none of your business, you hear me?” Bwipo almost shouted, distress written all over his normally so soft face, “It’s _my_ life after all!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Zdravets replied, crossing his arms, “I can’t believe that it’s too much of me to ask that you _tell me_ that you’d rather fuck your girlfriend than to play DuoQ with me like you _promised_ me days before!”

“Are you even listening to yourself right now?” Bwipo said as he tipped his pointing finger against his forehead, gesturing how little sense the support was making with his statement. He continued, “Wouldn’t YOU rather do that with _your girlfriend_ too?? We _literally_ get paid to play League all day long, man!”

Martin didn’t want to get in the middle of this, but he had wanted to ask Hylissang exactly the same thing – the support was, arguably, really not making a lot of sense. He certainly knew what he would prefer out of the two; well, if you accurately gendered it to “significant other”, that is. He glanced into Rasmus’ direction again. This time, their eyes met. He felt the heat rising to his cheeks – in an attempt to calm down again, he took a deep breath and turned back to his table.

“I just – I can’t do this right now,” Hylissang mumbled as he got up, “this was supposed to be a celebration...but, whatever, I’m leaving!”

Before Martin could even attempt to say something to stop the support, he had already turned on his heel and headed to the exit of the bar. Simultaneously, Bwipo had jumped up to run after him, while shouting something like “Wait, WAIT, wait, Zdravets, _wait_ \- oh my god, that’s so not pog!”

The voice of the toplaner slowly decreased in volume and, in the end, Martin found himself alone on the head of the table, surrounded only by a half-empty Bloody Mary and an empty plate that had once been the home of some cheesy nachos. He still wasn’t exactly sure what he had just witnessed – the only thing certain right now was that the thing that had previously occupied his mind was gone. Instantly, he looked across the table.

His heart dropped when he looked at Tim. There were tons of empty glassed stacked in front of the midlaner and the jungler, and Oskar’s armed rested on Tim's chair. They were laughing – their cheeks were rosy – their faces were way too close to each other. To anyone else, this might have looked harmless; but Martin _knew_ about Oskar’s intentions. It was, therefore, enough to make the ADC see red. Somewhere deep inside of him, he wanted to get up, walk over there and punch Oskar in the face. He wanted to scream at Tim, wanted to tell him to keep away from that cunning jungler who only wanted to fuck him – then again, he had already done that. Didn’t turn out too well for him the last time; what was the point now?

Feeling frustrated and pretty much unable to do anything about it, Martin emptied his Martini with one final swing. _Well – maybe there is one thing I can do_ , Martin thought as he grabbed his OnePlus phone out of his pocket. He didn't exactly feel like he was about to make a good decision - but, in the end, he couldn't care less right now. As he typed in his code to unlock his phone, he noticed that his vision was slightly blurry; he must have been drunker than he had admitted until now. He opened the empty chat with “R.” again. He could finally see that, just like in today’s game, his mistake was that he had not been courageous enough _. I just need to prove that I’ve got balls,_ he thought as he started typing.

M: Hey. I really need to see you.

He looked over to G2’s table again, searching for Rasmus to see his reaction. He saw the other ADC quickly grabbing his phone. The reply was almost instant.

R: Why? I can see you perfectly fine from over here :b

M: You know that’s not what I mean.

R: Not? Then maybe you wanna meet in the men’s room again?

M: What? No – no, not this time

M: Maybe you could meet me outside?

For some minutes, there was no reply. Martin kept staring at his screen, then across the room, then back at his screen. The only thing he didn’t have eyes for at the moment was the magic trick happening right across the table. By now, he had blocked out all the noise of the crowded bar. The sudden vibration of his phone almost startled him.

R: Yes, sure

R: See you outside

M: yes, okay

It was so unspectacular. But Martin’s heart was racing, and his body was tingling – the Martini had certainly not helped with that either. As Martin got up and grabbed his things to leave, he looked at Tim one last time. The midlaner’s eyes were locked with Oskar’s, both of them had extremely flushed cheeks and, weirdly enough, there was a 10 Euro note on the table between them. Martin flinched – at this point, he didn’t even want to know anymore. He mumbled his goodbye to his team and left without turning back.

Caps was waiting outside. He was wearing a warm coat and he even wore a thin scarf – an unusual sight, as the Dane normally didn’t mind the cold weather, walking around with only a T-shirt on in the middle of winter. Martin couldn’t deny that he liked this different look on the ADC, though. He gave Martin his infamous crooked smile as he saw him. They were standing right next to the entrance of the crowded bar, but they were alone, conveniently enough. Martin felt his nerves getting the best of him; in an attempt to calm them down, he lit himself a cigarette.

“Mhm, you know I don’t like you smoking,” Rasmus said, shaking his head in an exaggerated manner.

“Yeah,” Martin mumbled while exhaling into a different direction, “sorry about that.”

“So, if the restrooms are no good, where do you want to go then?” Caps asked as he looked Rekkles straight into his eyes.

“Ehm – we could go to my place?” Martin replied, noticeably surprised by how blunt the other ADC was.

“But that’s sooo far away,” Rasmus explained as he crossed his arms, “how about we go to my place instead? I’ve already called us an Uber.”

“I – I guess we could,” the Swede mumbled.

He was completely caught off guard by how straight forward Rasmus was handling this – or maybe even how he was handling _him_? But his desires were simply too strong; he didn’t second guess it. He didn’t even think about what it _meant_ to go to Rasmus’ place – maybe because he had never been there before, maybe because of the alcohol in his blood. Regardless of the reason, Martin found himself in an Uber with Rasmus just a couple minutes later, on their way to the G2 gaming apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think about Martin's POV? 
> 
> Would you have wanted him to act differently? 
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments - and, as always, thanks for tuning in :)


	14. Part 4: Rasmus

The first day of the LEC Spring Split 2020 finally arrived, and Rasmus felt almost as nervous as he was excited to finally hit the stage. He was determined to shine; it was his second debut, after all. During the last couple of weeks, the ADC had worked hard on increasing the synergy with his support – on- and off-screen. Thinking about the new arrangement he and Miky had come up with still made Rasmus blush.

Even though he was truly convinced about wanting to explore his sexuality more freely, the things that the support asked the ADC to do flustered him again and again. He was hesitant, sloppy, and certainly not as naturally dominant as Perkz – Mihael had made sure to tell him on several occasions. But, somehow, it seemed to be working out for the both of them. Caps was learning and slowly growing to be more comfortable with these new situations that he was continuously thrown into – and Miky’s performance had increased dramatically.

When the G2 squad took the stage to face up against MAD Lions in the first game of the Spring Split, Rasmus’ thoughts kept wandering to the previous night. Maybe it was because he had high hopes for their first performance on stage together – maybe it was because he couldn’t help but notice the marks he had left on his support’s neck when he looked at Miky beside him, the hickeys barely visible under the collar of his jersey. There was, of course, another reason why the ADC felt a lot more pressure than usual this day. _He’ll be watching me_ , he thought as his smile grew a little wider, _I’ll make sure to show him what I got_.

The early game didn’t exactly play out in G2’s favour, but that didn’t faze Rasmus at all; he _flourished_ under pressure. Not only was he determined to win – he also wanted to make a name for himself as an ADC right away. As the kills kept coming and he didn’t even get close to dying, he started to feel more and more excited about his performance. Whenever he scored another kill, he thought about Martin, sitting backstage, watching him. _You better be sweating – I’m coming for your spot!_

While winning the game did, of course, feel great, G2’s squad was mostly celebrating Caps’ peak performance, chanting “Rasmus Spring! Rasmus Spring!” again and again. It was a huge relief for the whole team that the roleswap seemed to be working out just fine for them. After the usual post-game business, namely interviews and the infamous fan meet-and-greet, the team finally got the chance to sit down to relax a bit in their lounge backstage. In their usual humorous manner, they were discussing what could have gone a bit smoother.

“All I’m saying is that we didn’t _have to_ INT this much in the early game,” Jankos explained as he let himself fall on the couch, “let’s maybe NOT do that tomorrow, okay?”

“Hey, don’t look at me, man,” Caps said with a cocky smile on his face.

“So you went deathless once,” Perkz chuckled as he sat down right in between the jungler and the ADC, “don’t let it go to your head, dude!”

“Yeah, but also – Jankos, why are you telling us not to int when your early game was just as bad??” Wunder said, pulling up a chair to sit down facing his teammates.

“Fine, fine – ALMOST all of us should have played better. All hail to Rasmus Spring or whatever…” The jungler exclaimed while wildly gesturing with his hands and rolling his eyes.

“Yeah,” Miky said while supressing his laughter, “how convenient of you to forget about me, Jankos!”

“Alright, alright, let’s give the man some room to breathe,” Luka said, still with a smile on his face. He put his hand on the jungler’s shoulder as he continued, “I think he might just need a little encouragement to up his performance tomorrow!”

“Like…what?” Jankos asked, looking irritated by how suspiciously nice the midlaner suddenly was.

“Well, I’ve talked about this with my girlfriend, and if you step your game up tomorrow then she has agreed to…” Luka leaned in closer, whispering something into the jungler’s ear. Jankos’ face flushed almost instantly, the colour of his cheeks resembling the red buff. He swallowed hard before he turned to stare at his midlaner in complete disbelief.

“That is, of course, only if you carry us and make player of the game tomorrow!” Perkz said with a devilish smile on his lips.

“Y-you bet I will!” Jankos replied without hesitation.

Whatever the midlaner had suggested – it surely seemed to have lit a fire under the jungler’s ass. While some part of Rasmus was interested in finding out what exactly this deal was about, his mind was mostly occupied with something else. It bothered him that he didn’t know what Martin’s reaction to his performance was like – good or bad, he just _really_ wanted to see him react. But he couldn’t exactly just walk into Fnatic’s lounge like back when he was still a member of their team; no, he had to stay put. He clumsily fumbled for his phone in the pocket of his sweatpants. _Maybe now is the time to text him?_ He thought hesitantly.

Suddenly, Rasmus felt an arm on his shoulder. As he looked up from his phone, he realized that Miky had propped himself up against him, staring at his screen in curiosity.

“Are you gonna do it?” The support whispered, quietly enough so that no one else would hear.

“What? Ehm, no,” the ADC mumbled, “I don’t think this is the right time.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best – give him some time to cool off!” Mihael smiled as he gave Rasmus a pat on the back.

Opening up about what had happened between him and Martin had felt strange for Rasmus at first, but he was more than happy about having done so now. Him and Mihael had grown a lot closer lately, and, no, not just physically. As strange as it might sound, Rasmus was glad to call Mihael his best friend right now. Because of that, he had, indeed, told him that he had asked Broxah for Martin’s phone number a few days ago; that he was playing with the thought of just texting him, to see if he would respond to it. But, somehow, it just had not felt right so far. Maybe he was _waiting_ for something?

When it was finally Fnatic’s turn to play, Caps felt his heart beating hard and fast in his chest. It just wouldn’t calm down – especially not after seeing that Martin would be playing the same champion as him that day. It felt almost like a challenge – sure, Aphelios was incredibly strong in the current meta, but Rasmus still didn’t want it to be a coincidence. _Show me what you can do_ , he thought with a huge grin on his face, _I’m watching you_. 

Origen had barely destroyed Fnatic’s nexus when the G2 squad jumped up to leave the studio, as they had eagerly awaited to go out for drinks. Rasmus was the last one still sitting on the couch, trying to figure out what Martin might have been feeling as he packed up his mouse and keyboard on stage. His performance was certainly not the reason why they had lost, but he hadn’t necessarily had a lot of impact either _– so what is he thinking right now?_ The ADC wondered as Miky pulled on his sleeve, urging him to get a move on. It felt good to have outperformed Rekkles like this, he certainly didn’t deny that. But, somehow, it was not as satisfying as he had imagined it to be before – not when the Swede was so far out of reach.

To celebrate the first day of the Spring Split and, conveniently enough, their first victory, Grabbz announced that he had reserved a table in a bar they haven’t been to before that night. As the team’s van pulled up in the parking lot, Rasmus noticed that it was, in fact, not _his_ first time seeing the establishment. He had, indeed, been here quite a few times when he was still with Fnatic. Instantly, he felt his body tingle in excitement; that meant that Fnatic’s squad could also wind up celebrating there tonight, after all. The ADC didn’t spot any familiar faces as the team sat down around their designated table. That, of course, made a lot of sense, since the other team had to stay behind to take care of post-game duties. As the waitress started taking the team’s orders, Rasmus took a moment to consider his options.

“Big night, right?” Mihael said as he poked the ADC with his elbow, “are you gonna celebrate with some _freshly squeezed orange juice_?”

“Very funny,” Rasmus replied with a grin on his face as he closed the menu in his hands, “but I’m feeling fancy tonight. I’d like to order a tall glass of KiBa, please!”

“A what?” Perkz was wheezing beside him.

“It is cherry juice mixed with banana juice! And here I thought you had been living in Germany for a while…” Rasmus playfully shook his head in disbelief.

The waitress was visibly amused and hurried back to the kitchen to get the "VIPs" - _at least that's what the squad liked to think of themselves_ \- their drinks.

“Unbelievable…” Mihael chuckled as he leaned in a little closer, “you sure you don’t need any alcohol tonight?”

“Nah, I never drink; the rush of the _victory_ is enough of a reward for me!” The ADC exclaimed as he proudly lifted the glass that the waitress had just put down in front of him. His teammates were laughing, cheering; it was as if his silly words had somehow been the perfect toast for their celebration.

As Rasmus was reaching out to clink glasses with the others, he saw the door of the bar swing open out of the corner of his eye. _There they are_ , he thought; he instantly felt his heartrate increasing. He turned in his seat, just enough to get a better look at Fnatic’s team as they walked past G2’s table. His eyes found Martin’s almost instantly – the eye contact couldn’t have lasted longer than a second, but it was more than enough to let the heat rise to Rasmus’ cheeks. His gaze followed the other ADC across the room, where his team would finally settle down.

Rasmus kept glancing back and forth, trying not to be too obvious about it. _What the hell_ , he thought as he swallowed, trying to calm his nerves, _shouldn’t I be the one in the power position right now?_ It was hard for the ADC to grasp why he still felt so nervous and, yes, so vulnerable. He watched Jankos and Perkz continue their banter beside him, Wunder and Grabbz arguing about picks for the next game – but it didn’t feel like he was _really_ there. It was almost as if he was floating under the ceiling, watching G2's and Fnatic's celebrations from afar as time went by. It was the feeling of Mihael’s hand on his back that brought him back to his senses.

“Well, how about now?” the support whispered in his ear while carefully pointing towards Fnatic’s table, “Maybe now is the right time?”

“I – I don’t know,” Rasmus mumbled as he put his phone on the table, not sure what to do with it.

“He’s looking at you all the time, you know,” Mihael continued, “not that hard to tell.”

“Well…” Rasmus blushed again, “I guess I’m just not sure what to say? It was just so spontaneous the last time and –”

Suddenly, the ADC felt his phone vibrate in his hands – it was almost as if Martin had read his mind from all the way across the room. He quickly unlocked the screen, tilting it a little so that Mihael could read the message as well. For the first couple of messages, Rasmus was playful – that’s what he could do best, after all. Mihael was laughing into his fist beside him as he followed the conversation. But then, Martin asked to meet him outside – suddenly, things got serious.

“Should I go?” Rasmus murmured hesitantly, “To his place, I mean?”

“Do you want to?” Mihael asked him, softly stroking his shoulder to show his support.

“Well, yeah – but also no,” the ADC whispered as he shook his head ever so slightly, “I just don’t want things to go back to how they were before.”

“They don’t have to; I mean, you have certainly changed a lot, right?” the support replied with a smile, “So how about you take him to our place?”

“What? Don’t you think that’s a bit risky?” Rasmus asked, clearly surprised by the suggestion.

“Risky? Oh, if only you knew what kind of stunts Luka and I have pulled while you were –“ the support abruptly stopped as he saw the shock on Rasmus’ face.

“I mean – I think it’s worth the risk,” Mihael continued as he locked eyes with Rasmus, “it’s your playing field, so your rules! And – well – my room is right next to yours, so I get to listen in a bit…”

“You –“ Caps’ face turned bright red again, but he couldn’t help but laugh, “you are so dirty! Fine, fine… I’ll try.”

Determined to go through with it, he quickly replied to Martin and then stood up to make his way outside. At this point, the celebration had already died down a little, and he didn’t expect his teammates to stay out much longer anyway; he was still the first to leave the table. He put on his thick coat and half-heartedly wrapped his thin scarf around his neck. Today, following Mihael’s suggestion, he had “dressed to impress”, stepping away from his normally overly casual wardrobe. It felt a bit ridiculous to the ADC – but it wouldn’t hurt his chances, right?

Rasmus couldn’t have been waiting for longer than a minute, casually leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the bar, when Martin came out. The hot breath streaming out of his mouth looked like white smoke in the cold air of the night; it made the ADC look like a _dragon_. This thought enchanted Rasmus for a while, and his lips curled up to form a smile. With much less delight, he watched Martin light a cigarette, his hands slightly shaking.

“Mhm, you know I don’t like you smoking,” he said, shaking his head in an exaggerated manner.

He _really_ didn’t like it. He didn’t even know that the Swede had picked up on this bad habit again to begin with – as far as he knew, Martin had quit smoking about two years ago. _Well, things were different back then,_ he thought as he stared at the cigarette’s ash dancing in the wind.

“Yeah,” Martin mumbled, visibly exhaling into a different direction, “sorry about that.”

 _Well, at least he’s not doing it to taunt me_ , Rasmus thought for a second; it felt good to know that he cared.

“So, if the restrooms are no good, where do you want to go then?” Caps asked, not wasting any time to get to the real reason they were talking in the first place.

“Ehm – we could go to my place?” Martin replied, and Rasmus could tell that he had caught the ADC off guard with his blunt question – like he didn’t _know_ what they were both after. No, this time, Martin’s place wouldn’t do.

“But that’s sooo far away,” Rasmus explained as he crossed his arms, “how about we go to my place instead? I’ve already called us an Uber.”

Rasmus had, in fact, used the minute he had waited for Martin in front of the bar to get them an Uber – just so that he could make an offer that the other ADC just _couldn’t_ refuse. In times like these, Rasmus was thankful to the fact that he never drank alcohol and, therefore, had a clear mind at all times. It was not hard for him to tell that the same thing didn’t apply to Martin, who looked at him with flushed cheeks and slightly unfocused vision. _He must have had a drink or two_ , Rasmus thought as he saw his chances skyrocket.

“I – I guess we could,” Martin mumbled, slightly shifting back and forth in order to keep his balance.

 _Jackpot_ , Rasmus thought as he gave the other ADC a wide smile. Even though he wasn’t completely sure just how comfortable he was with the thought of Mihael “listening in” on them, he was convinced that luring Martin into his own territory was the right move. Since he still felt a lot more nervous than he would have liked to, he desperately clutched onto anything that made him feel more confident. As they clumsily climbed onto the backseat of the Uber, Rasmus couldn’t help but feel like he had already won.

“So, uh, this is it?” Martin asked hesitantly as he carefully paced through the dark hallway of the apartment, “wouldn’t it be easier to turn on the light?”

“Yeah, no, that’s not necessary,” Rasmus reassured him as he pushed him towards his room, “we are almost there.”

 _And you don’t need to see the G2 banners on the walls_ , he thought with a sly grin on his face. At this point, he still relied on the fact that the other ADC was too drunk to realize that he was, indeed, in the lion’s den. As they passed the room of Miky, which lay right next to Caps’, Rasmus noticed that there was no light beaming from underneath the door. It made sense, of course – the rest of the team couldn’t have _possibly_ arrived before them, even though the Uber hadn’t exactly tried to set up a new speed record.

“Aaaand here we are!” Rasmus proudly announced as he pushed open the door to his room.

He gave Martin a soft push on the back, causing the Swede to stumble into his realm. Martin bent down to take off his shoes, then seemingly remembered that he had already left them in the hallway, and, finally, sat down on the bed. Rasmus decided to follow his lead and made himself comfortable next to the ADC. Their legs were not touching – but just barely.

“Okay, so,” Martin stuttered while avoiding facing Rasmus, “there are some things that I need you to know.”

“Oh, I already know!” Rasmus replied instantly with a smile as he leaned into kiss Martin. Surprisingly enough, the ADC moved away from him before their lips could touch.

“No – no, that’s not what I meant!” Martin exclaimed, and his cheeks turned red instantly.

Rasmus pulled back from him, feeling surprised and slightly irritated. _Not what you meant? What do you mean then?_ He thought as the wheels in his head kept turning. He really thought they were on the same page here; Martin had given him all these _vibes_ after all. When his gaze dropped to the other ADC’s crotch, he couldn’t help but grin.

“Oh yeah? Why is your dick hard then?” he asked, shamelessly pointing towards Martin’s hard on.

“It’s – that’s not,” the Swede mumbled as he turned his body away from Rasmus, “I can’t help it. I can’t seem to make any right decisions for myself lately, really…”

“That’s a bummer,” Rasmus said, the smile not leaving his lips, “but there’s an easy fix.”

“I don’t think you understand; I don’t know what I should – “

Rasmus interrupted Martin’s utterance by swinging his arms around the Swede’s neck, hugging him from behind. He felt the other ADC breath in sharply; but he didn’t move. Pleased with the reaction, Rasmus moved in closer and whispered in Martin’s ear,

“It’s quite simple, really. You are here, with me – and you want me, right?”

Even though the room was dark, Rasmus could see Martin clutching his hands on his knees; his whole body was shaking – he must have _really_ been trying to restrain himself. The Swede didn’t reply. Rasmus continued, still getting closer,

“Doesn’t sound like a hard decision to me at all…”

When he leaned in to lick the ADC’s earlobe, Martin finally snapped. He swiftly turned around and forcefully made their lips meet, pushing Rasmus down onto the bed. Rasmus let himself fall back, softly grinning against Martin’s eager lips. He let the ADC pull off his shirt hastily, throwing it on to the floor. He felt Martin’s hands all over his naked torso; softly, yet firmly caressing every inch of exposed skin as he carefully slipped his tongue into the Dane’s mouth. Rasmus felt his whole body heating up – it was like he was melting in the ADC’s embrace. Suddenly, the loud bang of a door swinging shut interrupted them.

“What – what was that?” Martin shrieked, quickly turning his head towards the door.

“Nothing, the walls are just very thin…” Rasmus replied swiftly.

Before the other ADC could grow any more suspicious, Rasmus cupped his face with both of his hands, diving back into the kiss. For about a second, the image of Mihael tip-toeing through the hallway to his room crossed Cap’s mind. Maybe it was because his cock was already twitching in his pants in arousal, or maybe it was because of Rekkles’ hands all over him – but, in this moment, the thought of the support listening to their moans next door didn’t turn him off at all. His desire was as strong as ever. He clumsily grabbed the edges of Martin’s gymshark hoodie and pulled it over the Swede’s head – the ADC had to help a bit, finally throwing it over his shoulder to meet Rasmus’ shirt on the floor. Martin slowly moved downwards, trailing kisses along Rasmus’ neck, his chest, down his belly…

“Wait,” Rasmus mumbled, catching his breath, just before the Swede reached out to pull down his pants, “I – I wanna be on top today.” Even through the darkness, Rasmus could see Martin’s eyebrow rise up.

“I thought this was me making a decision, no?” he replied as he pulled the other ADC’s sweatpants and boxers down, releasing his throbbing cock.

Without speaking another word, he let his tongue wander from the base to the tip of the dick, causing Rasmus to shiver with pleasure. He let out a small moan as Martin began to put his lips around it, letting about ¾ of Rasmus’ cock slide into his mouth. His head was spinning – _he feels so good_ , he thought as he tried to gather his strength. He reached out to grab Martin by the hair, his hand slightly shaking, and pulled the Swede’s head away from his manhood.

“Why wouldn’t I be allowed to make decisions as well?” Rasmus said with a cocky smile on his lips.

He swung his legs around Martin and practically wrestled him down onto the bed. The smaller ADC was now towering over the taller one – the surprise on the Swede’s face was hard to miss. Rasmus clutched onto Martin’s wrist and pressed them onto the bed as if to demonstrate dominance before he leant down to kiss the ADC passionately. He thought about biting his lip – but, then again, that was what he _always_ used to do. Instead, he let his mouth wander to the Swede’s neck, sucking it intensely.

Martin shook his head, and, for a moment, it felt like his body was bulking up in resistance; _what, you don’t want a hickey?_ This thought amused Rasmus – but he decided to let it go. He moved back into the kiss, forcing Martin’s lips apart with his tongue. Maybe it was due to the alcohol in his blood, but the Swede was a lot more vocal than normal, moaning loudly as he trembled under Rasmus’ touch. It made the Dane want to move even faster.

When Rasmus finally let his hand slip down to take off Martin’s sweatpants, he couldn’t help but notice that the Swede had left them a sticky _mess_. The precum was still dripping from his throbbing cock as it swung up, now dangling freely in the air. The sight of it, combined with the moans erupting from Martin’s mouth, drove Rasmus insane. Swiftly, he shifted in his seat to squat on top of Martin, bringing their dicks together in his hands. He felt Martin’s whole body getting stiff as he slowly let his hands glide up and down their lengths, using the Swede’s precum as lube for the motion. Barely a minute after Rasmus had started to move his hands, he noticed that Martin’s face suddenly looked clenched.

“R-rasmus, I will – “ he panted in between moans.

“No,” Rasmus replied, instantly removing his hands from Martin’s cock, “not yet.”

He had been awfully close himself; but, of course, he didn’t want to admit that. He tried his very hardest to be collected and, most importantly, _in control_. He let Martin catch his breath as he leaned over to grab the lube and a condom from his nightstand. For just a moment, he hesitated as he considered _who_ should be _wearing_ the condom; in the past, that was never up for discussion. It was not that Rasmus didn’t _enjoy_ feeling Martin inside of him – quite the opposite, actually. But, especially because of his recent “training” with Mihael, he had fantasized about turning the tables.

He looked at Martin, who was still panting – he let out a soft moan as Rasmus sat back down on top of him. _Sure_ , the Dane wanted to change things between them; _but not like this_ , he thought as he opened the condom and slowly slipped it onto Martin’s throbbing erection. Without wasting any time, he put some lube on his index finger and used it to prepare his _backdoor._ He propped himself up a bit, tilting his hips as he rested his hands beside Martin’s head. They locked eyes as Rasmus slowly lowered himself, letting Martin’s cock slide into him.

After adjusting to the feeling of Martin’s length inside of him for a second, Rasmus started to move up and down – slowly at first, but rapidly gaining speed. At this point, both of them felt an ecstasy that they had missed for so long; and the rush took over their minds. Rasmus leaned down to kiss Martin, relentlessly buckling his hips up and down. The Swede kissed him back with heat, loudly moaning against his lips – then, as Rasmus felt the ADC’s cock inside of him grow even harder, he grabbed the Dane’s ass, guiding him up and down even more forcefully, yes, almost _desperately_. Rasmus gasped for air – he felt the pleasure overwhelming him, and he kept rubbing his twitching dick against Martin’s stomach as the Swede’s body became stiff and his moans grew louder.

“Fuck, fuck, Rasmus, fuck!” He moaned against the other ADC’s lips.

Martin thrusted into Rasmus even harder as he came, which finally sent the Dane over the edge as well. He shot his load all over the ADC’s stomach, his chest, and even his chin. It was as if he hadn’t cum in weeks; this feeling of sweet release made his chest flutter. Both of them were still trying to catch their breath as they locked eyes. Rasmus’ first instinct was to let himself fall into Martin’s arms, to kiss him…but, then again, he was covered in cum.

“Here, uhm, use this to clean up,” Rasmus mumbled as he handed Martin a paper towel from his nightstand.

“Thanks,” he replied quietly as he tried to clean up the sticky mess the other ADC had made of his naked body.

“Sooo,” Rasmus began as he got up, sitting down beside Martin, “not the worst decision, right?”

The Swede chuckled ever so slightly, not trying to hide the exhaustion in his voice. Rasmus reached out to pull the condom off of his dick carefully, making sure not to let the cum drip out before throwing it into the trashcan next to his bed. With a long sigh, he let himself fall back onto his bed and curled up beside the other ADC.

“What did you want to talk about anyway?” He asked quietly, not sure about whether he actually wanted to hear the answer to his question.

“Mhm,” Martin mumbled quietly as he let the paper towel drop onto the floor beside him, “I…forgot. I’m just…” he yawned loudly before he continued, “sooo tired.”

The sweet sight of the usually so serious Swede slowly closing his eyes next to Rasmus made the Dane’s heart skip a beat. He suddenly seemed so _small_ – so vulnerable. He decided to ignore the fact that Martin was still very sticky and pulled up a blanket to cover both of their naked bodies. He already heard the smallest snores imaginable escaping the other ADC’s mouth as he was cuddling up to him, carefully spooning him from behind. Maybe it was not _exactly_ what he had pictured when he had eyed Martin back at the bar – but, if it felt this good, could it really be wrong? Still with a smile on his lips, he closed his eyes and, eventually, fell asleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's a wrap on Part 4 :) 
> 
> Next up: a new episode of the DreamServer. 
> 
> I'd love to hear about your thoughts in the comments and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	15. Part 4: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As part 4 is coming to its end, I have the pleasure of welcoming you to another episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> The "who's who" of the DreamServer keeps on getting harder - can you solve the puzzle?

_After a night full of celebration, laughter, drama, conflict, romance, and many things in between, many lost souls found themselves on the DreamServer. Maybe it was due to the special circumstances – the beginning of the Spring Split, that is – that the number of participants was higher than ever before during this particular night. Maybe it was also because the need to talk about one’s issues is especially strong while one is intoxicated. Is even it possible to be drunk in your dreams? We are about to find out._

\- **[Vulnerable], [Caught_in_the_middle], [Shameful_Victory]** and **[Betrayed]** have joined the Dreamserver –

 **[Betrayed]:** hello? Anyone around?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** why, hello there

 **[Vulnerable]:** General Kenobi? Haha omg I’m so funny, wasn’t that hilarious??

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** …

 **[Vulnerable]:** ehm yeah, anyway, how are you guys doing

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** honestly, I don’t even know anymore

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** sounds rough, what happened man?

 **[Betrayed]:** did someone rip your heart out? Just to throw it away? Leaving your torso blown wide open and exposed to the world?

 **[Vulnerable]:** uff…I felt that

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** what? I don’t – I don’t think so?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** That’s, like, a really graphic image

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** well, uhm, maybe its just a weird foreign figure of speech?

 **[Betrayed]:** first of all, racist much?

 **[Betrayed]:** But also, no, I just know how to talk about my feelings

 **[Betrayed]:** unlike SOME OTHER PEOPLE

 **[Vulnerable]:** getting some vibes here - have you…

 **[Vulnerable]:** by any chance

 **[Vulnerable]:** gotten into a fight with someone recently?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** haha, wow, look at that, a comedian AND a detective?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** what are the odds, am I right? Haha

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** dying of laughter over here…

 **[Vulnerable]:** really? Haha

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** I wish.

 **[Betrayed]:** aren’t you guys a riot…

 **[Betrayed]:** well, MAYBE I had a fight with someone but...

 **[Betrayed]:** it’s his fault for LYING

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** ah nooo, what did he do?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** did he trick you into doing something you didn’t want to do?

 **[Vulnerable]:** did he flirt with someone else right in front of your eyes?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** did he sleep with his ex behind your back?

 **[Betrayed]:** no…

 **[Betrayed]:** he… well…

 **[Betrayed]:** he decided to spend time with his girlfriend instead of playing DuoQ with me

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** are you for real right now?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** you do realize that some people have ACTUAL problems, right?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** haha you really got us there, dude, nice one

 **[Vulnerable]:** wait, wait, wait

 **[Vulnerable]:** I think there is a story here

 **[Vulnerable** ]: tell us, why is this bothering you so much?

 **[Vulnerable** ]: Something as obvious as a guy rather having sex than playing DuoQ?

 **[Betrayed]:** well if you say it that way I-

 **[Betrayed]:** WAIT, don’t try to put words in my mouth! I have a right to be angry!

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]: ‘** right to be angry’ my ass

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** tell him what you really need from him if you're really this _upset_ about it

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** uhh yeah, did you try to talk to him about it?

 **[Betrayed]:** what is there to say? He made his choice…

 **[Betrayed]:** also, he just dodged all of my questions

 **[Betrayed]:** and there were A LOT of questions, you can count on that

 **[Vulnerable** ]: maybe there’s also a story there, then? Something he can’t tell you?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** wouldn’t things be way easier if everyone just SAID what they were feeling before things get awkward

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** you say that as if it was easy to figure out WHAT you are feeling…

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** what? No, no definitely not

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** I’m, like, the opposite of that right now

 **[Vulnerable** ]: well, what do you THINK you may or may not be feeling

 **[Betrayed]:** I thought this was about me? Hello?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** well, it’s almost as if I’m part of a cinematic love triangle?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** WAIT – you mean like on Vampire Diaries??

 **[Vulnerable** ]: oh my god I love that show

 **[Vulnerable** ]: also, same

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** Vampire Diaries? I don’t even – whatever

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** If you guys are such experts, tell me

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** is it possible to be in love with two people at once?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** well yes, but actually no? It really depends on the season

 **[Vulnerable** ]: and on what happened, one misstep and the feelings can disappear real quick…

 **[Betrayed]:** you guys are, like, so weird

 **[Betrayed]:** are there any sane people on this server??

 **\- [Bored_and_curious]** has joined the Dreamserver –

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : HELLO

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : quick question

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : would you think its weird if you promised your friend that he could bang your girlfriend if he won a bet and then-

 **[Betrayed]:** you did WHAT??

 **[Betrayed]:** No, no, NO – this is too much

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** wait, let the man finish

 **\- [Betrayed]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** can you believe this guy…

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** he’ll never figure out that he’s in love with his friend, huh?

 **[Vulnerable** ]: oh, NEVER

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : wow, what did I miss?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** oh, nothing as exciting as what you were saying

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** please continue

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : ah right, where was I

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : so, basically, I’ve made this bet without thinking too much of it at first, right?

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : He’s probably not going to be able to do it anyway, haha

 **[Vulnerable** ]: you don’t necessarily sound like a supportive friend

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** are you even listening, man?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** He’s literally winging so hard for this dude

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** his own girlfriend, haha holy shit

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : uhh yeah, well, I might have an ulterior motive

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : you see, I used to have this super kinky BDSM sex with my teammate and it just made me feel SO ALIVE

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : and now, even though I like my girlfriend and, trust me, she is super kinky as well, I’m just…

 **[Vulnerable** ]: let me guess…bored

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** you are on a roll today, aren’t you haha

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** anyway, I think I know what you are saying

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** kinky sex is weird at first, but once you get _hooked_ …

 **\- [New_kink]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[New_kink]:** hey peeps, did anyone else have a really hot night?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** what a coincidence - you came just in time to talk about sex with these guys

 **[New_kink]:** oh, trust me, I _always_ come in time

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** hot

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : Man, that’s exactly the kind of attitude my ex had

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : I mean – my former fuckbuddy

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : we were never a thing

 **[Vulnerable** ]: you keep telling yourself that… just wait until you see him flirting with someone else

 **[Vulnerable** ]: you’ll see what you lost then

 **[New_kink]:** what did you say? I was so bored I stopped listening

 **[New_kink]:** other dude, you said something about sex??

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : yeah, uhm, I was talking about my girlfriend and my other friend and I –

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : I mean I’m not gay or anything

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : bi-curious tops

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** but you had BDSM sex with your teammate for how long…?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** it’s not like we need to put a label on everything, right…

 **[Vulnerable** ]: uhm yes, yes, definitely

 **[New_kink]:** get to the point, man, what do you want to do to them??

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : well, I thought I might want to go for a threesome?

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : My girlfriend is also pretty into that idea, so…

 **[Caught_in_the_middle]:** wait, that was an option all along?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: I mean, yeah, he is a big fan and all…

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** hold up, things just got way more interesting over here

 **[New_kink]:** so, an MMF threesome?

 **[New_kink]:** Sounds hot

 **[New_kink]:** you got room for one more?

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : ehh well, I haven’t even told my friend about that part of the deal

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : so adding another dick to the mix would probably be an overkill

 **[Vulnerable** ]: wow – you haven’t even told him??

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** this won’t end well, man

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** honest communication is key in sexual relationships

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: really? You didn’t mean “any relationships”?

 **[New_kink]:** geez, why are y’all so stuck up

 **[New_kink]:** consent, consent, everyone is always blabbering on about consent

 **[New_kink]:** I jacked off while I listened to my fuckbuddy screwing another dude next door, do you hear him complaining?

 **[New_kink]:** no, the only thing I heard him say was _ahhh, ahhh, fuck…_

 **[Vulnerable** ]: you –

 **[Vulnerable** ]: you did –

 **[Vulnerable** ]: WHAT??

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : I mean, I can’t blame him

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : gotta admit that I like to listen to my roommates getting hot and bothered sometimes

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : I mean, yeah, sometimes I wish it was still me fucking him, but times change, right?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** you still live with the guy?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** That’s MESSY, haha

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: it’s not like you can always _choose_ who to live with…

 **[New_kink]:** oh whatever, I say make the best out of your situation

 **[New_kink** ]: I’m just excited because things are still so fresh with my new fuckbuddy

 **[New_kink** ]: His moans are just so _hot_

 **[Vulnerable** ]: but he’s out there screwing another guy?

 **[Vulnerable** ]: isn’t that the point where a thing usually _stops_ being a thing?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: I agree…

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: I don’t know if I can recover from being cheated on

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** ehm aren’t you backtracking a bit here, Mr. love triangle?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** do you think things for Elena have always been easy?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** There are 8 seasons for Christ’s sake

 **[New_kink]:** yeah, uhm, I don’t think you guys understand

 **[New_kink]:** I’m really not about all of that romance crap

 **[New_kink]:** I’m a simple man, I want to get my dick wet while being choked until I almost pass out with a gag in my mouth and my hands tied up – plain and simple

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : mhm oh yeah

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : and I’m over here worried about a lame threesome

 **[Bored_and_curious]** : shit man, I’ll just do it

 **[New_kink]:** cheers to that

 **[New_kink]:** I mean, yeah, I would have liked to join them last night but... **  
**

 **[New_kink]:** better luck next time? **  
**

 **\- [New_kink]** and **[Bored_and_curious]** have left the DreamServer -

 **[Vulnerable** ]: now that that is over

 **[Vulnerable** ]: we can finally go back to discussing our _feelings_

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: ugh

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: look, I’m just having a hard time deciding whether my ex or whatever just hurt me too much or whether I’m _actually_ having feelings for my best friend?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: it sounds stupid, but I felt this whole rush when he…when he…

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** well, what did he do?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: …whatever, I just don’t know what to do

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: I know that I still love that other guy for sure…

 **[Vulnerable** ]: maybe you should just tell him?

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: WOW, I could have NEVER figured that one out my self

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: he STILL fucked his ex

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: hell, he might have done it again tonight

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: fuck this

 **[Caught_in_the_middle** ]: you guys are no help at all

 **\- [Caught_in_the_middle** ] has left the DreamServer –

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** ahh too bad… you think he’s gonna do it?

 **[Vulnerable** ]: I don’t know, man – he seems to have a lot of stuff to figure out

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** it’s a bummer, I really wanted to know what that guy did to him

 **[Vulnerable** ]: what are you, a sadist?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** what? No, no, of course not

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** I guess I’m just kind of feeling bad because I tricked the guy I like into…something he probably wouldn’t like?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** and when he was lying next to me afterwards, he just looked so _innocent_

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** I was ashamed, you know? Like, he didn’t deserve this?

 **[Vulnerable** ]: sounds like you are a terrible person, man

 **[Vulnerable** ]: …to be fair, I also haven’t treated the guy I like too well either

 **[Vulnerable** ]: Kind of went home with my ex again after I saw him flirting with this other guy?

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** first of all, you are SO rude –

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** wait, did you just say your ex?

 **\- [Hiding_away]** and **[Surprising_Heat]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[Vulnerable** ]: well yeah, he is my ex, but the sex felt totally different tonight – like, maybe I have changed?

 **[Vulnerable** ]: But the feelings are just as intense… maybe he has changed?

 **[Hiding_away]:** why do things always have to change…

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** oh, thank GOD for things changing!

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** okay, hi, but back to the other thing

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** I just feel like there are some uncanny parallels on here today…

 **[Hiding_away]:** oh, what, next thing you tell me is that someone complained about his friend lying to him about being too tired to play DuoQ... 

**[Hiding_away]:** when he was really secretly meeting up with his girlfriend instead

 **[Vulnerable** ]: you know what

 **[Vulnerable** ]: that is an awfully specific example

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** yeah, yeah, that – uhh, that doesn’t ring a bell

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** why don’t you tell us about the reason why you dodged his questions?

 **[Hiding_away]:** I thought so! He just totally overreacted, bombarding me with all of these questions and –

 **[Hiding_away]:** wait, how did you know about that

 **[Shameful_Victory]:** k thx, bye, gotta go!

 **[Vulnerable** ]: sorry guys, I REALLY have to take this call, brb

 **\- [Shameful_Victory]** and **[Vulnerable]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** lol, what was that all about

 **[Hiding_away]:** I don’t know man…

 **[Hiding_away]:** anyway

 **[Hiding_away]:** as I was saying, he totally overreacted

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** why do you think that is?

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** I don’t have too much experience with this, but why would you need to hide meeting up with your girlfriend from your friend?

 **[Hiding_away]:** that’s because… I don’t know

 **[Hiding_away]:** I guess we are not really “normal” friends?

 **[Hiding_away]:** I just _really_ don’t want to risk my long term relationship like that…

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** why would you lose your girlfriend because of that?

 **[Hiding_away]:** my what? Oh – right

 **[Hiding_away]:** yeah, I guess it’s not really what it looks like – I just can’t tell him that!

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** why?

 **[Hiding_away]:** it’s just not pog, man…

 **[Hiding_away]:** If he doesn’t feel the same I just…

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** okay so, as I said, I’m fairly new to this, but sometimes it can turn out well to just go for it

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** I’ve been hovering around my crush for weeks and tonight I just –

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** I just kissed him last night man

 **[Hiding_away]:** wow

 **[Hiding_away** ]: that’s like, a real banger

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** it just felt bad to see him be so torn up about his ex – or whatever –

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** so I just went for it; I mean, the alcohol might have helped

 **\- [Hyped]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Hiding_away]:** what happened next??

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** uhm, you see

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** I don’t really remember…?

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** the alcohol might have helped with that as well

 **[Hyped]:** ain’t alcohol a BLESSING guys??

 **[Hyped]:** it makes you feel as LIGHT as a feather and causes your friends to make BETS they can only lose!

 **[Hiding_away]:** honestly, alcohol just causes too much drama, man

 **[Hiding_away]:** one drink, one snarky comment, and it’s already LOST

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** haha well, my crush’s cheeks are like, really rosy when he’s drunk…

 **[Hyped]:** yeah, yeah, sure, WHATEVER

 **[Hyped]:** I’m gonna play like hell tomorrow!

 **[Hyped]:** and then I’m gonna win myself a HOT NIGHT with my friend’s GIRLFRIEND

 **[Hiding_away]:** isn’t that, like, prostitution?

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** hey, I’ve earned that kiss fair and square, I technically didn’t _exactly_ pay for it

 **[Hyped]:** don’t you dare ruin this for me

 **[Hyped]:** my DM’s have been flooded by dicks for too long I need some legit action

 **[Hiding_away]:** OMEGALUL

 **[Hiding_away]:** you know what

 **[Hiding_away]:** compared to you guys, my situation is not too bad

 **[Hiding_away]:** at least I don't have to PAY to get any action haha 

**[Hiding_away]:** pathetic

 **\- [Hiding_away]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** says the one who can’t even admit he’s in love with a dude…

 **[Hyped]:** oh GOD, please spare me

 **[Hyped]:** TOO. MANY. GUYS.

 **[Hyped]:** I’ve been listening to GUYS moaning all night long, man

 **[Hyped]:** I’ve tried to blast music on my headphones

 **[Hyped]:** they are just so LOUD

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** I get it, I get it…

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** you REALLY don’t want them to ask you to join…

 **[Hyped]:** you got that right!!

 **[Hyped]:** no sausages in my shrimp cocktail

 **[Hyped]:** EVER

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** well… good luck with that?

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** there’s only one sausage I want near mine, you know…

 **[Hyped]:** no way, man, I’m not doing this again

 **\- [Hyped]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** haha fine

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** guess my magic didn’t work on him, huh?

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** really wonder why I can’t remember what happened after the kiss…

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** maybe…?

 **[Surprising_Heat]:** I hope it comes back to me in the morning 

**[Surprising_Heat]:** feels like it must have been too sweet to forget

 **\- [Surprising_Heat]** has left the DreamServer –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the fourth episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> How did you like it? Could you figure out who's who? Post your guesses in the comments if you're feeling brave ;) 
> 
> As always, thanks for tuning in! Part 5 will kick off with Nemesis' POV in a couple of days :)


	16. Part 5: Tim

When Tim started to slowly wake up after their celebration of the first day of the Spring Split last night, the first thing he felt was a sharp headache. _How much did I drink?_ He tried to remember as he squinted into the darkness around him. It was truly a relief when he spotted his own desk, leading him to the conclusion that he must have _at least_ made it home somehow. In attempt to soothe his headache, he closed his eyes again, trying his hardest to relax.

The second thing he felt, however, didn’t exactly contribute to his relaxation. There was a heavy arm wrapped around his waist and, as he shuffled around a bit, he realized that there was someone lying _behind him._ Since he was still just barely awake, his mind wandered to the one person he’s asked to sleep over so many times, desperately wishing to be held by him at night. _Martin,_ he thought as a soft smile formed on his lips.

It took much more effort than he had anticipated, but he managed to wiggle his arm out of the other guy’s grasp and put his hand on top of the arm holding him close, carefully caressing it a little. It felt a bit silly to him – in moments like this, Tim had a hard time recognizing himself. He had never pictured himself being “lovey-dovey” with anyone; much less with a _guy_. It was as if his body was acting all by itself. _Maybe I’m still a little drunk_ , he wondered as he pressed back against the other guy’s body.

Maybe it was because it was such an unusual sensation for him since, yes, even hugs were a rare thing to occur in Tim’s life – maybe that was the reason why he found himself marvelling about how wonderful it felt to just be _held._ To feel so closely connected with another person, and, _for once_ , not only in a sexual way. _Well, maybe the sexual things aren’t too bad either,_ he thought as he felt the twitch of a bulge pressed up against his ass. Almost out of instinct, he backed up against it a little.

Now that he thought about it – had Martin’s cock always felt this… _thick?_ Tim slowly opened his eyes, as if staring into the darkness could in any way help him think straighter. Suddenly, a thousand images flooded his mind, reminding him about how he had fought with Martin, how he had stared at him from a distance for days, how Martin had left the bar early last night as he stayed behind to drink with – _oh shit_ , Tim thought as his eyes gradually widened in shock, _it’s Oskar._

Much less careful this time, he moved away from the guy behind him, who he had now identified as his jungler and, for god’s sake, his _best friend_. He was extremely thankful for his queen-sized bed, as it offered him enough space to turn around to face Oskar without falling to the ground. They now lay face to face, a good feet of empty space between them. Tim caught a glimpse at the jungler’s face – his eyes were still closed, and he looked rather peaceful as he lay there, his arm now awkwardly sprawled out to his side. _He must be knocked out good,_ Tim thought as he let his gaze wander down. Unfortunately, it was just as he had feared – Oskar was not wearing a shirt. _Oh god, neither am I,_ the midlaner thought as he looked down at his own bare chest. His head was now spinning even more rapidly then before; if only he could _remember_ what happened after they had lifted one drink after the other at the bar the night before. But he _didn’t_. For all he knew, he could have magically teleported back to his bed, losing his shirt during the complicated molecular transfer process.

As Tim tried to lift the blanket to check whether they were at least still wearing pants, Oskar slowly started to wake up, seemingly searching for something with the naked arm laying in front of him. In an attempt to cover himself as much as possible, Tim pulled the blanket up to his nose. His eyes were full of insecurity and, yes, maybe even a little panic when they met the still half-closed, ice-blue eyes of Oskar. He swallowed hard – _what the hell am I supposed to do now?_

“Morning,” Oskar mumbled quietly, reaching out to enclose Tim in another embrace, seemingly without thinking too much about it. But Tim flinched as he felt the hand on his waist.

“M-morning,” he stumbled, unsure of whether he should move away from the touch that made him feel so weirdly comfortable, “what exactly are you doing in my bed?”

Oskar raised his eyebrow in confusion but didn’t make an attempt to move away in the slightest.

“What do you mean? I guess we just fell asleep after…you know, we were pretty drunk!” he smirked.

“After – after what?” Tim exclaimed as he felt the heat rise to his cheeks.

He was not patient enough to wait for Oskar to answer; or maybe he was too scared of what he might say. So, he clumsily forced his body to sit up, leaning against the wall, and forcefully threw back the blanket, which had previously covered both of them almost fully. To his relief, they were still wearing their sweatpants. Next to him, Oskar now looked a lot more confused than before. He slowly sat up as well.

“I don’t understand…Are you saying you don’t remember?” The jungler asked quietly, his shoulder softly leaning against Tim’s.

“No, not really…” Tim mumbled. He was fidgeting around with his hands, trying his best not to look at the shirtless guy beside him.

“Ah – well, how do I say this…” Oskar started, and it almost sounded like his voice was shaking, “we just had a little too much to drink and, uhm, fooled around a bit.”

Tim swallowed again, trying to find the right words to say, “I see – yes, okay.”

“Listen, we don’t have to make a big deal out of this… unless you would like to, you know – do this again? Maybe without alcohol?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim could see that Oskar’s face burned bright red. For some reason that he couldn’t quite point out, he felt his heart racing in his chest. Yes – he was truly overwhelmed by the nature of this situation.

“My head is hurting…must be the hangover,” he mumbled, clearly deflecting from the issue at hand, “would you mind getting me some water?”

There was a pause. But then, without much more than a nod, Oskar shuffled out of the bed and grabbed his jersey from the floor. Tim’s gaze followed the jungler as he threw on his shirt and left the room. Even though asking for water had given him some time to think about what he wanted to say to Oskar, he was still as clueless as ever. Why did he feel so guilty? Was there any reason for it? Him and Martin were certainly not _dating_ – hell, for all he knew, the ADC had probably gotten laid as well after leaving the bar the night before. _And I didn’t even have sex_ , the midlaner thought as he tried to grab his jersey from the floor without actually leaving the bed.

Maybe it was not about Martin – maybe it was about the same confusion that he had felt during the last couple of weeks when it came to Oskar. Even now, his heart was beating at an accelerated pace. The thought of being kissed by him in the bar the night before caused him to blush even harder. And yet, it didn’t feel the same as it had with Martin. Tim’s eyes widened a little as he remembered the possibility of Martin having seen the kiss Oskar and he had shared – now, _why_ did that scare the crap out of him that much?

When the door swung back open, Tim suddenly realized just how unusually _noisy_ the apartment was, considering that it was Saturday morning. Oskar handed him the glass of water without closing the door, as he was also visibly agitated by the loud voices echoing through the corridor.

“What’s with all of the noise? Why would anyone be shouting at like, 10 am in the morning?” the jungler remarked as he handed Tim a glass.

Tim took a sip of the water, trying to stare passed Oskar into the open hallway.

“I don’t care why, they better stop soon.” Tim mumbled with a frown on his face. This was the last thing he needed right now – _even more drama._

Just as Oskar was about to sit down on Tim’s bed to continue the talk they were having before, the head of a panicking Alfonso poked into the room.

“Oh, oh! Thank god you are awake, I could really use some help over here!” He exclaimed hastily, not waiting for an answer before he moved down the hallway.

Oskar shot Tim a confused glance – the midlaner rolled his eyes before crawling out of the bed.

“Whatever… let’s just get this over with,” he mumbled unenthusiastically.

When Oskar and Tim stepped out of the midlaner’s room, they were practically already entering the warzone. Hylissang was angrily banging his fists against the bathroom door, shouting relentlessly. From inside the bathroom, the voice of an angry Bwipo responded just as loudly. Alfonso tried to wave Oskar and Tim over, urging them to come closer _– what the hell is going on?_ Tim wondered as he strongly wished for all of this to be a nightmare he would awake from any second now.

“OH MY GOD BWIPO, WOULD YOU COME OUT ALREADY? OTHER PEOPLE HAVE TO USE THE BATHROOM AS WELL!”

“WELL ZDRAVETS, MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU DRANK ALL THAT WATER!”

“What, hydration is a crime now?? ALSO STOP SHOUTING, WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING??”

“YOU STARTED SHOUTING!! And since you must ALWAYS know what’s going on in my life: I’M TAKING A SHIT! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?”

“Oh, of course it’s my fault again – you are so DISGUSTING!”

“Now I’m disgusting?? You better not hope for me to TP bot tonight to stop you from INTING!!”

“OH DON’T WORRY, I DON’T WANT YOU ANYWHERE NEAR ME!!”

As the support exclaimed things that Tim could only guess might have been Bulgarian swearwords, Hylissang turned around to head back to his room. Next to him, Alfonso was visibly panicking – and Oskar was looking at him, irritation written all over his face.

“Well,” the jungler said as he scratched his head, “at least they are not throwing stuff at each other.”

Suddenly, the door swung open with force, revealing Bwipo who was practically steaming with anger. The toplaner proceeded to throw a roll of toilet paper after Hylissang, who had just disappeared in his room.

“WHATEVER, GO PISS IN THE SINK THEN!”

And with a loud bang, the door closed shut again. Tim, Oskar and Alfonso were left alone in the hallway, with an awkward silence surrounding them.

“Ehm, never mind? What the hell is going on?” Oskar asked as he looked at the team’s coach.

“I don’t know,” Mithy said with a sigh, “I woke up when I heard them fight – I have no idea what happened.”

He crossed his arms and shook his head, visibly uncertain of what was to be done now.

“All I know is that we can’t have them fighting today – losing our first game to Origen was bearable, but we can’t lose again tonight… would you guys talk to them?”

 _Isn’t that your job?_ Tim thought as he squinted his eyes at his coach, his headache now raging on even more fiercely than before.

“ _Sure_ , I could also do that, but I really have to check the plans for our drafts,” Alfonso mumbled as he put a hand on each of their shoulder with a crooked smile, “you guys got this, right?”

And how could they say no? Reluctantly, Tim and Oskar agreed to play the part of the marriage counsellors in this early-Saturday-morning-drama. Tim sighed as he watched the team’s coach prance down the hallway, away from the thick air surrounding the fight of Bwipo and Hylissang.

“Okay, uhm, who do you wanna take?” Oskar asked, nervously smiling at Tim.

“I don’t know…” He mumbled, turning away from the jungler as he felt himself blushing again.

“Come on, you know them longer than me,” Oskar smirked as he playfully poked Tim’s belly. The midlaner twitched.

“You think that makes me any better at this?” He sighed, “Fine, you take the big boy then.”

“Aww damn, I was hoping for the support!” Oskar gave Tim a sly grin.

“Well, you should have _called_ support then,” Tim responded with a slight smirk as he walked past his jungler towards Hyli’s room.

As he took the few steps it took to reach the support’s room, he tried to remember the last time Hylissang and Bwipo had fought – without success. Normally, they were glued together like an annoying witch with two heads; why were they fighting now, of all times? Tim wasn’t sure whether he even wanted to find out. But did he have a choice? With a sigh, he loosely knocked on the door of the support’s room.

“Open up.”

“It’s open,” Hyli replied instantly.

Tim grunted, not even trying to hide his annoyance, and opened the door himself. When he stepped into the room, which was normally particularly well organized, he was surprised to find what Tim could only describe as an _explosion_ of clothes and other things, sprawled out on the bed, the floor, and basically anywhere else. In the middle of the mess, Hylissang was running around, collecting different items to stuff them into a big bag on his bed.

“What’s up with you, dude?” Tim murmured as he stared at the support snatching a bunch of cables off his desk. There was no response. He continued,

“What are you even doing? It’s, like, way too early for…whatever this is.”

“I’m packing.” Hyli responded as he swiftly folded one shirt after the other.

“I can see that – but, ehm, why?” Tim asked, still staring in disbelief.

“I’ll be staying over at a friend’s place for a while.”

Untouched by the weird statement of his support, Tim sat down on the crowded bed and yawned.

“What are you talking about? We have a game tonight.”

“I just can’t look at his stupid face anymore – I just _can’t!_ ” Hyli exclaimed as he forcefully stuffed another pair of socks into his bag.

“Well, who can…we are still a team.” Tim rolled his eyes, trying to lean back a little to find a more comfortable position on the bed.

“I know we are – that’s why I’m trying to calm down,” Hyli whispered, “it’s just; he just keeps provoking me!”

“No one says he’s not annoying sometimes, but where is all of this anger coming from?” Tim asked with frown on his face. Hyli stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him.

“But you did catch it, right?”

“Catch…what?”

“His whole bathroom-agenda!” The support exclaimed, heavily rolling his eyes.

“He was in the bathroom…and what?” Tim was beyond confused at this point.

“Well he was just CHILLING THERE FOR LIKE 15 MINUTES! Other people have to use the bathroom too!!”

“Don’t you think you are overreacting a little here? Like, I’ve been to the bathroom longer than that, you never complained about that…”

“That’s – me? I’m overreacting?? Oh, no, I’m the one who always shuts his mouth! I’m the one who has to _listen_ to all of you guys complaining all the time and –“ Hylissang clenched his fists as he kept walking on the spot, “and I always have to make sure EVERYONE is okay!!”

“Dude? Dude, you are, like, totally spiralling right now…” Tim pushed some of the clothes, which were piled up beside him, away and signalled the support to sit down next to him. Hylissang glared at him, seemingly ready to continue his outburst.

“Also, please keep it down a little – last night was a bit…rough.” Tim slowly massaged his temples with two fingers each and closed his eyes. The headache was _raging_ harder than the support ever could. Just a few steps away from him, Hylissang took a deep breath.

“Sorry – sorry. I shouldn’t drag you into this, Tim.” The support sat down beside the midlaner.

“Well, technically Alfonso already did that – but sure, go on.” The midlaner mumbled, his eyes half-closed.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me – I’m just so…angry with him, all the time.” Hyli turned to look at Tim, frustration written all over his face.

“Yeah, no kidding – but don’t you think that that has to like, come from somewhere?” Tim leaned back, almost completely lying down now, “and don’t try to tell me this is really just about him _camping_ in the bathroom…”

“Well… it’s a new season, and there is just a lot of pressure now, especially with our team having a new jungler and all – all of these expectations, you know?”

“Everyone is tense, sure; but you guys seem to be the only ones shouting at each other through the bathroom door at 10 am.” Tim rolled his eyes, staring at the ceiling, “Just say it, come on.”

“It’s just…hard for me,” the support whispered, nervously fidgeting around with his hands, “I’m just so used to having him around me all the time – we really used to have each other’s backs, no matter what…”

“Yeah, that’s for sure… you guys are beyond annoying when you team up.” Tim responded as he picked up a small bouncy ball he had found on the bed.

“Ehm well…lately, it just hasn’t been the same. I think I really just want…” Hyli swallowed hard.

“What is it that you want?” Tim asked, lazily tossing the ball up a few times.

“I just want my _friend_ back.”

Suddenly and almost automatically, Tim sat straight up. He had tried his hardest to remain calm, to be objective and, _yes,_ maybe even helpful. But that last statement was enough to completely blow his fuse. Somehow, deep inside of him, he felt as if he had dealt with something like this before – with someone this _oblivious_ to the _obvious_ truth. He was not having that again this time.

“You know that’s bullshit, right?”

“What?” The support turned to look at Tim, visibly agitated, “what do you mean?”

“I know you guys have been talking about us – about Martin, Oskar, me…and whatever may or may not be going on between us.” Tim said, not looking at the shocked expression in his support’s face.

“Tim, you have to understand – “ Hylissang began to speak but was cut off right away.

“No, listen – you see all of these things, all the time,” Tim continued, his monotonous voice not revealing the serious nature of his words, “you made me realize…all of these things.”

Next to him, Hylissang slowly nodded, not daring to interrupt Tim again.

“Tell me, how is it possible for you to be _so god damn blind_ when it comes to yourself?” Tim opened his hand and let the ball drop to the floor, bouncing up and down a couple of times. There was a long pause before the support responded.

“I’m sorry – really, I know I’m too nosy but… I just worry about you guys! I know how difficult Martin can be when it comes to –“ Hyli stuttered, trying his best to explain himself; but Tim cut him off again.

“Don’t make this about me. It’s not.” Tim said, slightly flinching.

“Sorry…you are right,” the support sighed, “I just wanted to have a break I guess…”

“Well, you don’t have time for that if you want to win tonight.” Tim remarked bluntly.

“I – I know that,” Hyli said as he looked down at his hands, visibly embarrassed, “I just don’t know what to do to fix this.”

“Just talk to him, man… Just tell him why you’re _really_ this bothered about small stuff lately.” Tim sighed, feeling tired of rolling his eyes all the time. His enormous hangover made him quite ill-equipped for this job.

“Well – it’s not like he _wants_ to talk to me right now, is it?”

“If Oskar did his job right, he should at least be willing to by now,” Tim mumbled, “maybe you shouldn’t open up with the _‘I just want my friend back_ ’-thing, though…just be honest with him, man.”

“I – I don’t…” Hyli’s cheeks were fully flushed by now, and the support had obvious troubles with finding the words to respond, “I guess I can at least try…”

“Good.” Tim sighed as he finally got off the bed, regaining a feeling for standing on his feet.

“Tim?”

“Yes?” Tim turned around, already standing in the open doorway.

“Thank you.” The support was whispering, just loud enough for the midlaner to hear.

“Don’t worry about it,” he mumbled and gave Hyli a slight smile before he left the room.

When he entered the hallway, Tim could already see Oskar standing in front of his room, presumably waiting for him. He felt himself working up a sweat immediately – the whole Bwipo – Hylissang – debacle had taken his mind off of his own _situation_ ; conveniently so. The thought of facing Oskar again now, with his headache still as prominent as ever, made the midlaner feel sick. But he didn’t exactly feel like hiding in the bathroom for the time being either, considering how much time he had just spend philosophizing about how long it took his toplaner to shit in there.

“So, how did it go?” Oskar asked, welcoming Tim with a smile.

“Okay. You?” He said, trying to look as calm as possible.

“I just made him pancakes, man.” Oskar chuckled.

“You did what now?” Tim asked, assuming that he must have misheard.

“Well, I made him breakfast and he just started talking like a god damn waterfall!” The jungler laughed wholeheartedly – maybe he was just as surprised as Tim about this obnoxious plan working.

“Wow, that’s so lame,” Tim remarked, giving Oskar a half-smile. You could say what you want, but his jungler sure knew how to get things done.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Well, I just hope they figure it out now – because I’m NOT doing that again.” Tim said, slowly shaking his head to undermine his determination.

“Yeah, I’m sure they will,” Oskar smiled and playfully ruffled Tim’s wild hair, “you’re a hero, Tim!”

Tim blushed and looked away quickly, mumbling, “oh, as if.”

“Hey, no need to be modest here,” Oskar laughed and shot Tim a wink, trying to build eye contact this time.

“Stop it – please, I just… I really need a break.” Tim said, turning away from his jungler, “My head is killing me. I need to go back to bed.”

Before Oskar had the chance to respond, Tim closed the door to his room behind him. And, finally, he was alone. Finally, he felt like he could _breathe_ again. He sat down on his bed. The room was still dark, since no one had bothered to open the blinds in the rush of the morning. But Tim had no hopes of falling back asleep again – no, that train had left the station a long time ago. His mind, just like the room around him, was spinning relentlessly. Between kissing Oskar and what he felt for Martin after what he had done to him, Tim had a hard time to figure out what felt right anymore. He had lied down completely by the time he heard a knock on his door.

“Nooo, please don’t…” he whispered, but not loud enough for anyone but himself to hear. _Please Oskar_ , he thought as he covered his eyes with his hands, _please just give me a break._

“Hey, do you know why Hylissang is throwing pancakes at Bwipo in the kitchen?”

The sound of this familiar voice, which clearly didn’t belong to his jungler, caused Tim to practically jump up in his bed. Out of all the people it could have been – why did it have to be Martin?

“They are working things out,” he mumbled, not looking at his ADC whatsoever.

Martin used to storm into his room without a warning all the time – but, due to recent circumstances, that hadn’t happened in a long time now. Maybe that was why Tim had such a hard time keeping his composure. Maybe that was why he wanted to snap at him, maybe even shout at him like Bwipo and Hyli had all morning long. But he knew that that wouldn’t get him anywhere.

“Is that so…” Martin smiled as he got closer to Tim’s bed – if the midlaner had decided to look at him, he would have seen his hands shaking, and maybe even how he shifted back from one foot to another, nervously chewing on his lower lip. But, in the end, he didn’t look.

“What are you doing here, Martin?”

The ADC sat down at the edge of the bed, not trying to reach out to Tim, but facing him. It took a while for him to collect his thoughts, it seemed. _Is he hungover too?_ Tim wondered, trying to read Martin’s facial expressions. As he took a closer look at him, he noticed that he was wearing the same clothes he had worn the day before – a fashion crime that the Swede would never commit voluntarily. It hardly came as a surprise to Tim at this point, but he realized that Martin must actually have spent the night somewhere else. Immediately, the tiny rest of empathy Tim had somehow kept alive until now vanished.

“I just really wanted to talk to you… about last night. After the game?” Martin stuttered, playing with the bedsheet to keep his hands occupied.

“Yeah, well,” Tim said as he rolled his eyes, “I really don’t think it’s any of your concern that Oskar kissed me.”

“I just realized how much you – wait,” Martin glared at Tim as his eyes kept widening, “he did what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the first chapter of part 5, aka "The Morning after" ;) 
> 
> How do you feel about Tim's POV this time around? And, most importantly, what do you think is going to go down between Hylimom and Bwipodad? :o
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts! And, as always, thanks for tuning in! :)


	17. Part 5: Martin

As the sun started to beam into the room without blinds on the windows, Martin began to wake up. He had not even opened his eyes by the time he noticed that he felt slightly dizzy. Back in the day, he could have handled a lot more alcohol without feeling a _thing_ the next day – _here’s to getting older_ , he thought as he turned away from the sunlight with a grunt.

As he switched to lying on his side, his arm met the slim frame of another guy beside him. The sensation startled him at first; but quickly, and almost instinctively, the ADC wrapped his arm around the waist of the guy sleeping next to him, snuggling up close. It was almost as if he was still dreaming – yes, the last time Martin had peacefully slept in a bed with someone else had been so long ago that this could _only_ be a dream.

For some reason that he could not exactly pin down, semi-awake Martin started to think about Tim. He tried to remember how it felt to be _close_ to him – and, as he let his fingers slide down the soft, naked skin of the guy’s stomach in front of him, he tried to remember whether this was what the midlaner felt like. A soft smile started to form on his lips as he imagined embracing Tim tightly. But the feeling didn’t last for long. After all, he had never spent the night with Tim before. Maybe it was because he had been too scared of getting too attached to the midlaner – that hadn’t exactly worked out too well for him in the past. Yes, maybe he was just a coward. And as his mind wandered down this dark road, Martin imagined seeing Tim from behind, reading ‘Nemesis’ on the back of his jersey, when, suddenly, a _different voice_ popped up in his head. And, as the Tim in his dream slowly turned around, he revealed the face of…

“…Martin? Hey, are you awake?” Caps whispered softly, not trying to escape the ADC’s grasp.

Martin opened his eyes in a flash – suddenly, he was wide awake. It was as if subconsciousness had played a mean trick on him; maybe even as if this inner conflict had raged on _all night long_. But the brown head of hair in front of him confirmed it. Not _all_ of what roamed around in his head right now had been a dream.

“Yes… kind of.” Martin mumbled quietly, leaning against the back of Rasmus’ neck.

He felt guilty when his mind wandered back to Tim’s solemn facial expression from the night before, sitting across the table from Martin in his favourite bar. He knew that he had messed up things between them bad – but, despite all of that, he couldn’t deny how _good_ it felt to lie beside Rasmus right now. His arm wouldn’t budge – not for all the guilt in the world.

Somehow, the sensation took him back to a different time. Back in 2018, him and Rasmus had shared a bed like this many times; for Martin, those memories were so precious. They way they had cuddled in the night, whispered in the morning before sneaking out again - but, in the end, that was something that had changed after Martin had moved out before Worlds. Things had never been the same after that – until, finally, Rasmus had left. And that had been the end of their story. Dwelling on the past had certainly never done anything for him but put him into a bad mood before – the same applied now. He sighed, pressing the other ADC even tighter to his chest.

“Ehm Martin? You are, ehm, kind of suffocating me,” Rasmus wheezed before him.

“Huh?” The ADC murmured, slowly coming back to his senses.

He let go. He let go, but – why did that suddenly feel like such a big deal to him? His head was still spinning when he slowly sat himself up, leaning against the headboard of Rasmus’ bed. The other ADC was quick to follow; he looked concerned.

“Oh, hey, it’s okay dude, I’m not hurt!” He exclaimed with his usual crooked smile as he swung his arm around Martin’s shoulders.

“That’s not it – I mean,” Martin stuttered, “what did we do, Rasmus?”

“What, you don’t remember?” Rasmus asked, playfully wiggling Martin around with the arm that was wrapped around the ADC, “well, first we started making out, then we took off our shirts and got onto the bed and –“

“No, stop, stop! I remember _what_ happened I just meant…” Martin blushed as he looked down on his hands, trying to find the right words to say, “I meant _why,_ why did we do this again?”

There was a pause. Then, the other ADC let his head rest on Martin’s shoulder as he whispered,

“I’m not sure. I guess we just… keep coming back to each other?”

Martin felt the heat rise to his cheeks, and he couldn’t help but smile as he repeated Rasmus’ words in his head. But that moment didn’t last for long either. 

“But this isn’t right, is it?” Martin murmured, his heart beating much faster than it should.

“Was it ever?” Rasmus chuckled, “back when I was with Fnatic, it didn’t exactly seem like a good idea either…”

“Guess you are right, but…things were different back then. Between us.” Martin’ heart dropped as he said this out loud – _different_ , yes, but was that the right word for it? Why was it so incredibly hard for him to speak about what had _happened_ back then?

“Yeah,” Rasmus replied with a soft smile on his face that was just _impossible_ to read, “but that doesn’t make this any less, uhm, you know…”

“Fun?” Martin smirked, trying to finish the other ADC’s sentence. The second the word left his lips, he regretted having said it. It didn’t feel _right_ – no, that was not the right way to put his feelings regarding what him and Rasmus had shared in the past and may, or may not, shared now. But, next to him, Rasmus started to laugh.

“Yeah, right, tons of fun! You know that’s what I’m all about,” the other ADC continued as he got up, pulling his arm away from Martin. As the blanket slipped down his body during the motion, it revealed his completely naked body. His consciousness urged Martin to look away – but he couldn’t. He was still staring, cheeks completely flushed, when Rasmus turned back around.

“Do you – ha, what, don’t act like you haven’t seen this before!” Rasmus smirked, playfully placing his hand on his hip, “I was wondering if you also needed some fresh undies, maybe?”

In more than just one way, Martin was embarrassed to the core. _Staring at a naked guy like a teenage girl? Borrowing his underwear, on top of that?_ He felt so cringy, it was almost sexy (catch that, Perkz?). But he didn’t have to check his boxer-briefs to evaluate just _how_ dirty they were – he could practically _feel_ them sticking to him, even though they were lying on the floor. If he didn’t want to risk walking around Berlin without any underwear at all, he didn’t have much of a choice. With a sigh, he agreed to take the other ADC’s offer.

“Good choice!” Rasmus’ face beamed as he threw a pair of pink briefs on the bed.

“What?” Martin looked at the bright coloured underwear in front of him, and then back at Rasmus, in total disbelief, “you want me to wear that?”

“That or nothing,” Rasmus replied with a sly grin on his face.

 _Yeah right, nothing, wouldn’t you like that_ , Martin thought with a grunt as he reluctantly put on the surprisingly tight pair of briefs. Sure, he might have gotten a bit thicker during these last couple of years – but this tight fit was straight up ridiculous. It reminded him about just _how_ thin the other ADC’s frame was compared to his. That was something that never occurred to him back when he had been with girls – _comparing bodies_. It was different with guys for sure, even though Martin didn’t like to admit that. Across the bed, Rasmus seemed to be enjoying the sight a bit too much for Martin’s liking; the other ADC could barely contain his laughter.

“I’m sorry, it’s just –“ Rasmus was wheezing, “you look, uhm, really good!”

“Sure, sure,” Martin replied as he rolled his eyes, “I’ll survive. For now, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Ehm, wait – Martin?” Rasmus called after him as Martin was almost out of the door, still trying to catch his breath.

“Don’t worry, I can find the bathroom by myself!” The ADC signalled his confidence with a wave as he opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.

The surprisingly serious tone of the beginning of their conversation had seriously caught Martin off guard; maybe that was why he needed a break, his semi-full bladder only being the second culprit to blame. As he turned left and right to find his way to the bathroom, he was surprised by the large number of doors in the hallway. If he had anticipated just _how_ difficult it would be to navigate himself into the right direction, he would have accepted Rasmus’ offer to give him directions for sure. He decided to turn left, following his intuition. Luckily, he spotted an open door a few meters down the hallway – _that must be the bathroom_ , he thought, satisfied with his ability to find his way in an unknown place.

Suddenly, the ADC caught a glimpse of a poster hung on the wall that made him stop in his tracks. It was a hauntingly familiar sight – one that evoked a thousand memories to flood into Martin’s mind and, unfortunately, one central revelation. _Wait_ , he thought as he stood there, in the middle of the hallway, wearing nothing but incredibly tight pink briefs, unable to move – _am I where I think I am?_ It only took about a second until panic overcome the ADC. _How could I be this stupid?_ He thought angrily as he stomped back into the direction he had come from, completely aborting his bathroom mission, _of course Rasmus’ place means the freaking G2 gaming apartment!_

As he got closer to the door to Rasmus’ room, he heard voices behind him – _shit,_ he thought, trying to hurry even more _, I can’t be seen like this!_ His hand was already on the doorknob when the face of a familiar face poked out of the room right next to Rasmus’.

“Oh, hey Rekkles!” G2’s support Mikyx greeted the ADC enthusiastically, wearing nothing but a large white T-shirt and some boxers.

“N-no, no, no you didn’t see me,” Martin mumbled, his face as red as a tomato, before he quickly disappeared into the other ADC’s room, hastily closing the door behind him.

Needless to say, Martin was scared shitless. He didn’t know what surprised him more – that he had been drunk enough – _or, let’s face it, stupid enough_ – to forget just _where_ it was Rasmus was living, or that he had actually been caught by his unfortunate roommate. _Almost completely naked_ , on top of all of that. He quickly grabbed his shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head clumsily; he didn’t even _see_ Rasmus trying his best to calm the other ADC down. He just wanted to leave.

“Hey, hey, listen, hey,” Rasmus said slowly as he tried to grab Martin by the shoulders to finally get him to pay attention to him, “please, just, uhm, sit down, okay?”

“I’m not sitting down!” Martin exclaimed as he glared at Rasmus, “you have no idea what just happened!”

“Well, uhm, I assume you didn’t go to the bathroom?” Rasmus replied, trying his absolute best to remain calm.

“OF COURSE I DIDN’T!” Martin exclaimed, now staring directly at the other ADC.

“Rasmus, how could you drag me to this place?? He saw me…in – in _this!_ ” Martin stuttered as he pointed down at his pink briefs.

“What? Who saw you?” Rasmus asked with a nervous smile, still holding on to the ADC’s shoulders.

“M…M –“ Martin tried to say the name, but before he could finish, the door of the room swung open with a bang.

“That would be me,” Mihael announced as he stepped into the room.

The eyes of both the ADC’s followed the support in utter disbelief as he walked through the room _way too casually_ , sat down in Caps’ office chair, and took a sip of the orange juice he had brought with him. It was Rasmus who somehow managed to break the silence after a long, awkward pause.

“Mihael, were you listening in front of the door?”

The support put the glass on the desk carefully before he replied, “Why, is that a problem all of the sudden?”

“Of course it is!” Martin exclaimed as he angrily pulled his sweatpants up, finally feeling less exposed to the familiar, yet not welcomed eyes of the support.

“Ehm, yes, listen, I think it would be better if I could be alone with Martin right now?” Rasmus said slowly, his smile looking even more nervous than before.

“No fun…” Mihael mumbled as he spun around in the office chair, “I already had to wait on the side-line last night…”

“You – what?” Martin stuttered, clearly caught off guard by this statement, “what does he mean by that, Rasmus?”

“Oh for Christ’s sake, Miky…” Rasmus whispered angrily as he grabbed the office chair by its back.

“Rasmus, come on, don’t be like that…” The support gave his ADC big puppy eyes as he nibbled on his glass of orange juice again, “look at him, how do you expect me to just stay in my room, _all by myself?_ ”

“I can’t believe you…” Rasmus hissed as he pushed his office char, and his support, out of his room, forcefully slamming the door behind him. With a sigh, he turned back around to face Martin.

“Listen, uhm, the thing is that Miky and I have kind of a… we have – man, I don’t know how to describe this.”

Rasmus scratched his head before he sat down on his bed, patting the spot beside him as if he expected Martin to join him. But the ADC didn’t feel like sitting at all.

“You have what? What? Did you honestly invite this guy to join us in bed??”

Martin was overcome by a sudden, uncontrollable rage. Again, he felt so _played_ by Caps – just as he had the last time they had hooked up, during the photoshoot. To think that he had almost started to trust the other ADC again - yes, that he had even _almost_ wished for things to be like they once had been again for a moment - made the Swede see completely red. It was as if he hadn’t learned a single thing from his mistakes – as if he just kept repeating them over and over again.

The other ADC didn’t look at him as he replied, “No, no that’s not it… We just have this, uhm, this arrangement? I swear, he just asked me to make you come _over here_ last night, nothing more than that!”

“And you think that makes it any less bad?? Aren’t you saying that you didn’t want to come to my place yesterday so that your _lover_ could listen to us fucking?”

“Ehm, well, it sounds really bad when you put it this way but –“

“No, no I’m done with this,” Martin hissed as he grabbed his jacket forcefully and made his way to the door, “I’m done with you!”

“Wait, Martin, please!” Rasmus pleaded, trying to reach for the ADC’s shoulder, “just let me explain!”

But Martin dodged Rasmus’ hand and stomped out of the room, almost throwing Miky out of his chair in the process. The support had, in fact, remained in front of the door unmoved – but Martin was too agitated to deal with him. He just ran off, trying to make his way out of the apartment without causing even more trouble for himself. He already felt stupid enough the way things were. Behind him, he could hear Rasmus cursing as he tried to make his way past Miky to run after the ADC. He obviously _didn’t care_ about not making a scene.

“Martin, please, let’s just talk about this! Don’t leave!” Rasmus shouted after him as he followed the ADC down the hallway.

“What do you want to talk about, huh? You want to make an even bigger fool out of me?” Martin said much louder than he had wanted to – he was just too mad at this point.

He didn’t look back, didn’t turn around to face Rasmus again, despite the other ADC’s pleads. He was already putting on his white sneakers when he suddenly heard a different, but just as loud voice behind him.

“Hey, hey, REKKLES! Guys, come quickly, isn’t that Rekkles??”

Martin flinched, not daring to look _who_ it was that had spotted him – but, judging from the obnoxious volume of the voice, it must have been the team’s jungler, Jankos.

“HEY REKKLES, what are you doing in the enemy’s jungle??” Jankos shouted, and Martin could swear the jungler was even louder this time.

“Knock it off, Jankos!” Rasmus hissed at his teammate as he walked past him, almost reaching the entry of the apartment where Martin was now finishing up tying his shoelaces.

But Martin didn’t turn around, no, not even when he heard the sound of several doors opening behind him. He didn’t want to hear Rasmus say another word – what for? Instead, he stumbled out of the front door of the apartment in an attempt to leave as swiftly as possible, slamming the door shut, causing the faint sound of laughter behind him to disappear. It almost surprised him that he had managed to get fully dressed in this state of rage and confusion – he even felt his phone in his pocket as he searched for it in his sweatpants.

As he checked how much battery his OnePlus still had to offer, he was relieved to find that it was still enough to navigate his way home. He did, after all, not really have a clue about where he actually was. He slowly walked down the stairs and decided to call himself a cab – public transportation was not exactly his strong suit, especially not when he was emotionally overwhelmed _and_ had a hangover.

While he was waiting for the driver to pick him up, he wondered _where_ he should actually go now. It was later than he hoped it would be, and he knew that he would barely have enough time to get ready in his own apartment _. But I reek and look like shit,_ he thought, rolling his eyes at the sheer stupidity that brought him into this situation. Since things couldn’t get much worse than this, Martin decided to light himself a cigarette to take off the edge, even though he had tried to quit again for some time now. The sheer humiliation he had experienced during the last couple of minutes had _truly_ put him through it. _The whole fucking team must have seen me_ , he thought as he blew the smoke into the cold winter air, _god knows what they are gonna think about me now_.

If only he had stayed away from Caps – if only he had stayed with… _Tim_ , Martin thought as he clenched his fists. Suddenly, something dawned on him. This, _exactly this_ , was what he had put his midlaner through – feeling played and replaced with some other guy, as if it didn’t even matter… Yes, even though he had no interest in finding out what exactly the "arrangemen"t between Caps and Miky looked like, the thought of Rasmus fucking another guy made him feel sick. What _on earth_ had driven him to hurt Tim in the exact same way? It must have been in this moment that Martin felt like the biggest jerk of all time. _Fuck my vanity_ , he thought as he climbed into the cab that had pulled up in front of him, _I need to see him_.

As Martin entered Fnatic’s gaming apartment 20 minutes and an incredibly awkward cab drive later, he was greeted by the sound of two guys angrily shouting at each other, mixed with the rattling of silverware, coming from the kitchen. He sighed as he took off his shoes, carefully placing them next to the door. _From one circus to the next_ , he thought as he walked towards Tim’s room. He couldn’t help but poke his head into the kitchen on his way and, unfortunately, he would never be able to forget the scene he witnessed there.

“It’s not what you think! Would you just LISTEN to me, Zdravets?? Please!”

“You mean the way YOU listened to ME just now, Gabriël?? Yeah, I didn’t think so!”

Bwipo and Hylissang didn’t even bother to look at Martin as they ensued their battle – well, battle might have been the wrong term. It was awfully one-sided, considering that it was only the support who threw baked goods at the toplaner. Even though Martin was more than curious to find out what exactly was going on, the faint memory of the start of this fight from the night before urged him to _not_ get involved right now. He came with a different objective.

He sneaked past the quarrelling lovebirds without them noticing. Luckily, Tim’s room was now in reach for the ADC. He knocked on the door. He waited for an answer, which he usually wouldn’t do – but, today, he had been reminded about just _how_ important this common courtesy was _. Damn you Miky_ , he thought with a grunt. Since there was no reply, he assumed that the midlaner must have somehow slept through the enormous uproar in the kitchen. To his surprise, he found Tim wide awake, even though he was lying sprawled out on his bed. Tim was covering both of his eyes with his hands, almost as if he didn’t want to be _seen._ Martin quietly closed the door behind him, unsure of how to break the ice.

“Hey, do you know why Hylissang is throwing pancakes at Bwipo in the kitchen?”

Asking about the mysterious events outside of their own, terribly uncomfortable situation, seemed like an obvious choice to start the conversation. _They gossip about us all the time after all_ , Martin thought as he nervously bit his lip, waiting for his midlaner to respond, or even just to look at him.

“They are working things out,” Tim mumbled, sitting himself straight up while staring in a different direction.

“Is that so…” Martin smiled as he got closer to Tim’s bed, desperately trying to catch a glimpse at his face.

Since he had left the bar before the midlaner, he had no idea how long he had stayed, how much he had drunk and whether he had left with… _him_. Martin swallowed hard as the image of Oskar’s face leaning in way too close to Tim’s across the table flickered in his mind. He felt his stomach turn a little. Due to the peculiar circumstances of this morning, he had completely forgotten just _why_ he had stormed out of this very room the last time around.

“What are you doing here, Martin?” Tim asked in his usual, monotonous voice – but the question was loaded with emotions. Martin knew at least this much.

The ADC sat down at the edge of the bed. He was desperately aware of the way he looked and, even worse, the way he smelled – so, he was careful to keep his distance to Tim. His hands were already shaking so much; he really didn’t need his stench to lower his chances of getting through to his midlaner even more.

“I just really wanted to talk to you… about last night. After the game?” Martin stuttered, playing with the bedsheet to keep his hands occupied.

He figured that the least he could do right now was come clean. In his mind, the parallels between what had happened to him and what he had done to Tim seemed uncanny – maybe it was enough? He hopefully looked over to inspect Tim’s face, trying to figure out what might be going on in his head. The circles under the midlaner’s eyes were deep and dark, his hair was wild, and he was squinting into the darkness of the room. _He must be pretty hungover_ , Martin thought. It had probably been a good idea to keep the lights off. What Martin couldn’t tell was, however, how Tim might react to what he had to say. He proceeded to lay the words out in his head. He needed to be direct – to attack the issue head on. He needed to tell Tim that he _knew_ how much he had _suffered_ because of him.

“Yeah, well,” Tim said, catching Martin in the middle of arranging his opening statement, “I really don’t think it’s any of your concern that Oskar kissed me.”

“I just realized how much you – wait,” Martin glared at Tim as his eyes kept widening, “he did what?”

There was a pause. Suddenly, Tim made eye contact with Martin and, weirdly enough, he looked just as surprised as the ADC.

“What do you mean? You didn’t see it? In the bar?” The midlaner whispered.

“I – no, of course I didn’t… Why would you think that?” Martin said, clenching his fists _. Why, why, why,_ he thought as he felt the anger rushing back into his mind – _why did that have to happen right now?_

“Well, it wasn’t exactly easy to miss it he –“ Tim stopped, and Martin could swear he saw him blush before he continued, “anyway… what did you want to talk about if not that?”

“What, you think we can just _forget_ about that now? I specifically TOLD you he had the hots for you and you still…” Martin mumbled, now grasping on to his knees for support.

But then he stopped. _This is what’s wrong with me_ , he thought as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He had to remind himself that, right now, he certainly was in no position to judge the midlaner. He shuffled a bit closer to Tim, still keeping a careful distance, but managing to establish stable eye contact. He was not here to _fight_ – not again. He wanted to make it right.

“I’m sorry – I’m such a jerk right now, no?” He said with a pained expression on his face.

“Do you want me to say ‘no’ or…?” Tim replied after Martin didn’t continue to speak for a moment.

“What? Ehm, no, what I was saying was,” the ADC stuttered, “that all I could think about just now was walking out of this room, kicking down Selfmade’s door and punching him right in the face.”

He clenched his fist again, this time almost for demonstrative purposes.

“But, funny thing is that I’m much _worse_ , right? I’ve treated you so badly, Tim, and you didn't fucking deserve that – I see that now.”

Martin ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, looking back at his midlaner in an instant. The expression on Tim’s face had softened a little – not enough for the ADC to be able to tell what he was thinking, but enough to make him feel a little more at ease.

“So uhm, I wanted to apologize. I’ve just gotten sucked back into all of this drama with Caps – I never told you much about our history, mostly because it… it hurts me to think about it.”

“Oh, it hurts _you?_ ” Tim frowned, crossing his arms.

“Yeah,” Martin mumbled, suddenly having trouble with breathing calmly, “it fucking does. I know I fucked up – I never should have hooked up with him. And, yes, it happened again yesterday after I saw how close you and Oskar were and –“

Martin choked. He suddenly realized that he was about to cry. As if the morning had not been emotionally challenging enough – no, he was about to be send over the edge in the _worst possible way_. But there was no point in trying to hide it now, just as there was no point in stopping. He had to get it off his chest.

“I’m a mess, Tim, I’m a fucking mess! He just played with me – it was like back then when he just…when he just tossed me aside…!”

Slowly, the tears started to run down Martin’s cheeks. He could tell that Tim’s concerned gaze was now resting on him.

“I will never forgive myself for this, Tim – I should have never turned to him again, just because I felt you slipping away from me! Please just –“ he sobbed, barely whispering by now, “please just know how sorry I am…”

Without saying anything, Tim handed Martin a tissue from his nightstand. As the ADC took it to clumsily blow his nose, he could suddenly see all the sadness in his midlaner’s expression. For a moment, they just sat there, looking into each other’s eyes – and it felt as if that was worth more than a thousand words. Finally, Tim decided to say something.

“You can’t just expect me to forget about all of this, Martin.” The midlaner was almost whispering as he softly shook his head.

“I know,” Martin responded as he put the tissue down next to him, “it’s not like I expect things to just go back to how they used to be, but maybe we can just…talk?”

“Talk…” Tim responded, leaning forward to hug his knees, “I don’t know, if –“

“Listen, I just – I’m sorry that I could never say it. That was my fault,” Martin mumbled, shuffling a bit closer to his midlaner, “I think I was just scared because of my experiences with…him. But I’m done with him now.”

“I don’t understand… what is it that you could never say?” Tim asked, glancing to look at Martin from behind his knees.

“That I want to be with you.”

“You sure you don’t just _think_ you do?” Tim said as he looked away again.

“What? No…” Martin whispered as he finally caught his breath, “I never should have said that. I was just – scared. Scared that I would get too attached to you, that you would leave me like he did and –”

“And you thought that would make it okay to play with my feelings?” Tim said, now looking awfully serious. He was still clutching on to his knees tightly, his arms almost shaking.

“No…no.” Martin mumbled, blushing in embarrassment, “I guess it just never occurred to me that you _had_ …uhm, you know – feelings _like that_ for me.”

“Fuck, well, I did!” Tim barked, his eyes suddenly flickering with anger.

“I never fucking wanted to! I – I was _fine_ by myself,” Tim said, slowly letting his knees sink back down, “but now, I think about you all the time and it’s… It’s so annoying!”

Martin bit his lip as he listened to Tim, trying his hardest not to just spring up to wrap his arms around the agitated midlaner.

“Not talking to you is the worst, even though you’ve fucked with my head so many times!” Tim continued, now looking directly at the ADC, “I just don’t _want_ all of this, Martin…!”

“Yeah…” Martin whispered – it was all he could think of in this moment. One word, and yet it meant so much. He didn’t want this either – no, he was tired of feeling torn, desperate, powerless. But, as both of them sat in the darkness of Tim’s bedroom, staring into each other’s eyes, Martin realized that there was no easy fix. There was no easy way out. He took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry that I’ve let it come to this, Tim. I wish I could turn back time but – I can’t.”

“Damn right you can’t.” The midlaner mumbled, his gaze still lingering on the ADC.

“But I hate not talking to you, too.” He gave Tim a soft smile, causing the midlaner to blush a little.

“Well – I guess we don’t have to _not_ talk.” Tim whispered as a response.

“I’d like that,” Martin said as his heart skipped a beat.

Considering where this conversation kicked off, the ADC was more than delighted with how things were looking now. Sure, he didn’t win Tim back – he didn’t exactly make things right either. But he had finally, _finally_ , after almost a year of knowing him, shared a genuine conversation with him. He could finally be honest. Maybe even a little vulnerable. But, after learning that the midlaner had had feelings for him at some point, Martin felt a lot more at ease about being vulnerable around Tim. _Maybe he still has those feelings now?_ The ADC wondered as he got off the bed. He couldn’t possibly ask now – no, that would have pushed his luck. He was ready to wait. 

“Won’t bother you any longer,” he began as he adjusted his sweatpants in hopes of sneakily pulling the Caps’ incredibly tight briefs out of his crack, “we’ll see each other in the meeting later?”

“Yeah,” Tim replied as he dangled his legs off the bed.

Martin turned back to look at him again before he opened the door to the hallway.

“Let’s win tonight, Tim.”

And, for just a second, Martin felt as if he saw his midlaner smile. It was almost as if both of them knew what was going to happen – the victory, the redemption, the feeling of finally, yes, finally playing like a team again. It had only been the first week of the Spring Split and no one could know for sure what kind of twists and turns would await the team during the rest of it; but, for some reason, this small victory tasted so much sweeter than the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a messy morning-after! What are your thoughts on Martin's POV? 
> 
> You know the drill by now - part 5 will continue with Rasmus' POV next, before concluding with another episode of the DreamServer. 
> 
> How do you like the speed we're moving in right now? I'd be thrilled to hear about it in the comments!
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	18. Part 5: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the third chapter of part 5, "The Morning After"! 
> 
> As some of you probably have noticed by now, I'm trying to post a new chapter every 3 days at the moment. It's a schedule I'm comfortable with right now - I hope you are too!

When Rasmus woke up being spooned by Martin, he could have hardly been any more content with the world. The feeling of the ADC’s strong arm wrapped around his waist made him feel so _secure_ , so weirdly at home – it almost was as if it had teleported Rasmus back into a different time. A smile flickered across his face.

He remembered how their mornings had looked like back then – almost two years prior to this day. Rasmus would wake up, turn off the loud alarm with a grunt, and fall back into Martin’s arms. They would cuddle up close to each other, deep under the covers, kissing and whispering. They would hold each other as long as they could – until one of them had to sneak out of the room as quietly as possible. After all, they didn’t want their teammates to find out. But _yes_ – back then, they were in love.

As Rasmus suddenly felt Martin’s hand stroking the bare skin of his belly, he was shaken back to reality. His smile disappeared. All at once, his mind was overcome by guilt. Yes, Martin’s embrace felt just as nice as it had back then – but, after all, the situation they were currently in was drastically different. Thousands of obstacles stood between them; and, on top of that, they were playing for rivalling teams. And, the thing that made Rasmus shiver even more, was the fact that he had deliberately persuaded Martin to follow him into the lion’s den the night before. _What if they see him?_ He thought as he felt the ADC shuffle behind him, _what am I supposed to do?_

When he heard Martin’s voice again after spending at least 30 minutes – yes, he did check his alarm clock from time to time – Rasmus felt relieved. When they talked about how they just _keep coming back to each other_ , Rasmus felt touched and, yes, maybe even a bit melancholic. When Martin described what they had shared as “fun”, Rasmus felt hurt. But he wasn’t about to let the other ADC know that. For a moment, he forgot all about the fact that _he_ had been the one to trick Martin this time. Therefore, to make himself feel better and deflect from his pain, he wanted to dress Martin up.

He used to love putting his clothes on the other ADC – particularly because he was much broader than himself. The clothes would always be so obnoxiously tight on Martin – it was hilarious, but also quite the ravishing sight. For this particular occasion, the bright pink briefs that he had once bought as a joke when he was out shopping with Perkz would come in handy. He enjoyed watching Martin’s face turn red as he stared at the underwear Rasmus had casually thrown onto the bed. The sight of the other ADC struggling to get into the briefs was already enough to put a smile on Rasmus’ face – but, as Martin had slipped out of the covers, it also gave him an opportunity to take a closer look at his body.

They hadn’t bothered to turn on the light the night before, which is why the images in Rasmus’ mind were rather blurry. The first thing that caught his eye were Martin’s arms – they still looked just as strong, but he had gotten several new tattoos since they had last hooked up. In general, he felt as if the Swede had gained a bit of weight – something that Rasmus didn’t mind at all. In fact, he thought it looked quite good on Martin. In a sense, he _didn’t_ lie when he said that Martin looked good in the tight underwear that barely covered his junk and behind properly – in a sense, what he really meant to say was that he wanted to throw him back onto the bed and hide away under the covers like they had always used to do.

But, when Martin suddenly announced that he had to go to the bathroom, Rasmus was slapped back into reality once more. He realized that he had just distracted himself from the issue at hand – and, in the end, that it was now too late to fix it. Before he could warn the other ADC about what would await him out in the hallway, he had already pranced out of the room.

Immediately after cursing out his terrible attention span, he started to run through the possible outcomes of this situation. _Okay, so, maybe no one’s awake yet_ , he thought as he quickly got up and put on some sweatpants. Then again – how could Martin possibly miss all of the G2 banners and posters? _There's no way he didn’t see_ , Rasmus thought as he paced around the room in a circle, growing more and more nervous. At this pointed, he was just thinking about damage control.

When Rasmus heard the door of the room next to his open with a bang, he knew that could only mean trouble. _What are you up to now, Miky?_ He thought as pearls of sweat started to form on his forehead. Only a few seconds later, Martin stormed into his room. The ADC looked even more panicked than Rasmus felt – he was still almost butt-naked, with his face somehow looking both flushed and pale. He picked up his jersey in a hurry, trying to get dressed without even looking at the other ADC who was, at first, to baffled to do anything. The situation looked even worse than what he had anticipated. After the initial shock had passed, Rasmus clumsily tried to gesture Martin to calm down.

“Hey, hey, listen, hey,” Rasmus said as he tried to grab Martin by the shoulders to finally get him to pay attention to him, “please, just, uhm, sit down, okay?”

“I’m not sitting down!” Martin exclaimed as he glared at Rasmus, “you have no idea what just happened!”

“Well, uhm, I assume you didn’t go to the bathroom?” Rasmus replied as calmly as possible, still secretly hoping for a weird mix-up that could be solved on the spot somehow. 

“OF COURSE I DIDN’T!” Martin shouted, now staring directly at the other ADC.

“Rasmus, how could you drag me to this place?? He saw me…in – in _this!_ ” Martin pointed down at his pink briefs, and, for a second, Rasmus’ brain stopped working due to the sight.

“What? Who saw you?” Rasmus asked with a nervous smile, still holding on to the ADC’s shoulders.

“M…M –“ Martin tried to say the name, but before he could finish, the door of the room swung open with a bang.

“That would be me,” Mihael announced as he stepped into the room.

Rasmus could not believe it. As if it was a totally normal thing to do, his support walked into his room, without knocking, without asking whether he was welcome – nothing. He strolled through the place like he owned it, casually sitting down in Rasmus’ gaming chair. _He even brought god damn freshly squeezed orange juice_ , Rasmus thought as he felt the rage starting to build in his chest. He couldn’t possibly fathom _why_ his support chose to do it – but he was about to fuck everything up for his ADC.

“Mihael, were you listening in front of the door?” Rasmus said after a long pause, trying his absolute best not to let his anger show.

The support put the glass on the desk carefully before he replied, “Why, is that a problem all of the sudden?”

 _Idiot,_ Rasmus thought as he clenched his fists.

“Of course it is!” Martin exclaimed as he angrily pulled his sweatpants up. 

“Ehm, yes, listen, I think it would be better if I could be alone with Martin right now?” Rasmus said slowly, and he could feel that he had to force himself to smile more and more.

“No fun…” Mihael mumbled as he spun around in the gaming chair, “I already had to wait on the side-line last night…”

“You – what?” Martin stuttered as he turned to look at the other ADC, “what does he mean by that, Rasmus?”

“Oh for Christ’s sake, Miky…” Rasmus whispered angrily as he grabbed the office chair by its back. He had absolutely no patience left to offer for Mihael right now – he was about to explode.

“Rasmus, come on, don’t be like that…” The support gave his ADC big puppy eyes that would usually make Rasmus so weak as he nibbled on his glass of orange juice again, “look at him, how do you expect me to just stay in my room, _all by myself?_ ”

That was it. He had completely lost his mind – yes, that was the only possible explanation for the support’s behaviour. Rasmus had never felt so taunted by Miky before – maybe even a little played.

“I can’t believe you…” Rasmus hissed as he pushed his office char, and his support, out of his room. He leaned down and whispered, “you will pay for this later,” before he slammed the door shut behind him. With a sigh, he turned back around to face Martin.

“Listen, uhm, the thing is that Miky and I have kind of a… we have – man, I don’t know how to describe this.”

Rasmus scratched his head before he sat down on his bed. It was an attempt to calm his nerves, to somehow find a way back into a conversation from ADC to ADC. He patted the spot beside him, hoping that Martin would follow his offer – hoping that he also had an interest in talking about it, maybe even fixing things. It must have been their morning talk that had given Rasmus hope. But the other ADC made no attempt to sit down; no, instead, Rasmus could practically see Martin steaming in rage.

“You have what? What? Did you honestly invite this guy to join us in bed??”

He didn’t dare to look up. He feared meeting Martin’s eyes – he was so ashamed. No, he had certainly never thought about inviting Miky to a threesome…but how in the hell was he supposed to explain what was _actually_ going on between them? But, alas, he at least had to try.

“No, no that’s not it… We just have this, uhm, this arrangement? I swear, he just asked me to make you come _over here_ last night, nothing more than that!”

“And you think that makes it any less bad?? Aren’t you saying that you didn’t want to come to my place yesterday so that your _lover_ could listen to us fucking?” Martin’s voice was almost cracking at this point – it was so hard for Rasmus to bear.

“Ehm, well, it sounds really bad when you put it this way but –“ Rasmus stuttered, desperately trying to find a way to explain.

“No, no I’m done with this,” Martin hissed as he grabbed his jacket forcefully and made his way to the door, “I’m done with you!”

“Wait, Martin, please!” Rasmus pleaded, trying to reach for the ADC’s shoulder, “just let me explain!”

But Martin dodged Rasmus’ hand and stomped out of the room, leaving the other ADC desperately extending his arm after him, almost as if he could make him come back through sheer willpower. But it only took a moment for him to make a change of plans, running after Martin as fast as he could. Unfortunately, Miky was blocking his path, still snuggled up in his gaming chair in front of his door. Rasmus started cursing, trying to push the support out of the way somehow – in his mind, he was only one step away from kicking Miky in the face to walk straight over him. _But no,_ he though with a grim expression as he climbed over the obstacle, _he would probably even enjoy that_. Martin had almost reached the entrance of the apartment when Rasmus was finally able to chase after him.

“Martin, please, let’s just talk about this! Don’t leave!” Rasmus shouted, trying to reach Martin while not causing too much of a commotion.

“What do you want to talk about, huh? You want to make an even bigger fool out of me?” Martin responded, not even turning around to look at the other ADC running after him.

Unfortunately, that was the moment when Rasmus saw the door of one of the rooms opening. Of all the possible players – why did it have to be _Jankos_ poking his head out into the hallway now?

“Hey, hey, REKKLES! Guys, come quickly, isn’t that Rekkles??” The jungler shouted in his usual, incredibly loud voice.

Martin flinched but remained uninfluenced by the hollering. Rasmus was almost there – _please, don’t leave, no, don’t leave me_ , he thought as he squeezed past his jungler.

“HEY REKKLES, what are you doing in the enemy’s jungle??” Jankos shouted, even louder this time.

“Knock it off, Jankos!” Rasmus hissed at his teammate, turning to shoot him an angry glance.

He had almost reached Martin, but, as he turned around again after scolding Jankos, the other ADC was gone. The doors surrounding Jankos’ room had opened by now, which was not a surprise, considering the obnoxious volume of his announcement. Even though Rasmus was surrounded by his teammates, all staring at him with curiosity in their eyes, he felt alone. He was angry, sad, disappointed – it was much, much more than he was used to. Maybe that was the reason why he just couldn’t decide on what to _do_ with all of his rage. He clenched his fists again – yes, why not _let it out_? He sure as hell felt as if he deserved to do that.

“YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Rasmus shouted, turning to his support who was still sitting in his gaming chair at the other end of the hallway, “do you think this is a fucking game, Miky??”

Mihael, as well as the rest of the G2 squad, didn’t know what to say. In over a year of living and playing together, they had never seen Rasmus _this angry_ – in fact, they couldn’t even remember him ever _cursing_. It was Luka who tried to put his hand on his ADC’s shoulder to calm him down.

“Listen, Rasmus, how about we sit down and –“

“No thank you,” the ADC mumbled angrily as he stomped back to his room, not even _looking_ at his support this time.

He didn’t feel like dealing with him – it would have only made him even more _mad_. Behind him, he could hear his teammates whispering and – wait, was that the voice of a _woman_ urging Jankos to apologize or…? _No_ , Rasmus’ ears must have played a trick on him. He closed the door of his room behind him and let himself fall onto his bed with a long sigh.

For a second, he felt almost as if he could still smell Martin in his sheets. For a brief moment, that sensation felt so nice – but then, it made him crawl up into a fetus-position, desperately clutching onto his beloved raccoon-pillow for support. Especially compared to how he and Martin had cuddled on this very bad just about 20 minutes ago, this certainly was a new low point for Rasmus. He was still trying to take deep breaths when he suddenly heard a loud knock on the door.

“CAPS! I’M COMING IN!” Jankos shouted as he opened the door, casually walking into Rasmus’ room.

The ADC sat himself up, still holding the raccoon-pillow in his arms, and glared as his jungler.

“You know that’s not how knocking works, right?”

“Yeah, Yeah, sure,” Marcin continued as he sat down on the edge of the ADC’s bed, “I just REALLY need to talk to you.”

Rasmus raised one of his eyebrows, barely daring to ask, “about, uhm, about what?”

“You know, you just stormed off and, hm, I just THOUGHT you were probably mad and, yes, I get that.” The jungler explained as he nodded his head and crossed his arms.

“I realize that it was not NICE of me to call Rekkles out like that – I don’t know what happened with him and Miky, but I DO know what kind of a shit real-life-support Miky can be…”

Even though Rasmus was still awfully mad, listening to his jungler trying to come up with a reason for _why_ he was angry was probably the funniest thing he had heard all day. He tried to suppress his laughter.

“And, yeah, as I was saying, he never PUT THE CAKE BACK IN THE FRIDGE! To this day, no one knows what happened to the cake and –“

 _Oh, I think I know what happened to the cake_ , Rasmus thought, finally cracking a smile. The storm was still raging on in his head – but he didn’t see a reason to involve Jankos in his mess. He put his hand on the jungler’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Jankos, you don’t need to apologize it’s – it’s really not what you think it is. Uhm, by the way,” Rasmus scratched his head, “did I hear the voice of a _woman_ telling you to come apologize to me or…?”

“EHHM –“ Jankos shrieked up, immediately coming to a stand, “No, I mean, she didn’t tell me to, but, uh, yes, Perkz’ girlfriend seems to have stayed over and – and I really need to go now, TAKE CARE!”

Before Rasmus could ask any more questions to satisfy his curiosity and, yes, maybe to deflect from his own situation just a little bit, Jankos had already stormed off. In the doorway, he collided with the team’s midlaner. The crash didn’t look too painful, and, in the end, they managed to squeeze past each other. For a second, Rasmus thought he saw Perkz blush a little – what was that all about?

“Hey, Rasmus,” Luka smiled as he sat down next to the ADC.

“There’s no need Luka,” Rasmus mumbled as he let his face sink down into the pillow, “Jankos has already solved all of my problems.”

“Pff, yeah,” Luka laughed as he crossed his legs casually, “as if he knew anything about them. I just talked with Mihael, by the way.”

Rasmus lifted his gaze in a flash and whispered, “oh – so you know?”

The midlaner gave him a soft smile as he replied, “Yeah, you could say that. You know you have every right to be mad at him.”

“Well, of course I am,” Rasmus said as he clutched his pillow even tighter, “I just don’t understand why he would do this to me. I thought we were friends.”

“Well,” Luka began as he scratched his cheek pensively, “it’s not quite that easy, is it?”

“Why – I mean… you guys are still friends too, right? I thought that’s how it worked…”

“Yeah, sure we are – that’s why I talked to him. That’s why I promised to tell you that he is _sorry_.” Luka put his hand on Rasmus’ shoulder.

“I still don’t get it, Luka,” Rasmus whispered, now looking his midlaner in the eyes, “why would he do this to me?”

“It’s not my place to say, Rasmus… how about this,” Luka said as he slowly got off the bed, “how about we go have breakfast in the kitchen and talk it out with him?”

“What? No way!” Rasmus screeched, not even thinking about accepting Perkz’ suggestion, “I don’t want to see his stupid face right now!”

“You’ll have to see him tonight anyway, Rasmus – he’s your support, remember?” Luka chuckled as he extended his hand towards the ADC, “…and we are a team. Come on, I promise I won’t leave your side, okay?”

Rasmus groaned, slowly letting go of his raccoon-pillow. He didn’t like to admit it, but Luka was right – it was no use to avoid facing Miky right now. Sooner or later, he would have to do that anyway. As he took his midlaner’s hand to get off the bed, he was thankful to be a part of the G2 family. It was not just a job, no, they really _cared_ about each other. It showed in times like this. As the both of them made their way out of Rasmus’ room, he couldn’t resist asking Luka a final question before they dived into the madness.

“So, uhm, your girlfriend stayed over tonight?”

“Sam? Yeah, she joined us in the bar after you left yesterday, actually,” Luka smirked as he guided Rasmus towards the kitchen, “you’ll love her – Jankos already does for sure!”

“What was that about ME?” Jankos shouted over his bowl of cereal when Caps and Perkz entered the kitchen.

“I’m sure it was nothing,” the blonde girl sitting across the table, which Rasmus figured was Sam, giggled as a response.

She was wearing a white t-shirt, which was way too big for her petite body, and some striped boxers. If Rasmus had any interest in women, he probably would have looked at her with the same dreamy stare that Jankos and Wunder shot at her from the other side of the table. But, instead, his gaze was drawn to the person in the room who, funnily enough, was wearing matching outfits with Sam. The support was sitting right next to her, too, eating his cereal in a calm and collected manner. Rasmus took a sharp breath.

“Perkz, Caps, take a seat!” Wunder announced as he pointed towards the empty spots on the decked breakfast table. Rasmus couldn’t help but squint at his toplaner in disbelief – this sort of chivalry was _totally_ out of character for the Dane.

“Why, thank you,” Luka chuckled as he sat down next to Sam, swinging his arm around her.

As Rasmus sat down next to him, he couldn’t help but feel like it was kind of funny that there was so much tension in the room – tension that had absolutely _nothing_ to do with his own drama. But, nevertheless, as he looked at Miky for a second, who had put down his spoon, he was reminded. He didn’t want to start the conversation, though; no, that’s not what he had promised Luka to do. If anything, it was _Mihael_ who should come running to _him_.

“So, Caps,” Wunder said, looking at him with a smirk, “what’s up with that other ADC being all up in our base?”

Rasmus rolled his eyes at Wunder’s attempt of humour – it was just _way too obvious_ that he was only trying to make a good impression on Sam. When he shot her a glance, he did, however, notice that she hadn’t enjoyed the toplaner’s comment at all.

“ _Martin,_ that’s not very nice of you to say. Didn’t you _see_ how upset Rasmus was because of the way Rekkles left the apartment today?”

Now _that_ was certainly not what the ADC had expected to come out of her mouth. _First name basis? Telling Wunder what to do? Respecting my feelings?_ He didn’t even know what surprised him most but, in the end, maybe it was kind of _refreshing_ to have a girl around after all. The way in which his toplaner’s mouth just remained opened without any words leaving it amused Rasmus to the point where he gave Sam a smirk.

“Thanks, yeah – how _awful_ of you, Wunder!” He exclaimed playfully before he gestured towards Miky with his spoon, “also, you shouldn’t be asking me…”

“WELL MIKY,” Jankos said as he stared at the support from across the table, “what did you do this time??”

“For the last time, Jankos, it was never even _proven_ that I took your damn cake,” Mihael said as he rolled his eyes, “and it wasn’t exactly _my fault_ that Rekkles was running around the apartment in his pink underwear this morning, was it?”

 _Was that really necessary, Miky?_ Rasmus thought as he angrily chewed on his cereal, not trying to start shouting again. Next to him, he could swear that he heard Wunder mumble _fucking weebs_ under his breath as he got up, grabbing his bowl of cereal in the process.

“Alright, Ima see myself out – I’ll have breakfast in my room.” The toplaner announced as he slouched out of the room.

Jankos did, however, still seem determined to see this one through - even though he looked incredibly uncomfortable after the image of the half-naked Rekkles had been brought up.

“What – what does his UNDERWEAR have to do with anything here, Miky??”

“Well, Jankos, if you must know, it made me angry about the fact that I was only allowed to _listen_ to them fucking last night, instead of _participating_ , like anyone else would want to do.”

There was a long pause. Without saying another word, the team’s jungler slowly got up. His face was as white as chalk – the support’s words must have _seriously_ caught him off guard. He grabbed his bowl of cereal and left the room. They could still hear his mumbling for a while longer until he finally banged his door shut. The sound that finally broke the silence was the one of Rasmus’ hand slamming onto the breakfast table.

“Are you serious, Miky?? How? How do you _not realize_ what is wrong with what you’re saying right now?”

Luka put his hand on the ADC’s shaking fist as he spoke up, “Rasmus, calm down, I just don’t think he understands –“

“What? What, Luka? What could he _possibly_ not understand about this?”

“Love,” Miky said as he looked down on the table, “I don’t think I understand love.”

There was another pause. This time, it was Sam who shuffled out of her seat, looking _really_ uncomfortable. She put her empty bowl in the sink, then came back to the table to whisper into Luka’s ear.

“No, no it’s okay, I’ll stay,” he responded in a relaxed manner, not budging in his seat.

“Luka, don’t you think we should give them a little _privacy_? To talk things out?” She gave him a nervous smile.

“Nah, baby, they _need_ me here. Trust me – but you can wait in my room if you want, okay?” He shot her a warm smile before turning back to the table.

“Alright, just call me if you need anything!” Sam said as she gave all of them a wink before leaving the room.

“Right, uhm, I don’t think I understand what you mean, Miky. You don’t understand _love_?” Rasmus said as he stared at his support with a confused look on his face.

“No, no I’ve – I guess I’ve never been in love. Never wanted to be, either. I just don’t get it.” Mihael shrugged, but Rasmus could tell that he was more bothered than he admitted to himself.

“So, uhm, you’re telling me that you don’t understand why I’m mad because you don’t know what love is?” 

Miky rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses before he responded, “well – I’m not _stupid_ , Rasmus, I do know what the concept of love is – I just don’t understand why it’s such a big deal to you. I just wanted in on the fun.”

Suddenly, Luka grabbed Mihael’s jaw with a single hand, forcefully turning the supports face into his direction. A soft moan escaped Miky’s lips.

“That’s not all, is it, Mihael?” Luka murmured, clutching the support’s cheeks with his fingers, “I thought I told you to be honest.”

Rasmus was surprised, disturbed, and maybe even a little turned on by the bizarre scene he was witnessing. Sure, Miky had told him about how dominant Perkz had been around him in the past, but he had never seen his midlaner like this. Mihael was still struggling in Luka’s grasp when he finally agreed to follow his order.

“No – no, I also did it so that you would, uhm,” suddenly, the support started to stutter, “I think I – I wanted you to punish me, Rasmus.”

“Wow, okay – I have an idea, Miky, how about we just TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS the next time?” The ADC exclaimed, wildy gesturing with both of his hands.

“It’s not as fun that way,” Miky pouted as he played with his spoon. Luka shot him another glance.

“Uhm – well, I meant that I’m sorry, I guess. I won’t do it again.”

“Okay, fine,” Rasmus mumbled into his cereal, “you’re not off the hook though.”

It was not surprising that the support looked excited rather than bummed out about that. Beside him, Luka gave Rasmus a big smile.

“Way to go, man. This is why we’re the best team in the world!” Perkz laughed, giving his ADC and his support a pat on the back, “but Rasmus – what are you going to do about Rekkles?”

“Hmm, good question,” Rasmus sighed, putting his spoon down, “I honestly don’t think there’s anything I can do right now – he wouldn’t even _look_ at me, you know?”

“Right,” Luka nodded, crossing his arms, “you should give it some time. But I know a way to pass the time until he comes back around…”

“Does it involve that spiked leather paddle?” Miky mumbled next to Perkz with a hopeful expression on his face.

“I swear to god, Mihael…” Rasmus sighed as he covered his face with his hands.

“Good idea for a plan B, Miky, but no,” Luka smiled as he got up, “I was talking about kicking some butts in League. How does that sound to you, Rasmus?”

“Heaven,” the ADC chuckled as he followed his midlaner’s lead, “let’s go, G2...!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts on Rasmus' POV? Any surprises? 
> 
> As always, thanks for tuning in! Hope to hear about your reactions in the comments :) 
> 
> I've actually got a little surprise planned for the next chapter - what could that be, I WUNDER...? ;) what do you xPeke to happen?


	19. Part 5: Oskar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! This is, in fact, a guest POV that some of you might have waited for! 
> 
> In lights of Tim's (unfortunate?) blackout, I figured it would be nice to give you some insight on Oskar's take on the situation! ;) Hope you enjoy it!

Over the course of the few weeks in which Oskar had been living in the Fnatic apartment, he had never slept as little as during this night. Considering how much he had to drink at the bar before heading home, that was a surprise. Considering who he went home, and, finally, to bed with, it was no surprise at all.

The first time the scene replayed in Oskar’s head must have been in the middle of the night. Tim was snoring peacefully in front of him, and the jungler pressed the midlaner tightly to his body. His skin felt so soft under Oskar’s fingers – the faint scent of his hair was mesmerizing. Maybe it was the fact that he had been _waiting_ for this so desperately that kept Oskar from falling asleep. Instead, he remembered what had brought them here, tonight.

It all started with a drink. Oskar had been genuinely concerned with his performance in his first game of the spring split before they started drinking. To lose his first game with Fnatic – that was the last thing he had imagined happening beforehand. But, somehow, Tim found just the right words to cheer him up. He always did. The midlaner never spoke much, but Oskar knew that that didn’t say anything about how much Tim cared. When they clinked glasses, he already felt better.

As he remembered how his heart was racing when he listened to Tim talking about his stream adventures the night before, he leaned forward to press a kiss against the midlaner’s neck – softly enough so that he wouldn’t wake up. He had barely noticed how fast they had emptied one drink after another at the bar; to be fair, he could hold a lot of liquor. They just had so much fun, talking the night away without having to pay attention to anyone else. No, Oskar hadn’t looked at anyone else. Then again, how was that different from every other day of the week for him _? I just can’t get enough of him_ , he thought as he sighed and held Tim even tighter.

Oskar felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he remembered proposing the most ridiculous and embarrassing “magic trick” to Tim a couple of drinks in. The booze had given him the courage to at least _try_ to make a move – something he wouldn’t have dared to do under different circumstances. After all, he knew how the midlaner felt. Not about him, no, that had certainly never come up. But Oskar knew that Tim loved Rekkles. The jungler himself had been a fan of the ADC for a long time, which made his current relationship to him quite complicated. On one hand, he admired him and still wore his Rekkles merch from time to time, but, on the other hand, he was his rival when it came to romance and, when he heard about how horrible Martin had treated Tim in the past, he often had to hold back the urge to punch the ADC in the face.

But the alcohol made him forget about that – or, maybe it just made him think _screw it._ If he could just know what Tim’s lips felt like, just once; maybe that could be enough. His midlaner’s reaction to the ridiculous set-up of the magic trick, as well as its execution, did, however, surprise Oskar. Tim didn’t pull away from the kiss – no, for a moment, Oskar even thought he could feel the midlaner kissing him back. When he opened his eyes as he pulled away, the jungler could remember Tim’s glossy eyes and his flushed cheeks. It didn’t look as if the midlaner had hated it at all. But the jungler had already prepared to play things down with humour in order to make it less awkward – yes, why _wouldn’t it_ just be a harmless magic trick gone wrong?

 _Oh, but why did I have to ask about Rekkles?_ Oskar thought as he slowly felt himself drifting off to dreamland again. Maybe things would have been easier if he had just kept his mouth shut when he noticed that the ADC had gone missing from the table at the bar. Maybe Tim wouldn’t have gotten upset, wouldn’t have accused Oskar of wanting Martin out of the midlaner’s life to begin with – yeah, that surely wasn’t his brightest moment. The jungler pressed his face against the back of Tim’s head, burying it in his messy hair. After a long sigh, he finally fell back asleep.

It was the sensation of his midlaner backing up against him that caused Oskar to slowly wake up barely a couple of hours later. It was surely the nicest way to be woken up for him in this moment. Without the jungler having a say in it, he could feel the morning wood growing in his boxers. He was a bit embarrassed and thought about pulling his crotch away from Tim’s butt, but instead, he felt the midlaner press up against his hardon. Oskar bit his lip, trying to control his excitement – _maybe he’s still sleeping?_ The sweet sensation took him back to the sensual events that took place after they had stumbled back into the apartment the night before, laughing, fooling around… The way in which the midlaner had pulled Oskar into his room, and then he told him that –

Suddenly, Oskar felt Tim shuffle away from him. He couldn’t fully grasp what was happening at first, given that he was still half-asleep, with his thoughts in the clouds. He extended his arm, trying to find his midlaner on the other side of the bed. Tim had, after all, backed up into his embrace just a second ago – why would he try to get away from him now? _Maybe he just can’t handle as much alcohol and is hungover now_ , the jungler considered as he started to open his eyes, now looking at Tim’s disoriented face.

“Morning,” Oskar mumbled quietly, reaching out to enclose Tim in another embrace to give the midlaner a feeling of security. 

“M-morning,” Tim mumbled as a response as he glared at Oskar, “what exactly are you doing in my bed?”

At this point, Oskar was baffled. He didn’t want it to show on his face – no, this was all wrong. Was it really possible that Tim didn’t remember the night they had shared at all? _Or maybe he just doesn’t want to remember_ , the jungler thought as he felt his heart drop. Maybe what had felt _so right_ to him was nothing but a mistake for the midlaner. He chose to play it cool – as much as he could, anyway.

“What do you mean? I guess we just fell asleep after…you know, we were pretty drunk!” Oskar smirked.

“After – after what?” Tim exclaimed, and the jungler couldn’t help but stare when he saw his midlaner blush – he looked just like he had back then, after their first kiss in the bar.

With a sudden force, Tim sat up and threw back the blanket that had previously covered the both of them. Oskar figured that he must have tried to figure out whether they were still wearing pants. It was the last clue the jungler needed to understand that his midlaner must have had a complete blackout. He sat up next to Tim, trying to figure out what to do about this situation – his best morning in the apartment yet had, by now, quickly turned into the most complicated one.

“I don’t understand…Are you saying you don’t remember?” The jungler asked quietly, his shoulder softly leaning against Tim’s.

“No, not really…” Tim mumbled. He didn’t look at Oskar at all.

“Ah – well, how do I say this…” Oskar started, trying to find the right words as he went on, “we just had a little too much to drink and, uhm, fooled around a bit.”

“I see – yes, okay.” Tim responded in his usual, monotonous voice.

“Listen, we don’t have to make a big deal out of this… unless you would like to, you know – do this again? Maybe without alcohol?”

Oskar’s face was burning red by now – he regretted asking the moment the words had left his lips. But, in the end, how could he not at least try? What they had shared felt so special to him – what were the odds that it wouldn’t mean a thing to Tim?

“My head is hurting…must be the hangover,” the midlaner mumbled, clearly deflecting from the issue at hand, “would you mind getting me some water?”

There was a pause. _He doesn’t even want to talk about it_ , Oskar thought with a sigh as he nodded to agree to get his midlaner some water. He grabbed his jersey from off the floor and lazily pulled it over his head. For a moment, he felt as if Tim’s gaze was lingering on him. But Oskar didn’t want to look back to check – he didn’t want to ask Tim about it, either. It was obvious that the midlaner didn’t want to talk about it, after all.

Oskar slouched into the kitchen, grabbing a glass out of one of the cabinets. As he walked towards the sink, glass in hand, he felt all of these memories overwhelming him. It was just _impossible_ to imagine that all of it, every single one of the bits and pieces, had been lost in Tim’s mind. As he put the glass down on the counter next to the sink, Oskar started taking one deep breath after the other. _No_ – remembering all of it while knowing that it was lost was simple no –

“…fun, oh my god, that was so much fun!” Tim mumbled as he kicked off his shoes next to the door of Fnatic’s gaming apartment.

“I think so too,” Oskar smirked as he put his shoes beside the midlaner’s. He checked his watch – it was about 2 am, they had been the last of the team to leave the bar by a long run.

“Well,” Tim whispered as they walked towards their rooms, “the fun doesn’t have to end now, does it?”

“Uhm, I don’t know,” Oskar chuckled as he reached out to open the door to his room, “we probably shouldn’t play DuoQ this shitfaced, don’t you think?”

Tim rolled his eyes before he responded, “No kidding! Just come in, will you…”

The world was spinning much faster around Oskar than it usually should when he decided to turn on his heels to follow Tim into his room. He didn’t think too much about it – after all, they had been talking for hours at this point. Ending the night now really did feel like a waste. He wished it could go on forever, too.

But, when Oskar entered the midlaner’s room, he was surprised to find that Tim had already pulled off his shirt, not really insinuating the he wanted to talk. It caught the jungler off guard more than he would have liked to admit – immediately, he felt the bulge in his pants grow.

“What – what are you doing, Tim?” Oskar whispered, not daring to go anywhere near his bare-chested midlaner.

“Nothing, I was just hot…” Tim mumbled as he sat down on his bed. His words sounded so innocent, yet his glare told a different story.

“I see – I better get going, Tim…” Oskar stuttered as he slowly backed his way up to the exit. 

“No…wait, please,” Tim mumbled as he reached out to the jungler, “please stay, Oskar.”

“I don’t understand, Tim – what do you want from me?” Oskar was sweating by now, praying that Tim wouldn’t spot his boner through the darkness of the room.

“I was just wondering about, uhm, what you said earlier,” Tim whispered as he slowly got off the bed, “do you _really_ like me?”

“Huh?” Oskar couldn’t manage to bring anything else out of his mouth. His face was burning up as he stared at the midlaner approaching him in the dark room. He couldn’t move.

“Of course I like, you, Tim – we are best friends, right?” The jungler murmured with a nervous smile on his lips. The bulge in his pants surely didn’t scream _let’s be friends_ , though.

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Tim said as he crossed his arms, now standing right in front of his jungler.

“You’re just too drunk, man,” Oskar mumbled as he pointed towards the midlaner’s bed, “you should uhm, just sleep it out or something.”

“I don’t feel drunk at all,” Tim whispered as he looked his jungler straight in the eyes, making his heart jump, “and I was asking whether you _wanted_ me.”

 _Fuck_ , Oskar thought as his last bit of self-restraint metaphorically slipped through his fingers, _what the hell am I supposed to say to that?_ In front of him, Tim's eyes were suddenly as big as the moon, relentlessly staring at him - it was just too much. Or, maybe, it was the alcohol in his veins that gave him the necessary courage right now. But, in the end, it had been building up for a long time.

“No, Tim, no I –“ he swallowed hard, his face only inches away from the midlaner’s, “I don’t just _want you_ I’m… I’m in love with you.”

He had barely dared to say the words out loud and, therefore, whispered them just loudly enough for Tim to hear. It felt as if his heart was beating fast enough to jump out of his chest any moment now – the silence that followed his confession was unbearable. Oskar couldn’t read the way in which Tim was looking at him, either. They just stood there, in the darkness of the midlaner’s room, in the middle of the night.

Suddenly, Oskar felt Tim’s arms around his neck and the midlaner’s lips on his. The feeling overwhelmed him, and yet - somehow - he managed to pull away from this sweet sensation. Even though it felt so _right_ to him – considering how many drinks they had emptied that night, wasn’t it wrong?

“Wait – wait, Tim, you don’t have to do this,” he whispered as he leaned his forehead against Tim’s, “it’s so late, I should just – I should just go.”

“No,” Tim responded, bringing his lips closer to the jungler’s, “I want you. Now.”

And, finally, Oskar couldn’t hold back anymore. Hearing these words leave Tim’s lips drove him insane. He dove back into the kiss, slowly letting his tongue slip into the midlaner’s mouth, who eagerly met it with his own. Almost as if his body acted upon its own will, Oskar grabbed Tim by the hips to lift him up and carried him over to the bed, which was, luckily, only a few steps away from them. As they sank into the cushions, Tim hastily pulled Oskar’s jersey over his head, leaving them both shirtless and horny.

Oskar's lips left Tim’s when the jungler started to trail kisses down the midlaner’s neck, down his chest. Tim whimpered and moaned under the impact of every smooch, his hands clutching onto Oskar’s neck. The jungler kept moving south, softly caressing Tim’s stomach with both of his hands as his tongue kept slipping towards his sweatpants. In his mind, Oskar wanted to taste Tim so badly – he wanted more. Eagerly, he pulled down the midlaner’s sweats and boxers, releasing his twitching cock. He licked his lips at the sight.

“You want me to…?” He whispered as he looked back up to Tim, who was covering his face with one of his arms, clearly out of breath from the soft moaning.

“What? _Fuck,_ yes just – please, do it,” Tim panted.

Slowly, Oskar enclosed Tim’s hard cock with his lips, letting it slide into his mouth. It was bigger than what the jungler had expected, considering the small frame of the midlaner – but he still managed to take in almost the entire length. He started to move his mouth up and down rhythmically as he enjoyed the lewd sounds Tim kept making above him, fidgeting under the jungler’s touch. Oskar used his hands to grab Tim by the hips, steadying himself in the motion.

“Fuck, that feels so _good_ …!” Tim moaned softly as he grabbed Oskar’s head to move against it even more.

Hearing how much the midlaner enjoyed himself drove Oskar wild – he let his hands wander down to squeeze Tim’s thighs before, finally, reaching to softly caress his balls. He felt the midlaner’s whole body vibrate under him as his moans grew louder. Oskar’s mouth kept moving up and down Tim’s length, slowly gaining speed and momentum.

“ _Fuck_ , Oskar, I’m going to –“

The jungler felt Tim’s balls clench up and his body suddenly going stiff as the cum started to pour into his mouth, one squirt after the other. Oskar swallowed with ease, feeling incredibly satisfied by how quickly he was able to pleasure Tim. He used his tongue to gently clean up the last drop off the tip of the midlaner’s dick as he pulled away. In this moment, he couldn’t pin down what made him more excited – the taste of Tim’s cum in his mouth or the sweet sound of the Slovenian moaning his name in pleasure. In his pants, his own cock was throbbing, eager to finally get some action as well.

“Sounded like you enjoyed that,” Oskar smirked as he moved back up, lying down next to Tim, “now how about we –“

Snoring. Tim was snoring. Hardly a minute after he had come into Oskar’s mouth, the midlaner had fallen asleep. The situation was so absurd that it almost felt funny to the jungler. With a soft smile on his lips, he pulled Tim’s boxers and sweatpants back up to cover his junk. He grabbed the blanket which was crammed up on the side of the bed to cover the both of them. Without wasting another thought on the boner in his pants, he cuddled up to Tim and closed his eyes. Finally being this close to Tim was surely worth more than every orgasm in the world. He could barely fathom that he had finally had the courage to tell him how he –

With the sound of his fist banging onto the kitchen counter, Oskar finally shook himself back to reality. It was simply too painful to remember it now. Somewhere deep inside of him, Oskar still hoped that Tim would remember, that it wasn’t lost after all – but what was he supposed to do about that now? He was too scared to just tell him. What if it really, despite all of his pleads and reassurances, had just been the alcohol talking?

With a long sigh, Oskar filled up the glass with tab-water and made his way back to Tim’s room. Suddenly, he heard loud voices in the hallway – something that he must have blocked out before. He thought about looking for the source of the noise but, then again, his midlaner had been waiting on this glass of water for a while now. Hesitantly, he left the door half-opened behind him as he walked into Tim’s room.

“What’s with all of the noise? Why would anyone be shouting at like, 10 am in the morning?” Oskar said with a frown on his face, hoping that Tim hadn’t noticed how long he had been gone.

Tim took a sip of the water, taking quite a while to respond. 

“I don’t care why, they better stop soon.” Tim mumbled.

 _Okay_ , the jungler thought as he tried to collect his courage, _maybe I should just try to tell him now_. But, just as Oskar was about to sit down on Tim’s bed to explain what had really happened the night before, the head of a panicking Alfonso poked into the room.

“Oh, oh! Thank god you are awake, I could really use some help over here!” He exclaimed hastily, not waiting for an answer before he moved down the hallway.

Oskar shot Tim a confused glance – _really, now of all times, Alfonso?_ To the jungler’s surprise, the midlaner started to crawl out of the bed.

“Whatever… let’s just get this over with,” Tim mumbled unenthusiastically.

Oskar flinched as he watched Tim walk past him, right out of the room. He followed reluctantly – it was not to his liking that the midlaner did, yet again, choose to _distract_ himself from the situation at hand. A situation that he, apparently, mostly didn’t even remember. But, considering the absurdity of the drama going on between Bwipo and Hylissang this morning, Oskar found himself distracted as well soon enough. After Alfonso had somehow talked Tim and Oskar into taking care of the situation while running off himself, and the midlaner calling dips on Hylissang, the jungler somehow found himself alone in the hallway, waiting for Bwipo to come out of the bathroom.

“Bwipo, this is Oskar,” he said as he knocked on the bathroom door, “would you come out, please?”

“No, just leave me alone!” Bwipo shouted from the inside.

Oskar sighed – he didn’t really have the necessary patience this situation required. But, suddenly, he had an idea that was potentially stupid enough to work.

“How about I make you some pancakes?” He said with a slight grin on his face, “you don’t have to talk to me, but you must be hungry, right?”

After a short pause, the jungler heard the sound of a key turning in its lock. Then, Bwipo stuck his head out of the door.

“Pancakes, huh? Fine, sounds pog.”

Without speaking another word, both of the guys made their way towards the kitchen. Oskar was not much of a cook, but he knew that they must have some pancake-mix in one of the cabinets that he was determined to find. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Bwipo was, in fact, a pancake veteran, and could guide his jungler through the kitchen easily. As the first pancake sizzled up in the pan, Oskar nodded his head in satisfaction and turned to the toplaner sitting on the other side of the kitchen island, who suddenly looked really agitated.

“You know, Zdravets makes the best pancakes.” He said with a frown on his face.

“Oh yeah?” Oskar asked as he wiggled the pan back and forth to keep the pancake from sticking to it, “then why are you being served by an amateur like me right now?”

Bwipo crossed his arms and mumbled, “well, you heard it, didn’t you? He’s just, like, the biggest jerk right now!”

Oskar didn’t want to interrupt the toplaner – instead, he let the first pancake drop onto a plate and handed it to Bwipo.

“Thanks,” the toplaner mumbled as he spread some Nutella on it with a knife, “I just don’t understand what his deal is right now. He’s making SUCH a big deal out of the fact that I used an excuse to get out of playing DuoQ with him ONCE… He doesn’t even know why I did it, but, of course, he pretends as if he _always_ knows _everything_ , just because he saw my girlfriend sneak in that night…”

“Why don’t you just tell him why you did it then?” Oskar asked with his back turned on Bwipo as he flipped another pancake.

“That’s because – well, because it’s kind of embarrassing I guess. I don’t know how he would react if he knew that –“ Bwipo suddenly stopped talking and put his fork down on his empty plate before he continued, “Oskar, can you keep a secret?”

“Sure,” Oskar shrugged as he turned around, “I can – eh, how did you finish it that quickly? Have another…”

Bwipo eagerly watched his jungler drop another pancake onto his plate and then responded, “Thanks! You are such a good friend…anyway, the reason why my girlfriend came over so late the night before our first game was because she needed to pick up some stuff. Because we broke up.”

“What?” Oskar exclaimed, genuinely surprised, “I’m sorry man – but why wouldn’t you tell Hyli, isn’t he, like, your best friend?”

Bwipo looked at his jungler with a solemn expression. He pushed his, yet again, empty plate away from him.

“It’s not that easy, Oskar. He’s more than just…my friend. Even now that we are having this stupid fight, I miss having him around me all the time… I just can’t help it, you know?”

 _Ah, so that’s how it is,_ Oskar thought as he sat down next to Bwipo after putting another pancake onto his plate _. So he’s in love, too._

“I know that you probably won’t be able to understand but – but I had to break up with my girlfriend. I couldn’t keep it up, I just felt like I wasn’t honest with her or something. And now I’m just too much of a pussy to tell Zdravets – he’s still with his girlfriend, after all…”

“Actually, I know what you’re going through,” Oskar said with a sad smile as he put his hand on his toplaner’s shoulder, “and I know that nothing’s going to happen unless you say something. This fight might be bad but waiting on something that’s never going to happen on its own is…torture.”

Bwipo looked at him with his big, glossy eyes. He took a deep breath.

“You’re right – you’re right. I need to tell him. The thing is just that, even when I try, he just never _listens_ to me… he keeps interrupting me and twisting my words!”

“Well, you need to find a way to make him listen then…” Oskar shrugged as he got up, placing the dirty pan on the side of the stove. 

“Yes…yes, I will! Right after I finish these pancakes…” Bwipo mumbled as his gaze dropped down onto his plate, “thank you, Oskar!”

“Sure, sure, no problem, dude - there's some more dough in the bowl if you need it,” the jungler smirked as he walked out of the kitchen and towards his room.

For a moment, he felt really proud. He might have seriously helped his toplaner out there – he was, after all, speaking from his own experience. But, with romance on the horizon for two of his other teammates, Oskar found himself even more desperate about his own circumstances. He literally just told Bwipo to be honest to Hylissang no matter what; wouldn’t it be hypocritical of him to not follow his own advice? He leaned against the door of Tim’s room. By now, he was determined to come clean to his midlaner. Just a few minutes later, he saw Tim stepping out of the support’s room.

“So, how did it go?” Oskar asked, welcoming Tim with a smile.

“Okay. You?” The midlaner muttered monotonously. 

“I just made him pancakes, man.” Oskar couldn’t help but chuckle – it sounded even weirder when he said it out loud.

“You did what now?” Tim asked, squinting his eyes at the jungler. 

“Well, I made him breakfast and he just started talking like a god damn waterfall!” The jungler laughed wholeheartedly.

“Wow, that’s so lame,” Tim remarked, giving Oskar a half-smile. The jungler couldn’t exactly figure out whether the midlaner was impressed or disturbed.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Well, I just hope they figure it out now – because I’m NOT doing that again.” Tim said, and Oskar couldn’t agree more.

“Yeah, I’m sure they will,” Oskar smiled and playfully ruffled Tim’s wild hair, “you’re a hero, Tim!”

“Oh, as if.” Tim mumbled, and, for a moment, Oskar thought he saw the midlaner blush.

“Hey, no need to be modest here,” Oskar laughed and shot Tim a wink. He tried his hardest to make his midlaner feel comfortable again – so that they could finally _talk_.

“Stop it – please, I just… I really need a break.” Tim said, suddenly turning away from his jungler, “My head is killing me. I need to go back to bed.”

And, just like that, Tim disappeared into his room, without giving Oskar the chance to reply. This time, he surely _didn’t_ invite him to join. This time, Oskar was left alone, standing in the hallway without really knowing what to do. He considered knocking on Tim’s door, attempting to reach him one last time. But, as his knuckle was about to hit the wood, he heard the front door of the apartment open. His gaze wandered down the hallway to check who had opened it. _Maybe Alfonso forgot something?_ He considered for a second as he watched the door swing open. But no, it wasn’t Alfonso. Instead, it was the last person that Oskar wanted to see right now. _Martin_.

Angrily, he stormed into his own room and banged the door shut behind him. It was no use to try to talk to Tim now – no, not when there was only one reason why Martin would pull up in the apartment at this time. He would talk him into taking him back again – he would apologize, promise to never cheat on Tim again even though Oskar was _so sure_ that he would.

The jungler had tried so hard to stay put, to wait it out, to give Tim the chance to realize what a _jerk_ Rekkles really was; it all felt like a big joke to him now. Oskar let himself fall on his bed. It felt so cold, so uninviting – so different from Tim’s bed. Yet again, Oskar wished that the prior night had just lasted forever. But, in the end, here he was, clenching his fists while staring at the blank ceiling. _Is it really too late?_ He wondered as he let his eyelids close shut _, is it really lost?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Oskar's POV! Now, as I said before, it was a guest perspective and won't be a regular thing (probably?), but I will potentially use guest POV's when I feel they are needed. 
> 
> How did you enjoy this little excourse? I'd be happy to hear about it in the comments! 
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	20. Part 5: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Part 5 is coming to an end, I welcome you to the fifth episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy today's shenanigans - and, as always, I'd be excited to hear about your guesses regarding the "who's who" in the comments! :)

_After a night full of astonishing victories on stage, lots of players found themselves logged onto the DreamServer that night. The rush of victory lasted longer for some, as they had conquered new grounds for themselves outside of the game during the day as well. For others, the deep sunken troubles entrenched in their minds threatened to pull them down even further in their dreams – desperately, they would try to clutch onto the last straw of hope. They would try to help each other while, most importantly, finally saying what they wouldn’t dare to express during the day._

\- **[devastated], [smad], [secretive]** and **[conflicted]** have joined the DreamServer **–**

 **[conflicted]:** Hi guys, how are you doing?

 **[secretive]:** oh you know, same as always

 **[devastated]:** Could be better, could be better…

 **[smad]:** same, my life is a lot harder than it should be right now

 **[conflicted]:** huh, everyone seems to be going through it today…

 **[secretive]:** it’s almost as if this place was designed for that, am I right?

 **[secretive]:** haha

 **[secretive]:** I’m completely fine though, so AMA

 **[devastated]:** what’s your secret?

 **[smad]:** I was wondering the same thing…

 **[secretive]:** my secret? UHM haha what gave you the idea I had a secret?

 **[devastated]:** I meant the secret to being completely fine but

 **[devastated]:** now I’m curious about that other thing

 **[conflicted]:** It’s all a matter of perspective, really – if you are unhappy, you can just change stuff until you’re happy again, right?

 **[secretive]:** good call!

 **[secretive]:** yes, you are the blacksmith of your own destiny

 **[smad]:** what if it’s another person that’s making you unhappy?

 **[devastated]:** exactly, you can’t just CHANGE what the other person is feeling…

 **[devastated]:** also, I don’t think I’m unhappy it’s more like I’m…

 **[devastated]:** what’s a word for a mix of sad and angry, actually?

 **[smad]:** smad?

 **[secretive]:** …

 **[secretive]:** are you sure that’s a word?

 **\- [disgruntled]** has joined the DreamServer **–**

 **[disgruntled]:** Get ready boys, I’m frustrated to the max and it’s about to show

 **[devastated]:** Frustrated, disgruntled… that works!

 **[devastated]:** Yeah, so, I’m disgruntled

 **[smad]:** I’m sticking with smad

 **[secretive]:** well, why are you guys feeling disgruntled or smad or whatever

 **[conflicted** ]: Is your secret that you get off while listening to other people’s problems?

 **[secretive]:** eww, no?

 **[disgruntled]:** I mean, if you MUST know

 **[disgruntled]:** I’m mostly frustrated with myself

 **[devastated]:** shocker

 **[smad]:** can relate man, can relate

 **[conflicted** ]: did you unexpectedly lose a bet in which you promised your teammate that he could screw your girlfriend if he won?

 **[secretive]:** what the actual fuck

 **[disgruntled]:** You got problems, man

 **[disgruntled]:** But no, I guess I don’t even have a girlfriend

 **[disgruntled]:** broke up with her recently

 **[conflicted]:** shit dude, sorry to hear that but – why?

 **[disgruntled]:** I just had to be honest with her, you know

 **[disgruntled]:** I liked her a lot, but I guess I like one of my teammates more…

 **[secretive]:** what, like, a guy?

 **[smad]:** uff this is getting spicy

 **[smad]:** But uhm, I guess I’m quite literally in the same situation so

 **[smad]:** Did you tell him yet, by any chance?

 **[disgruntled]:** well I TRIED to but…

 **[disgruntled]:** oh, who am I kidding

 **[disgruntled]:** no, I haven’t

 **[smad]:** what if you tell him and he doesn’t like you back, actually

 **[smad]:** that’s like, the scariest thing, right?

 **[disgruntled]:** exactly… also

 **[disgruntled]:** He’s still with his girlfriend so

 **[disgruntled]:** what are the odds, right

 **[secretive]:** How do you even know he likes guys?

 **[disgruntled]:** well, I don’t really know I guess

 **[disgruntled** ]: I’m having a hard time with accepting my own feelings to begin with

 **[conflicted]:** shit, what’s wrong with being a little bi-curious, man?

 **[smad]:** dude, that’s not what he was saying

 **[smad]:** He’s like, in love with the guy, no?

 **[disgruntled]:** I – I guess? I just hate the fact that I could be…

 **[secretive]:** gay?

 **[disgruntled]:** …yeah

 **[smad]:** so what if you were, man?

 **[smad]:** It’s 2020, there’s no reason to hide your sexuality anymore

 **[secretive]:** well… it’s not that easy for everyone!

 **[secretive]:** It’s definitely still a huge issue where I’m from…

 **[secretive]:** I haven’t told my family yet

 **[disgruntled]:** what, you’re gay??

 **[devastated]:** me too, but please, move along

 **[smad]:** I’ve had gay friends and relatives back home ever since I can remember – I don’t see what the big fuss is about

 **[disgruntled]:** well, good for you!

 **[disgruntled]:** I was raised differently…

 **[disgruntled]:** When I found out that some of my teammates were interested in guys, I thought that was fine

 **[disgruntled** ]: But I somehow can’t be that liberal when it comes to myself?

 **[secretive]:** I feel you, dude

 **[secretive]:** I haven’t even told my team about my long distance boyfriend

 **[secretive]:** he keeps calling me while I work too…

 **[conflicted]:** sounds like it’s hard to keep up the charade, don’t you think?

 **[smad]:** why not just be honest about it?

 **[smad]:** It must be tough enough to have a long distance relationship, right?

 **[secretive]:** It really is…

 **[secretive]:** He lives in NA and we barely get to see each other these days

 **[secretive]:** I guess I just don’t want them to look at me differently

 **[disgruntled]:** I’m sure they won’t!

 **[disgruntled]:** I love my teammates just the same

 **[disgruntled]:** well, I admit that the hook-up-drama is getting out of hand lately

 **[smad]:** shit, well, my crush literally threw a pancake into my face this morning WITHOUT any hook-up-drama behind it

 **[conflicted]:** did you deserve it, though?

 **[disgruntled]:** that’s cruel, what could the poor man possibly have done to deserve that?

**[smad]: …**

**[smad]:** well, I guess I’ll see!

 **[smad]:** Even though I’m scared of being rejected, I really want to tell him how I feel now after listening to you guys…

 **[devastated]:** things definitely won’t move forward if you don’t tell him

 **[devastated]:** trust me, I learned it the hard way…

 **[devastated]:** Actually, sometimes things don’t even start moving WHEN you’re honest with someone

 **[conflicted]:** sounds like there’s a story to that as well, huh?

 **[secretive]:** even though I just LOVE listening to your problems

 **[secretive]:** I suddenly got the urge to send a dirty snap to my boyfriend so Ima just

 **[secretive]:** see myself out

 **\- [secretive]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[conflicted]:** that guy is NOT a great listener

 **[smad]:** well, it’s not like that’s his job, right?

 **[disgruntled]:** I hope things turn out well for him..

 **[disgruntled]** : I guess if he is courageous enough to follow his desires despite his upbringing…

 **[disgruntled]:** maybe I should too?

 **[smad]:** let’s make a pact, dude

 **[smad]:** we just tell them how we feel and hope for the best, okay?

 **[conflicted]:** wow, this is like, so touching

 **[disgruntled]:** I guess I could at least TRY this time…

 **[devastated]:** make sure that they are actually sober guys, stay safe

 **[disgruntled]:** you make that sound as if people were drunk all the time…

 **[conflicted]:** another thing that depends on where you come from, eh?

 **[smad]:** whatever, man - here’s to taking chances!

 **\- [smad]** and **[disgruntled]** have left the DreamServer -

 **\- [times_change]** and **[hurt_pride]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[conflicted]:** those guys were just absolutely blind to everything around them, no?

 **[conflicted]:** they didn’t even listen to your warning, dude

 **[devastated]:** jup, that's on them

 **[devastated]:** I confessed to my crush while we were drunk, and I even blew him and he just…

 **[devastated]:** had a total blackout

 **[conflicted]:** that’s rough – so he remembers nothing?

 **[devastated]** : nothing

 **[hurt_pride]** : maybe you were just so bad that he doesn’t want to remember

 **[conflicted]** : smooth dude, real smooth…

 **[times_change]** : I’m sure that’s not the case, buddy

 **[devastated]** : yeah, no, I’m confident enough when it comes to my blowjob skills

 **[devastated]** : He just had way too much to drink

 **[hurt_pride]** : but he did, like, give you consent, right?

 **[devastated]** : OMG yes, would you get off my back??

 **[devastated]** : that was the worst thing about it, he just kept saying that he _wanted_ me and now

 **[devastated]** : nothing

 **[times_change]** : shit, I know that feeling

 **[times_change]** : But I guess I deserve to be treated this way…

\- **[contemplating]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[contemplating]** : sup guys

 **[conflicted]** : we’re having a pity party for @devastated

 **[hurt_pride]** : LUL but I’m the rude one, right

 **[devastated]** : okay, first of all, I don’t need your pity

 **[devastated]** : and also, I’ve already decided to tell him about what happened

 **[devastated]** : it’s just that I think his ex swooped back in yesterday and

 **[devastated]** : well, I’m scared

 **[times_change]** : but if he really meant it when he said that he _wanted_ you, why would he get it on with his ex again?

 **[conflicted]** : I agree, you should go for it, dude

 **[contemplating]** : it’s certainly better to tell the truth before it’s too late

 **[contemplating]** : whatever you’re talking about

 **[devastated]** : I guess you guys are right…

 **[devastated]** : But what if it really was the alcohol, you know?

 **[devastated]** : What if he doesn’t like me like that after all?

 **[contemplating]** : isn’t alcohol just something that allows you to say and do stuff you’re too afraid of while sober?

 **[times_change]** : oh, I’ve made plenty of experiences with that…I agree!

 **[devastated]** : well, I’ll be damned

 **[devastated]** : I’m gonna do it 

**[devastated]** : unless...

\- **[devastated]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[contemplating]** : what was that guy talking about anyway

 **[conflicted]** : oh, he hooked up with his crush who had a blackout and doesn’t remember it at all

 **[hurt_pride]** : god, I wish I would have had that idea last night

 **[hurt_pride]** : I would have rocked it so hard, she would have remembered me for sure

 **[times_change]** : a girl? Who are you talking about?

 **[hurt_pride]** : she’s with one of my teammates, actually

 **[hurt_pride]** : but I wouldn’t call her his girlfriend – she deserves better

 **[contemplating]** : and _you_ would be someone better?

 **[hurt_pride]** : you got that just from listening to me?

 **[hurt_pride]** : yes, obviously someone like me

 **[hurt_pride]** : I could satisfy her on a whole other level, I swear

 **[conflicted]** : your dick must be HUGE

 **[times_change]:** ouch, is that all it takes nowadays

 **[hurt_pride]** : nah, only a fool would reduce the complicity of the female orgasm like that

 **[hurt_pride]** : …but I know my shit, trust me on that one

 **[contemplating]** : so why isn’t that girl with you if you’re all that great?

 **[hurt_pride]** : maybe she just has a terrible taste?

 **[hurt_pride]** : she didn’t even laugh about my joke this morning

 **[hurt_pride]** : and I’m FUNNY AF

 **[conflicted]** : honestly, I’m starting to feel like your self-esteem is out of control

 **[hurt_pride]** : oh shut up

 **[hurt_pride]** : she even smiled at that stupid weeb teammate of mine

 **[hurt_pride]** : she’s probably just into some weird stuff

 **[times_change]:** why don’t you just try to appeal to her that way if it bothers you this much?

 **[contemplating]** : shouldn’t that be like, totally easy for someone as great as you?

 **[hurt_pride]** : wow, guys, wow

 **[hurt_pride]** : she might be hot as hell, but I still got principles

 **[hurt_pride]** : NO WOMAN IS HOT ENOUGH TO TURN ME INTO A WEEB

\- **[hurt_pride]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[conflicted]** : speaking of hot girls

 **[conflicted]** : if your girlfriend was going to have sex with another guy because of a bet, would you just sit by and watch or actually try to backdoor him?

 **[contemplating]** : gross

 **[times_change]:** hmm tough choice but

 **[times_change]:** it sounds like you would be interested in the latter?

 **[times_change]:** are you also bisexual or what

 **[conflicted]** : I don’t know if I’d say I’m bi, but I’ve enjoyed having sex with this guy for a while and

 **[conflicted]** : I guess I miss it, even though my girlfriend is uhh - how did the other guy put it?

 **[conflicted]** : “hot as hell”

 **[contemplating]** : if you miss fucking the other guy, why would you go on to try to get with a random other dude?

 **[times_change]:** yeah, why don’t you just go back to the other one?

 **[conflicted]** : uhm I don’t know…

 **[conflicted]** : It’s not like I haven’t thought about it

 **[conflicted]** : I even talked to him for a while today and that felt…nice

 **[contemplating]** : honestly, sex without feelings is fucking useless

 **[times_change]:** well, maybe not ENTIRELY but

 **[times_change]** : I guess it really is a lot nicer when you’re with someone special

 **[conflicted]** : well, I can’t exactly call off the bet now that my teammate has already won it

\- **[gonna_smash]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[gonna_smash]** : HELLO guys, WHAT’S UP??

 **[times_change]** : we’re talking about morally questionable bets

 **[contemplating]** : with a morally questionable guy

 **[conflicted]** : hey, no fair

 **[gonna_smash]** : WELL isn’t that just PERFECT

 **[gonna_smash]** : see, I WON a bet today

 **[times_change]** : what a funny coincidence

 **[gonna_smash]** : you wanna know what I won??

 **[conflicted]** : I don’t have a good feeling about this

 **[gonna_smash]** : I’m going to go to DISNEYLAND!

 **[contemplating]** : …

 **[times_change]** : …

 **[conflicted]** : you’re going to – what now?

 **[gonna_smash]** : Disneyland, my mom said she would finally take me and my siblings to Disneyland if I made player of the game!

 **[times_change]** : lol I did not see this one coming

 **[contemplating]** : congrats? Or something

 **[conflicted]** : god, this one had me sweating

 **[conflicted]** : I think I better call it quits for today

 **[conflicted]** : I’m just going to decide spontaneously

 **[conflicted]** : actually, I should ask my girlfriend about it, no?

\- **[conflicted]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[times_change]** : sooooo

 **[times_change]** : Disneyland, huh?

 **[gonna_smash]** : yeah, I’m super pumped but

 **[gonna_smash]** : I’m even more excited about smashing this hot girl I won a night with

 **[contemplating]** : wow, this is the best…!

 **[times_change]** : this girl doesn’t happen to be “hot as hell”, does she?

 **[gonna_smash]** : even hotter, man

 **[gonna_smash]** : still have no CLUE how my teammate scored her

 **[gonna_smash]** : but I’m going to enjoy this

 **[gonna_smash]** : I need to, things have been so chaotic and disturbing in the apartment

 **[contemplating]** : elaborate please

 **[gonna_smash]** : WELL

 **[gonna_smash]** : just found out that my teammates are not only trying to bang each other

 **[gonna_smash]** : one of them even went for one of our rivals

 **[times_change]** : hot

 **[contemplating]** : eww

 **[gonna_smash]** : ehm, EWW indeed!

 **[gonna_smash]** : I have nothing against gay people, but I just don’t get off to guys AT ALL

 **[times_change]** : well, there _are_ things in between of gay and straight but…

 **[contemplating]** : GL, dude

 **[gonna_smash]** : huh?

 **[gonna_smash]** : what do you mean?

 **[times_change]** : I’m sure he meant HF with that hot girl

 **[gonna_smash]** : ahh, I SEE

 **[gonna_smash]** : thanks guys, I WILL!!

\- **[gonna_smash]** has left the DreamServer –

\- **[regretful]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[contemplating]** : who’s going to tell him…

 **[times_change]** : oh, he’ll figure it out soon enough alright

 **[regretful]** : what are we talking about, lads?

 **[times_change]** : just some theoretical threesome that will mess things up completely for everyone

 **[contemplating]** : don’t forget about that morally questionable guy behind it

 **[regretful]** : have you guys read my autobiography or what

 **[contemplating]** : why? You got no morals either?

 **[times_change]** : it’s not like we said threesomes were ALWAYS a bad thing, though

 **[regretful]** : no, no it’s just that

 **[regretful]** : I was seriously screwed over by this guy I’m hooking up with from time to time

 **[regretful]** : because he wanted “in on the fun” with the guy I like…

 **[contemplating]** : sounds fucked up indeed

 **[times_change]** : why would he do that to you if he knows how you feel about that other guy?

 **[regretful]** : I’m still not sure…

 **[regretful]** : He said that he doesn’t really get relationships beyond sex but

 **[regretful]** : I don’t know, is that even a thing?

 **[times_change]** : sure it is, it’s called being aromantic

 **[times_change]:** it’s like being asexual, but you have no desire for romance instead of sex

 **[regretful]** : well, he’s DEFINITELY not asexual…

 **[regretful]** : I guess what he said checks out then

 **[regretful]** : how can I be mad at him then?? Fuck…

 **[contemplating]** : well, he still crossed a boundary, right?

 **[contemplating]** : he knew that you seriously liked that guy and still went for it

 **[contemplating]** : he should have held back for your sake, if you ask me

 **[times_change]:** if he really cared, yes

 **[regretful]** : well, you guys have a point there…

 **[regretful]** : and I REALLY like the guy alright

 **[regretful]** : He’s my ex, actually, and after last night I think I want him back for real

 **[times_change]:** getting back with your ex…

 **[times_change]:** does that ever work?

 **[times_change]:** I’ve hooked up with my ex recently, and it just left me publicly humiliated and feeling tricked

 **[contemplating]** : fuck people who fuck their exes, man

 **[regretful]** : yeah, uhm

 **[regretful]** : not my proudest moment either

 **[regretful]** : but it just felt so right, you know?

 **[times_change]:** sure, the sex might have been amazing but…

 **[times_change]:** things can’t just go back to how they were

 **[contemplating]** : yes, exactly

 **[contemplating]** : you can’t expect to just go back in time just because you apologized

 **[regretful]** : but there must be a way to make things right?

 **[regretful]** : I refuse to believe that something this good could just be lost

 **[contemplating]** : I mean… it’s not like I haven’t thought about that

 **[contemplating]** : can’t seem to get over this guy, anyway

 **[contemplating]** : even though he was a total jerk

 **[times_change]:** what would a jerk like that have to do to make things right?

 **[times_change]:** theoretically speaking, of course

 **[regretful]** : yeah, I wanted to ask the exact same thing!

 **[contemplating]** : hmm well I guess he would have to show up

 **[contemplating]** : and be honest moving forward

 **[contemplating]** : and stop screwing other guys

 **[times_change]:** got it

 **[times_change]:** wait, what about girls?

 **[contemplating]** : wow

 **[contemplating]** : let me rephrase

 **[contemplating]** : no other people

 **[regretful]** : dude, how are you this insensitive?

 **[regretful]** : quick question

 **[regretful]** : what if you were only sleeping with someone to increase your synergy in League?

 **[contemplating]** : …

 **[contemplating]** : you guys are hopeless

 **[times_change]:** well, sorry, I’m really trying over here

 **[times_change]:** now that I’ve cut my ex out of my life for real, I wanna do my best to make things right with this guy I’ve hurt

 **[regretful]** : and with “making things right” you mean get back into his pants or…?

 **[times_change]** : what?

 **[times_change]** : no, no that’s not what I meant

 **[times_change]** : I think I’m actually falling for the guy and

 **[times_change]** : at least until before I fucked it all up, he had feelings for me too

 **[times_change]** : so it might not be too late?

 **[regretful]** : sigh

 **[regretful]** : hope it’s not too late for me either

\- **[regretful]** has left the DreamServer -

 **[contemplating]** : sounds like you might be able to work things out

 **[times_change]** : I hope so!

 **[times_change]** : Even though

 **[times_change]** : I also just found out that his best friend kissed him last night

 **[times_change]** : I don’t know how to feel about that

 **[contemplating]** : hmm

 **[contemplating]** : friendship gone wrong, huh

 **[contemplating]** : I know that feeling

 **[contemplating]** : it’s confusing as hell

 **[times_change]** : it’s probably nothing, right?

 **[contemplating]** : could also be something, though

 **[contemplating]** : there’s a reason why people fall in love with their best friends in movies all the time

 **[times_change]** : well shit – let’s just hope the guy I like feels differently about that

 **[contemplating]** : sure man

 **[contemplating]** : whatever

\- **[times_change]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[contemplating]** : Finally some peace and quiet

 **[contemplating]** : now

 **[contemplating]** : why the hell can’t I remember what happened last night

 **[contemplating]** : and why am I too much of a pussy to ask my best friend about it?

 **[contemplating]** : so tired of all of this drama

 **[contemplating]** : I’ve told people on here to just figure their shit out so many times

 **[contemplating]** : yet

 **[contemplating]** : I have no idea how to figure myself out

 **[contemplating]** : sigh

 **[contemplating]** : being aromantic sure sounds nice

 **[contemplating]** : then again, at least I don’t have a problem with keeping my dick in my pants

 **[contemplating]** : unlike some OTHER people

 **[contemplating]** : sucks to be them

\- **[contemplating]** has left the DreamServer –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Part 5! Hope you are enjoying the story so far - Part 6 will kick off soon, with Martin's POV up first. 
> 
> I'm excited to hear about your thoughts on the DreamServer in the comments! 
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in! :)


	21. Part 6: Martin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Part 6! The longest part ever, I might add - I don't know why, but the chapters just keep getting longer and longer... 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy ;)

Over the course of the week, Martin had tried his best to keep himself busy. He was convinced that, as long as he had something useful to do, the doubts wouldn’t creep up on him. Doubts about the way he handled things with Rasmus, who’s texts he hasn’t responded to ever since he left G2’s apartment on the morning of their last encounter. Doubts about the way he handled things with Tim, who he barely got the chance to talk to since he had apologized to the midlaner. He had a hard time with these decisions because, in the end, his actions had led him back into loneliness. Even though he knew that, rationally speaking, he did the right thing, these feelings of solitude made it hard for the ADC not to regret what he had done.

One of the ways in which Martin attempted to occupy his mind after scrims were done was to stream on Twitch. Throughout his career, there had been phases where streaming was fun and important to him. But, much like regarding his social media presence, those feelings had changed in recent years. When he finally picked up streaming again in 2020, his many followers had long since awaited his return. But that was not why he tried to stream again – no, there was a different reason for that. Maybe he didn’t like to admit it but seeing how much fun Tim had with streaming regularly, and often times while playing DuoQ with Oskar, inspired the ADC. Or maybe he just wanted to _keep up_? As a veteran player, these lines kept blurring more and more as the years went by.

One of the perks of Martin’s newly found fascination with distracting himself from his emotional struggles was the fact that him and Tim were usually the last people to leave the office now. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes, Martin treasured the time he was able to spend alone with his midlaner. Every time they would chat about something funny or banal like two people who shared an absolutely normal relationship, it would put the ADC’s mind at ease a little more. It felt as if, step for step, they were getting closer again. It was enough to keep him going for the time being, even though it was hardly as much as he wished for.

It was fair enough to say that, in general, things had cooled down in the Fnatic household. It showed in the way they managed to spend their days without any outbursts, shouting or banging of doors – but also on stage. In week 2, they managed to go undefeated. Now, it is almost impossible to say _who_ of Fnatic’s members needed these wins the most. Bwipo and Hylissang had managed to stop their loud arguing in hallways or comparable semi-public spaces, but Martin noticed that they were hardly talking in between and after scrims. Something was still _off_ between them. Oskar’s and Tim’s dynamic had also changed ever since their night out in the bar, even though not as drastically as the toplaner’s and the support’s. Something was _off_ between them, too. And, finally, Martin didn’t have a hard time with thinking off things that were _off_ with him right now – even though he didn’t let it show.

It was, therefore, no surprise that the ADC didn’t really trust the way things had cooled down in the team. It just didn’t feel like any of them had found relief – no, instead, it felt like the infamous _calm before the storm_. Which was the last thing the Fnatic squad needed now that their showdown against their fiercest rivals, G2 Esports, was coming up in week 3 of the Spring Split. Martin couldn’t help but feel nervous about the match, for several obvious reasons. He didn’t just have to face the World’s finalists on stage, with Fnatic’s reputation as a competitor for the Spring Split title on the line – no, he had to face Rasmus. After ignoring his texts all week long and avoiding any sort of contact in the studio, he wouldn’t be able to run away from the other ADC anymore.

Even though Sunday was usually one of the few days were Fnatic’s players had some time off, Martin headed to the office right after breakfast to start grinding in SoloQ. Sure, part of it was that he wouldn’t have to be alone with his thoughts this way – but, and that felt more important to the ADC, he wanted to be in peak condition for his match against G2 no matter what. Even if that meant that he had to put in some extra hours. When Martin arrived at the office, he was surprised to find that almost all of his teammates must have had the exact same idea. Hylissang was wiggling back and forth in his chair, “defeat” written in across his screen. _He must have had a bad game_ , Martin thought as he sat down at his desk beside the support. On the other side of the room, Tim and Oskar were, presumably, playing DuoQ together. Neither of them had as much as lifted their gaze for a second when Martin had entered the room, but he didn’t want to think too much of that.

“They’ve been streaming for a while now,” Hylissang said as he noticed Martin staring into their direction.

“I see,” the ADC responded as he gave his support a smile, “I better get started as well then.”

He had, in fact, planned on streaming today. But somehow, seeing Oskar and Tim play DuoQ together had made him lose interest. The things he would have done to be in Oskar’s position right now – it simply had been _too long_ since the last time he and Tim had teamed up in the rift. With a sigh, Martin bent over to boot his PC. Maybe he would at least be able to squeeze in some SoloQ games. Just as he was about to open up the League client, Martin suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Martin, good to see you working hard on a Sunday!” Alfonso exclaimed as he spun the ADC around in his office chair.

“Hi, uhm, morning Alfonso,” Martin mumbled with a confused smile on his lips.

“Now, I wouldn’t call it morning,” the coach smirked as he glanced at his watch, “but anyway, what a funny coincidence to have you and Zdravets here at the same time, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Why that?” Hylissang, who had also spun around in his chair, remarked as he scratched his head.

“Well, thing is, I have been planning on talking to the both of you for a while now! You know, I want us to have a little heart-to-heart, as fellow botlaners!”

Martin and Zdravets looked at each other in confusion before they turned back to their coach, waiting for him to explain what exactly he wanted from them.

“Listen, since you guys don’t seem to have anything going on right now, how about we just grab some coffee together?” Alfonso continued with a wide smile, not really leaving any room for discussions.

“Sounds great…?” Hylissang responded, more asking than stating facts.

“It’s settled then!” Alfonso exclaimed as he turned on his heel, heading towards the exit of the apartment.

Reluctantly, the ADC and his support followed their coach without speaking another word. 

When they finally sat down in one of their favourite Cafés near the office, Martin actually felt relieved to have a cup of coffee in his hands. During these last couple of weeks, he hadn’t been sleeping too well – last night had been no exception. Next to him, Hylissang was slurping the foam off of his Latte Macchiato, while Alfonso stirred his Cappuccino on the other side of the table. There was a moment of peaceful silence before the team’s coach finally started the, very in-official and informal, meeting.

“So, let’s just start with the elephant in the room.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you invited Bwipo to join us,” Hylissang chuckled as he pretended to look for the toplaner in the crowded joint.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Alfonso responded, shaking his head with a slight smile on his lips, “I mean our match against G2 on Saturday, of course.”

“Not our game against Excel – are you sure?” Martin mumbled in a desperate attempt to avoid talking about Rasmus, nervously sipping on his coffee.

“Wow, who turned you two into Comedians over night?” Alfonso rolled his eyes before he returned to the issue at hand, “look, it’s perfectly normal to be nervous about this. Caps is your former teammate and _super_ unpredictable, after all…”

 _Of course THAT is the reason why I’m nervous_ , Martin thought as he bit his lower lip.

“Well, we’ve been preparing for this match-up for weeks now… why do you bring that up again now?” Hylissang asked as he played with the spoon in his glass.

“I know a thing or two about botlaners,” the team’s coach remarked with a shrug, “your performance as a Duo has been good, but I feel like something’s still _off_ with you.”

Suddenly, Martin felt as if he started to work up a sweat. He always made sure to not let his personal troubles affect his performance – how could Alfonso have _possibly_ noticed? _Maybe he’s just talking about Mr. I-shout-at-Bwipo-in-the-kitchen_ , Martin thought as he glanced over to his support who also looked quite agitated. Neither of the team’s botlaners said a word.

“Okay, uhm,” Alfonso continued, seemingly irritated by how quiet the other two were, “if there are any outside-distractions for either of you, I’d like you to tell me so we can deal with them. We really need this win, I don’t think I have to tell you why.”

Martin tried to weigh his options. _I could just tell him about how I took a walk of shame out of G2’s apartment after fucking Caps who is not just my former teammate but also my ex_ , Martin thought as he took another sip of his coffee. Yeah, there was _no way_ he could do that. He could also just follow his support's lead and look _anywhere_ but back at his coach in the hopes of Alfonso abandoning his mission to make them confess. There was a large houseplant in the corner near their table that suddenly looked surprisingly appealing. Suddenly, Alfonso’s phone repetitively vibrated on the table, distracting the coach from staring daggers at his botlaners.

“Ah, hmm, he’s earlier than I expected,” he mumbled as he let his phone slide into his pocket.

“Who are you talking about?” Hylissang asked, practically jumping onto this new topic.

“Well…” the team’s coach sighed, “I kind of expected this talk to go differently, which is why I invited an old teammate of mine to hang out with us. I honestly thought you guys were just on edge because you were not having enough fun in your free time…”

“Yeah, yup, that’s totally it,” Martin instantly responded, trying his best not to let his nerves show.

“I just couldn’t put it into words,” Hylissang said as he nodded in agreement.

“Huh, still got it then!” Alfonso smirked as he got up and waved someone over to their table.

Martin didn’t have to turn around to know who the old teammate his coach had invited was – he would have recognized that voice anywhere. Suddenly, playing SoloQ with Oskar and Tim playing DuoQ in the same room didn’t sound so bad to him anymore - _that's_ how little Martin wanted to spend time with...

“Quite the party you got here, Mithy!” Perkz chuckled as he gave Alfonso a hug and sat down next to him.

Both Martin and Zdravets greeted G2’s midlaner hesitantly – neither of them could figure out why _he_ , out of all people, had to be the one to join them while they talked about their upcoming match against their rivals.

“Oh please, don’t let him intimidate you,” Alfonso smirked as he pretended to ruffle Luka’s buzzcut, “let’s just have a bit of fun, right? Enough talk about the match.”

 _But we haven’t even talked about it in the first place,_ Martin thought as he sceptically looked across the table.

“Well, what do you want to do for fun?” Hylissang asked, looking just as sceptical as his ADC, “did you bring any boardgames?”

“You just keep _cracking me up_ , Zdravets,” Alfonso mumbled as he fished for his phone in his pocket, “I thought we would just, you know, chat, like normal people with normal lifes.”

“Hilarious,” Perkz remarked with a grin as he put his arm around his former support, “now, why does your phone keep buzzing anyway? Where are your _manners_?”

“I just need to check something really quick,” the team’s coach mumbled as he turned his phones screen away from the nosy midlaner.

“Oh, come on, just let me see!” Luka exclaimed playfully as he tried to catch a glimpse of the OnePlus’ screen, “you know I haven’t seen Zven shirtless in _forever_!”

 _Zven? Shirtless?_ Martin wondered as his eyes kept jumping back and forth between Mithy and Perkz. The way they interacted was so different from the way his coach usually presented himself – it was quite interesting to watch.

“Stop, Luka, I – I need to take this call,” Alfonso murmured as he got up and walked out of the joint as he answered his phone.

“Isn’t it funny,” Luka smirked as he leaned back in his chair, now looking Martin in the eyes, “how some people just can’t keep their hands off of each other, even when they are not on the same team anymore…?”

Martin swallowed hard. Even though he had kind of expected G2’s midlaner to taunt him after he had witnessed his embarrassing escape from Caps’ room, he didn’t know what to respond. He shot Hylissang a nervous glance. He certainly didn’t want hus just as nosy support to find out about him and Caps, on top of everything else.

“Are you really implying that Mithy and Zven are, what, _dating_?” Zdravets asked with a serious look on his face. He surely didn’t mess around when it came to gossip.

“Well, obviously,” Luka replied as he rolled his eyes, “not my point, though.”

For a brief moment, Martin considered running away. Even though he hadn’t been to the gym as regularly lately, he should still be able to outrun the others – right?

“Oh no, Martin…” Zdravets whispered as he turned to his ADC, “please tell me you didn’t…”

“I, uh, what? What do you mean?” Martin stuttered helplessly.

“What, you didn’t even tell your support about this? Is this how Fnatic interprets _synergy_?” Luka chuckled, seemingly amused by the spectacle, which he watched while casually sipping on his Espresso. 

“Oh my god, would you just let it go??” The ADC hissed across the table.

“I can’t believe you would _do this again_ , Martin – and why _now_ , on top of that?” Hylissang mumbled, looking very concerned.

“I didn’t think, it was just –“ Martin suddenly stopped midsentence and rewound the support’s words in his head, “wait, what do you mean with ‘again’? You knew??”

“ _Of course_ I knew, did you think you guys were being sneaky or what?” The support snorted as a response as he crossed his arms.

While Martin was still stuttering relentlessly, trying to make sense of the situation, Alfonso returned to the table and sat down with a sigh.

“Sorry about that, it was important, and I couldn’t just – ehm, what’s going on, guys?”

“Well, Martin thought it was a smart idea to get back into Caps’ pants before our match against G2, basically.” Hylissang blurted out, seemingly feeling hurt about Rekkles’ lack of honesty.

“But – but also,” Martin exclaimed before the coach could react, “how come _you_ never told us you had _a boyfriend_ in NA? Is that why you keep running off with your phone?”

On the other side of the table, Alfonso sighed and silently turned to Luka, who was smirking like he was having the time of his life.

“Why are you always like this, Luka…?” He scratched his head to buy some time before he continued, “tensions seem to be running a bit high, how about we all calm down and talk about this…”

“Yeah, sounds like a great plan, you guys do that!” Luka chuckled as he got up and put some money on the table, “had a great time with you, but I better get home to play some more SoloQ. See you!”

“Oh my god, I’m going to kill –“ Alfonso practically bit into his fist to stop his angry mumbles before he turned back to face Martin and Zdravets with a smile.

“I’ll just be straight with you here – I might have underestimated the influence of our outside-distractions a little.”

 _Ha, straight_ , Martin thought as an absolutely inappropriate grin started to form on his lips.

“Martin, is this thing with Caps going to affect your performance next Saturday?” Alfonso asked with a serious look on his face.

 _What, that’s the only thing you want to know?_ Martin wondered as he considered the question for a moment.

“No, that was a one…or maybe two time thing. I’ll make sure to be in top shape. Actually, I would like to go back to the office to get in some more SoloQ games right now.”

“Fine by me,” Alfonso replied without hesitating for a moment as he grabbed his cup, “feel free to go, you guys. I won’t hold you up any longer.”

“Great, thank you,” Martin mumbled as he got up and put on his thick winter coat.

“Actually, I think I’d like to stay to talk to you about something,” Zdravets said, not attempting to leave the table at all. Suddenly, Alfonso looked like he was in distress.

“Ehm, sure, yeah, that would be nice,” he mumbled, “take care, Martin!”

And, with a final wave, Martin left the Café to go back to the office. After this grand performance of the other team’s midlaner, he was more determined than ever before to beat G2 into the ground. As the League server was already starting to boot in his head, the ADC didn’t even take a moment to think about _what_ exactly Hylissang wanted to talk about with their coach, as interesting as it might have been for him.

It was already starting to get dark as Martin arrived at the office, which seriously made him question his sense of time. _How is it this late already_ , he wondered as he opened the front door with his key, feeling slightly panicked about not having achieved _anything_ all day long. As he took off his shoes and made his way inside, he searched for the light-switch in the hallway. The whole flat was completely dark, which gave Martin the impression that the others must have already called it a night. As the ADC reached the gaming room, he suddenly spotted the light of a single computer screen in the darkness.

“Oh – oh hi, Tim, you still here?” He asked as he sat down in his gaming chair next to the midlaner.

“Yes, hi.” Tim responded without turning away from his screen.

From what Martin could tell from a quick glance, the midlaner was reading through messages on his Discord server. There was a pause and the ADC was absolutely unsure of whether he should try to say something else to get Tim’s attention or not. In the end, he was so _desperate_ for it.

“Sooo,” Martin continued, “how was your stream with Oskar?”

“Fine.” Tim nodded, his gaze still captivated by the computer in front of him.

“Where did Oskar go?” Martin asked, trying to find something to talk about at any cost.

“Out with Bwipo.” Tim replied briefly.

Another pause. At this point, Martin wondered whether Tim might have looked a little sad? Agitated? It was almost impossible to tell from the angle he was looking at him. The ADC had to fight the urge to reach out to touch the midlaner who, by now, looked so fragile to him.

“Actually, there was this one play today where I… let me find the replay,” Tim mumbled as he opened his League client.

The suggestion was so simple – yet, it made Martin’s heart jump. Quickly, he got up to look at Tim’s screen over the midlaner’s shoulder, with the ADC’s lips being dangerously close to his ear. As Tim explained the way the play had gone down step by step, pointing out the details with his finger on the screen, Martin couldn’t help but feel a little fuzzy. It felt so incredibly familiar – as if things had never changed between them. Then again, maybe the ADC had just been starved of attention so much that even the slightest wink of a finger felt like a big deal to him. As the replay was over, Martin let himself fall back into his chair.

“That was sick, man!” He chuckled, shuffling closer to his desk.

“I guess,” Tim murmured monotonously, “why did you come back to the office this late, anyway?”

“Just wanted to play some extra SoloQ games,” Martin replied as he started the League client, “I guess I’m starting to get a bit nervous about our match against G2. By the way, can you believe that Mithy invited PERKZ to join us in the Café?”

“Crazy,” the midlaner responded, “I guess I might be a bit more nervous than usual. Still not a lot, though.”

Another moment of silence – but, somehow, it was not as awkward this time. For a second, Martin even felt as if he saw Tim smile out of the corner of his eye. He decided to gather all of his courage, feeling like it was now or never.

“Do you, maybe, want to play a game of DuoQ?” He asked as he glanced over to his midlaner, cheeks slightly flushed.

“Sure.” Tim replied instantly, not looking back at Martin.

It was as simple as that – one game. They played League together every single day, but this one game felt so much more special than the others. For whatever reason, Martin felt as if it was a sign that Tim began to trust him again. It felt, of course, even better that they managed to win the game easily. Yes – superstition had never really been a part of Martin’s character, but today, he wanted it to be a _sign._

When Tim finally said his goodbye after the game had ended and left the office, Martin was a bit sad to see him go, but happy with the way things had turned out. He took a deep breath and stared back at his computer screen. He was certainly not ready to go home, but it was so hard for him to concentrate on anything but how great finally getting closer to Tim again felt, and especially the way in which his lips had almost touched his ear and – suddenly, Martin felt his dick twitch in his pants. His deep breaths turned into a sigh. _Can’t please them all_ , he thought as he tried to ignore his boner to focus on finally playing some SoloQ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Martin's POV! 
> 
> How did you like it? Which developements are you particularly excited for? And did you catch my little "throwback" to the very first chapter...?
> 
> I'm excited for your comments! And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	22. Part 6: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks! Welcome to the second chapter of Part 6. 
> 
> Now, before we dive back into this wonderful distraction, I want to adress the scary times we live in right now... In my country, most social institutions have been shut down, leaving me with some unexpected free time. So, on the bright side, I'll be able to write a lot... But, of course, the uncertainty of the situation is still draining. I seriously hope you guys also stay safe and healthy above anything else!
> 
> Without further ado, let's get started with more (but less scary) drama... hope you enjoy!

The last week hadn’t exactly been easy for Tim. In hopes of finally regaining his standing, he had tried his best to get back to his routine – to the way _he_ wanted to spend his time, without letting his troubled love life get in the way. It was certainly not an easy task, as both Oskar and Martin were buzzing around him basically all day long. But, mostly through connecting with his fans online while streaming and spending more time alone, Tim had managed to create some space for himself despite of that.

In many ways, things had generally calmed down in the team since the day of their first game – but Tim didn’t trust the feeling for a second. He _knew_ that Hylissang must have chickened out of confessing to Bwipo after all, as they were mostly ignoring each other now. He _also knew_ that, at some point, he would have to talk to Oskar about that night at the bar when he kissed him and – well, that’s about all he remembered. Now, he was not actively avoiding Oskar; but he did try to change the topic as soon as he felt the jungler trying to stir into the direction of ‘ _about what happened that night…’._

Sure, a part of him kind of wanted to know. He had, occasionally, fantasized about what being intimate with Oskar might be like. Maybe those thoughts were powered by his curiosity, as he had never been with anyone else than Martin. Then again, there was also this fuzzy feeling in his guts when he remembered kissing Oskar – so, maybe, there was more to it than he’d like to admit. But there was this other part of him that was panicked about remembering something that he would regret in the end. Having Oskar by his side, as his best friend, felt so nice after all – did he really have to risk losing him altogether because of some drunk smooches?

And then, there was also Martin. Ever since their hungover conversation last Saturday, Tim had slowly gotten used to “not-not-talking” to his ADC again. It was not like he had forgiven Martin for what he had done not just once, but twice – no, he was definitely not ready to let that go. But Tim also couldn’t help but admit that he was surprised by how honest and raw the ADC had been with him that day. And he _wanted_ to believe that the ADC’s apology was genuine. No matter how mad and hurt he might have been, he had missed having Martin around a lot back when they weren’t talking.

They were taking things quite slowly – maybe a small chat in between scrims, some patch-note-discussions when they were the last people to leave the office – and Tim really appreciated that. It felt as if Martin had really _meant it_ when he said that he didn’t just expect things to go back to normal, after all. The ADC hadn’t freaked out on Oskar either, even though he knew about the kiss Tim had shared with the jungler. Yes – right now, things were looking good for all of them. After their successful 2-0 week, Tim wanted nothing more than to just hold on to this state. But he knew that it couldn’t last forever; especially not with their match against G2 coming up.

Facing their fiercest rivals, G2 Esports, certainly always felt like a big deal to the Fnatic squad. For Tim, these were the only games where he sometimes felt a little nervous before getting on stage. Right now, he didn’t exactly feel nervous though – he felt fired up. Now, one could argue that it was _petty_ of the midlaner to want to stomp Caps into the ground this badly. Then again, one could also say that it was completely natural, considering the circumstances. Either way, Tim was definitely willing to put in some extra work to make sure that he would be able to achieve his goal.

It was due to this determination that Tim decided to show up in the office early that day, even though – _or maybe because?_ – it was a Sunday. During this special time off, Tim wanted to do nothing more than to just stream, to play, to practice and prepare. When he entered the office, he was surprised to find Oskar already sitting in his gaming chair, staring at the League client on his desktop. As weird as it was to think about the jungler actually getting up before him, Tim was glad so see him.

“Hey, what are you doing up this early?” He smirked as he sat down beside Oskar.

“Hi, uhm, morning,” Oskar turned in his chair and greeted Tim with a smile, “just want to get in some extra practice since… well, you know who we’re playing this week. Wanted to stream, too.”

“Same,” Tim mumbled as he turned on his PC, “how about we stream together?”

“Yeah, uhm –“ Oskar nodded eagerly with a wide grin, “I’d like that.”

As the both of them were setting up their streams, Tim felt weirdly at home. He hadn’t streamed with anyone else as much as he had with Oskar – it just felt natural. The way they played together could be compared to a well-oiled machine; even in the heat of the moment, they understood each other without many words. Maybe that was why Oskar was the perfect DuoQ-Partner? As Tim thought about it, he felt the heat rise to his cheeks. _DuoQ-Partner, yes – nothing more and nothing less_ , he thought as he made the final clicks to start his stream on Twitch.

The hours, just as the games, went by in a flash. In between the games, Oskar and Tim were joking around, engaging with the chat as much as possible and – yes, even in defeat – having fun. About three rounds in, someone else popped into the office to play.

“Hey, are you guys streaming? How nice, I’ll try not to disturb you,” Hylissang greeted them with a big smile on his face.

“Yes, thanks.” Tim replied without looking, eyes fixated on his screen.

The support quietly sat down to play his own rounds of SoloQ for practice – and he did, indeed, not disturb the midlaner and the jungler, who were streaming just a couple of meters away, at all. If anything, Tim considered Hylissang to be the one teammate who was the most pleasant to share the office with, especially when they were grinding SoloQ. Then again, right now, he wouldn’t have minded being alone with Oskar all day long. He just didn’t want their time together to _end_.

Some more games and a toilet break later, another intruder made his way into the office. Through the reflection on his screen, Tim immediately saw that it was Martin. He didn’t want to turn around to look, though. He didn’t want to greet the ADC either. He might have done so under different circumstances – but he was streaming, and, by god, his fans were so _nosy_. They were even worse than Hylissang when it came to gossip, and he wasn’t sure whether he could keep his cool today if they repetitively asked about him and _Rekkles_ again. So he kept his eyes on the screen and prayed that his webcam wouldn’t catch a glimpse of the ADC.

After an awkward conversation that Tim couldn’t really follow due to his headphones, it was a relief for the midlaner to hear that Martin left the office, joined by Mithy and Hylissang. Even though he had recently found his way back to enjoying having Martin around, being in a room with him and Oskar still felt really weird to the midlaner – to say that he felt _conflicted_ about his feelings would, after all, be the understatement of the century. It was, therefore, probably for the best that Martin had left again. _Why can’t I just stop thinking about him then_ , Tim wondered as he stared at his death screen with the frustration showing in his face. His chat asked him about his gloomy expression but, no matter how much he loved his fans, he wouldn’t have dared to share the true reason behind it with anyone.

After a total of over seven hours online, Oskar announced that he would need to stop streaming after the last game had come to an end. The twitch-chat was filled with disappointed comments, and, if he was honest, Tim was feeling just the same. Even though the stream had already lasted for much longer than what the midlaner was used to, he truly didn’t want to see the end of it. Maybe it was because he didn’t want to get back to the sad reality of things – but did that really matter now?

“Sucks that you have to go,” Tim mumbled as he terminated the connection, sending his viewers over to watch LS’ stream, “you got any special plans?”

“Well, kind of? I promised Bwipo to go bowling – I mean, he probably just wants those extra cheesy fries the bowling joint serves, but whatever…” Oskar chuckled as he got up after turning off his computer.

“Bowling?” Tim squinted his eyes at the jungler for a moment, turning around in his seat, “are you serious?”

“Yeah, sure – why, you wanna come?” Oskar asked casually as he put on his jacket which he had thrown on one of the empty chairs.

“I’d rather die.” Tim responded with a grim expression as he turned back to his screen.

“Ouch, alright then,” Oskar chuckled as he headed for the door, “good luck in the rift, champ!”

And suddenly, Tim was alone. He didn’t regret turning down Oskar’s offer – there were plenty of reasons why hanging out with the jungler and Bwipo in some stupid bowling alley didn’t sound pleasant to him at all. But, mostly, it was the image of the _last time_ they had gone out that haunted Tim. Yes – the last time he had left the apartment to go anywhere besides the office or the LEC studio certainly hadn’t turned out too great for the midlaner. If anything, it had just left him with even more questions. Right now, he was trying to finally find some _answers_ ; and additional confusion was the last thing he needed for that.

It was already dark outside when, suddenly, Tim heard footsteps in the hallway. For a moment, Tim tried to figure out just _who_ he wanted it to be. A part of him hoped for Oskar to come back, to just jump back into the DuoQ without wasting a single word on how the evening with Bwipo had been. But there was this other part which, despite everything, always screamed for Martin. _Hylissang would also be okay_ , Tim thought as he nervously clicked through the tabs on his Discord server. But, in the end, it was that one voice that he would recognize anywhere that shook the midlaner out of his gloom.

“Oh – oh hi, Tim, you still here?” Martin asked as he stepped into the room. 

“Yes, hi.” Tim responded, unsure of whether he should turn around or not.

There was a pause. Martin quietly sat down in his gaming chair beside the midlaner, booting his PC. For a moment, Tim considered asking Martin about his day. But it just felt so _desperate_ to him – no, that’s not the position he should be in right now. If anything, it was the ADC that should be trying to get his attention, right?

“Sooo,” Martin said with a soft smile on his lips, “how was your stream with Oskar?”

“Fine.” Tim nodded, _definitely_ not wanting to talk about Oskar with Martin right now.

“Where did Oskar go?” Martin asked casually, and Tim had a hard time not flinching.

“Out with Bwipo,” he replied, hoping that that would be the end of that conversation. 

There was another pause. Tim considered simply leaving the office – he had been parked in his gaming chair for a while, after all, and he could easily continue checking his Discord messages on his OnePlus on the way home. But he couldn’t deny that, despite the weird hint towards Oskar, he kind of enjoyed sitting next to Martin. It was different than the way in which he felt so comfortable next to Oskar – but calmingly familiar, nonetheless. Maybe that was the reason why he decided to stay.

“Actually, there was this one play today where I… let me find the replay,” Tim mumbled as he opened his League client.

While there _really_ were a lot of fun plays that had happened during his stream with Oskar, Tim just felt the need to shift the conversation towards something where he felt more in control right now. He explained the setup of the play to his ADC in a calm manner, willingly ignoring the fact that Martin’s lips were _way too close_ to his ear. Yes – he chose to ignore that he could kiss the ADC simply by turning ever so slightly. Still, his ears were burning red once the play was over and Martin fell back into his seat.

“That was sick, man!” The ADC chuckled, shuffling closer to his desk.

“I guess,” Tim murmured, trying to regain his composure, “why did you come back to the office this late, anyway?”

“Just wanted to play some extra SoloQ games,” Martin replied as he started the League client, “I guess I’m starting to get a bit nervous about our match against G2. By the way, can you believe that Mithy invited PERKZ to join us in the Café?”

“Crazy,” the midlaner responded as he rolled his eyes, really not wanting to hear any more news about his rival in the midlane, “I guess I might be a bit more nervous than usual. Still not a lot, though.”

It was true – even during the most troubling times, Tim had not _really_ felt nervous about any game in a long time. But, of course, he could see where Martin was coming from. This weird feeling in his gut, caused by the upcoming match against G2, was the reason why he had been in the office all day long, after all. Even though it was quite late by now, he was still eager to play some more games. But he couldn’t possibly ask Martin to play DuoQ with him – could he?

“Do you, maybe, want to play a game of DuoQ?” Martin asked as if he could read minds, catching Tim completely off-guard.

“Sure.” Tim replied instantly, and he prayed that the ADC wouldn’t bother to question why the midlaner hadn’t wasted a second to respond.

As they were playing together, Tim realized that he hadn’t felt this close to Martin in weeks. They weren’t necessarily talking a lot but, somehow, Tim felt as if their minds were connected. It was almost _weird_ how much he suddenly wanted to reach out to touch the ADC’s hand, his arm, his face… anything. The midlaner surely wasn’t used to having to fight his _urges_ – for the most part, he didn’t have too many. As the game came to an end, he didn’t want to take his chances with another one. He didn’t like to feel as if he couldn’t _trust_ himself – and, right now, being alone with Martin did exactly that.

Without much more than a soft goodbye and a slight smile, Tim finally left Fnatic’s office, leaving Martin all alone. The midlaner figured that the ADC must have wanted to play some SoloQ anyway, so he didn’t feel bad about it at all. Also, he just _really_ needed to get some fresh air right now. As Tim finally let the cold Berlin air fill his lungs, he reached into his pocket to grab his OnePlus to blast some music – without success. He checked his other pocket, starting to get worried – still nothing _. I must have left it on the desk_ , he thought with a grunt as he reached for his keys to get back into the office.

When Tim slouched down the hallway again, he felt as if he heard the sound of a squeaking chair, coming from the room where he was headed. That didn’t necessarily cause him to worry, as he knew about Martin’s tendency to have a restless leg during SoloQ games. But, as the midlaner popped his head into the gaming room, he realized that the ADC was, in fact, not playing SoloQ. His desktop was turned off and, in the reflection of the dark screen, Tim instantly recognized the aroused expression on Martin’s face. It didn’t take him much longer than a second to realize what the ADC was _actually_ doing.

“What the –“ Tim exclaimed almost out of reflex, his feet suddenly refusing to move, almost as if they had been glued to the floor.

“Huh?” Martin shrieked up, slightly turning in his chair to face the intruder, “T-Tim what are you – I didn’t – it’s not what it looks like!”

 _What, you don’t have your dick in your hand right now?_ Tim thought, his mouth still half-open in shock. He honestly didn’t know how to react to the sight of his former lover masturbating in the office, just minutes after he had left the building. He didn’t even want to think about what that timing could have meant – then again, maybe one part of him did. It was the _last thing_ he wanted to happen in this moment, but Tim could feel his dick growing hard in his sweatpants. Popping a boner is something that, for many guys, is a frequent phenomenon and not a big deal. For Tim, who didn’t get aroused as easily or as frequently as your average man, it certainly was. Seeing Martin’s flushed cheeks, hearing the soft pants escaping his lips – it was almost as if that had awakened something in the midlaner.

And, suddenly, it was as if his body was moving on its own – as if he simply couldn’t think _straight_ anymore. Without saying another word, Tim started to walk towards Martin. The ADC, who still looked just as flustered as before, quickly turned away from the midlaner and covered his crotch with both of his hands in embarrassment. Unfazed, Tim kept moving.

“Sorry, it’s just – I didn’t think you would come back and…” Martin mumbled.

“I forgot my phone,” Tim replied, locking eyes with Martin.

“Uhm, it must be on your desk, right?” Martin gave his midlaner a nervous smile as he fidgeted with his sweatpants, desperately trying to cover his hard-on.

“I guess,” Tim mumbled as he stopped right in front of the ADC.

He looked down to inspect Martin’s crotch, his own dick now practically aching for attention. Hell – he had already let it come this far. In his mind, the red flags kept coming up – and yet, it was his body that called the shots today. Without a single logical thought to grasp onto, Tim got onto his knees. Forcefully, he pulled down the ADC’s sweatpants in a single motion.

“Tim, wait – what are you doing?” Martin mumbled from above, biting his lower lip.

“Just shut up,” Tim murmured as he bent down to enclose Martin’s dick with his lips.

Almost instantly, Martin started moaning above him, seemingly barely able to hold back. Tim gave it his best effort, trying to fit as much of Martin’s length into his mouth as possible. He circled the ADC’s glans with his tongue as he squeezed his thighs with both of his hands, trying to stabilize himself. He let his mouth glide up and down slowly, and he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of Martin shivering in pleasure with every motion. Even though he still had no idea about how he ended up in this situation, there certainly was no stopping for Tim now. Eagerly, he increased his speed even more, causing Martin to pant heavily.

“Wait – Tim, wait I-“ The ADC stuttered as he softly tried to push Tim’s head away from his manhood.

Almost obediently, Tim moved away and locked eyes with Martin, who was staring at him from above, face fully flushed. Now, he didn’t like to feel as if he was _taking orders_ from the ADC at all. He thought about diving back into the blowjob just to spite Martin; then again, his lips just looked _too luscious_ for the midlaner to resist moving up to kiss them right away. Tim got back up on his feet and leant down to make their lips meet with passion. It had simply been to long – it felt as if he had been starving all along, without even noticing it. And, after all this time, his body was now finally reclaiming what he had seemingly lost before.

Beneath him, Martin seemed to have lost his hesitation by now. He grabbed Tim by the waist and pulled him in closer, causing the midlaner to plunge down onto the ADC’s lap. They kissed as if they had longed for each other’s taste forever, barely parting lips to breathe. Tim’s hands were reaching for Martin’s hair, his neck, his back – it almost felt greedy, but he just wanted to touch every single inch of the ADC’s body that had been so far out of reach before. Martin must have thought the same thing, judging by how Tim felt the ADC’s hands all over his body. As they pulled away from the kiss for a second while Martin took off Tim’s shirt, their eyes met. With their faces flushed and their breathing heavy, they just looked at each other for a moment.

“What are we doing…?” Tim whispered in disbelief, almost as if he wasn’t the one who had started it to begin with.

“You tell me,” Martin mumbled with a soft smile on his lips as he caressed the midlaner’s back, “I just know that I don’t want it to stop.”

“Yeah…” Tim breathed against Martin’s lips as he leant back down to kiss him.

 _I really don’t want it to end either_ , he thought as he felt the rush overcome him. Tim pulled off Martin’s hoodie in a flash and leaned down to trail kisses down the ADC’s neck, caressing his naked torso tenderly. Soft moans escaped Martin’s lips as he pressed the midlaner close to him with one hand, while letting the other slip into Tim’s sweatpants. Tim flinched as he felt Martin’s fingers on his taint – it was a sensation that he hadn’t felt in weeks now and, as a matter of fact, one that he didn’t know he had missed. But, suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to feel Martin inside of him.

“You got some lube?” Tim whispered against the ADC’s neck before sliding his tongue up to Martin’s ear.

“Y-yeah, uhm,” Martin mumbled as he reached out to open one of the drawers of his desk.

As Tim caught a glimpse of the open drawer, a part of him started to wonder _why_ Martin had bothered to store lube and a bunch of condoms in the office – then again, it was way too convenient for him to question in the heat of the moment. Instead of asking the obvious question, Tim went back to work on the ADC’s neck, his fingers now softly pinching Martin’s nipples.

“Uhm, I hope you don’t think it’s weird I just – ahh – like to be prepared…” Martin stuttered as he slowly pulled down Tim’s sweatpants and boxers.

“Whatever…” Tim replied as he pressed their lips together to shut Martin up.

He wasn’t necessarily the type to say a lot during sex – he preferred to let his hands do the talking. And, right now, his hands were telling Martin to hurry up. Tim started to grind against Martin’s hard cock as he felt the ADC’s lube-coated fingers circling his hole. He let his tongue slide into Martin’s mouth to meet his as he cupped the Swede’s face with both of his hands. He couldn’t help but breathe in sharply when he finally felt the first finger inside of him. It took him a moment to adjust to the feeling, but, only seconds later, he dove back into the kiss. He wanted more and more and…

“More…” he whispered against Martin’s lips, leaving no room for interpretation.

“Aren’t you eager,” Martin mumbled with a smile as he pushed a second finger inside.

With a quiet moan, Tim back up against the ADC’s fingers, pressing his face into Martin’s neck. He grabbed onto the Swede’s strong shoulders to stabilize himself on top of him – at this point, he couldn’t ride free-handed anymore. But, still, he was far from being satisfied.

“More…” Tim whimpered as he sucked on Martin’s neck relentlessly.

“Oh yeah?” Martin whispered, now breathing heavily in arousal, “I think I have something in mind…”

Tim heard the sound of a wrapper being torn open, followed by Martin’s hands fidgeting around somewhere under him. Finally, he felt the ADC’s hands spreading his ass and slowly lowering him onto Martin’s throbbing erection. Tim bit his lip as he felt Martin’s length pushing into him, barely able to control his breathing. About halfway in, Martin gave Tim a moment to adjust as he softly kissed his neck, both hands still gripping firmly onto the midlaner’s butt cheeks. With a quiet wail, Tim lowered himself onto Martin, now fully swallowing the ADC’s cock. At this point, Martin was panting heavily, his eyes burning bright with passion. He reunited their lips with a grunt as he thrusted into Tim firmly, causing the midlaner to gasp for air.

“This chair is just too damn squeaky...” Martin panted with a grin as he kicked off his sweatpants, which had previously still been hanging around his ankles, and stood up.

Tim barely had time to react – he was totally caught off guard, suddenly dangling in the air, his arms now clutched around Martin’s neck for support. The ADC carried him around easily, not even letting his cock slip out. With his breathing still completely out of control, Tim had no choice but to pant against Martin’s neck as he was pressed up against the doorframe of the gaming room. The ADC slowly pushed his dick in and out of Tim as he playfully bit into the midlaner’s neck. Even though Tim felt his whole body tingle in amazement, the hard wood pressed against his back made it hard for him to enjoy the hard wood _inside_ of him.

“Uhm, could we – ah –“ he moaned, “could we take this somewhere more comfortable, maybe?”

“Sure thing,” Martin whispered with a sly grin as he backed away from the doorframe, slowly carrying Tim to the big, grey couch parked in the room next door.

As he was lowered into the soft cushions of the sofa, Tim started to realize how much his body was trembling under Martin’s touch. At this point, he couldn’t tell for sure how long they had been at it. All he knew was that he didn’t want it to _stop_. Martin was now towering above the midlaner, who was lying on his back, and proceeded to lift Tim’s legs into the air to allow him better access to his ass. He pushed his full length back inside with a grunt, causing Tim to start moaning again.

The midlaner pulled the ADC down with force, making their lips meet again. As Martin let his body weight hold up Tim’s legs, he let his hand glide down to the midlaner’s cock. Martin kept increasing the speed of the motion while moving his hand up and down Tim’s dick, squeezing it with just the right amount of pressure. Tim felt the rush of the sensation overtaking his mind, suddenly making him whimper out louder and louder. It might have been these sweet sounds echoing through the room that suddenly caused Martin’s facial expression to tense up, now thrusting even harder.

“Fuck, fuck, I’m gonna…” The ADC whispered through his gritted teeth.

With a loud moan, Martin clutched onto Tim’s ass with one hand as he buried his cock deeper inside of him. He kept moving his other hand up and down Tim’s dick, now pumping hot cum on the midlaner’s stomach and chest. After a final moan, the adrenaline rush finally found its _end_. Tim’s load slowly started to drip down his body as the both of them stared at each other’s rosy faces, still breathing heavily. Without saying a word, Martin moved his hand up to cup Tim’s face, trailing the midlaner’s lips with his thumb. Now, almost certainly, Tim really didn’t want this moment to end. But, just like all the others, it had to, eventually.

“So…” Martin whispered as he slowly pulled away from the midlaner to pull off the condom, “that was amazing.”

“I guess…” Tim mumbled as he slowly sat himself up.

“I really missed you, you know?” Martin smiled down at his hands, and, somehow, he almost looked sad for a moment.

“Uhm, yeah,” Tim murmured as a reply – that was the best he could do right now.

“I get it if you don’t want to talk about this right now,” Martin continued as he got off the couch, “but, uhm, maybe we could meet up outside of the office sometimes?”

Tim took a moment to consider the offer as he got up, steadying himself with one hand on the side of the couch. His mind was still blurry – he didn’t feel like he could make a reasonable decision right now. Then again, his heart was beating so fast in his chest that it was incredibly hard to ignore.

“Yeah, maybe.” The midlaner shrugged as he made his way to the bathroom to get himself cleaned up.

“Really? That’s – uhm, that’s great.” Martin replied swiftly, smiling widely as he walked back to the gaming room to get dressed.

It was nothing one could call a promise, really – but, in a way, Tim _had_ just agreed to go out with Martin. _But that doesn’t mean I forgave him_ , the midlaner thought to himself as he wiped the cum off of his bare chest. If anything, it just meant that he was willing to at least give it a shot. But – and that he was sure of – he would make sure to be more careful this time around.

Oh, if only both of the guys had been more _careful_ during the sexy office adventure. Maybe then, they would have noticed that the condom wrapper, which Martin had lazily dropped onto the floor beneath his desk, had stuck to the ADC’s foot. Maybe then, they would have realized the exact same condom wrapper was now lying on the carpet near the grey couch in the viewing area of the office, after they had carried it there thoughtlessly. Yes – maybe they would have caught it in time then, making it disappear like the rest of the evidence. But, in the end, they didn’t. Now, there was no way to know what kind of trouble this tiny little piece of plastic could cause them in the future – was there?


	23. Part 6: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks! Here we go again... 
> 
> Since I'm writing at a rapid speed right now, I figured I might as well "up" my uploading schedule a little - every 2 days instead of every 3 ;) It's a welcome distraction to what's happening in this world, I hope. 
> 
> Anyway, this POV is especially close to my heart and I hope to enjoy it!
> 
> (I also added the "Light BDSM" tag because of it, so you might want to skip the first scene if you don't feel up for it ;))

The pace at which the days ever since his last encounter with Martin had gone by felt painfully slow to Rasmus. Even though G2 had celebrated another 2-0 week the night before, he didn’t really feel like there was anything to feel great about. After all, he spent all of his time waiting for a sign of forgiveness from Martin. So far, all of his texts had, however, been ignored rigorously.

At first, he had only asked the other ADC if they could meet up again to talk about how things had gone down in G2’s apartment on that fateful morning. When there was no response, Rasmus had tried to explain the unconventional arrangement he and Miky had again, promising that it didn’t mean anything to him. When there was, yet again, no response, he had simply apologized over and over again. After Miky had pointed out how _desperate_ Rasmus seemed because of that, he had decided to send a final text, saying that Martin was acting like a child and that he should just get over it and respond. A couple of days had passed since then, and still, no hint from Fnatic’s ADC.

Judging from his appearance on the LEC stage, Rasmus figured that Martin must have been weirdly _okay_ with how things, which had never really begun in the first place, had ended again between them. Sure, he looked as if he hadn’t shaved or had a haircut in a while – but that might have also just been another _style_ that he was trying out. All in all, his performance on stage was clean. And, when they walked past each other in the hallway, the other ADC didn’t even bother to _look_ at Rasmus. It felt like a punch in the guts for the Dane, who definitely wasn’t _planning_ on getting this _invested_ into the Swede again. But, in the end, _here we are_. If there was any hope for a reunion, then only time would tell. Too bad that Rasmus was never taught to be patient about anything – maybe that was the reason why he felt as if time simply wasn’t _passing_ at all. 

Waking up on the Sunday morning after his team’s latest win in the LEC did, therefore, feel like waking up always felt to Rasmus lately: _ah shit, here we go again_. Sleep was an exceptionally nice escape from sitting around and metaphorically staring at the clock all day long. Weirdly enough, Rasmus even felt as if his _dreams_ helped him to deal with his situation in a way that he couldn’t put into words. Waking up to face reality again was, hence, nothing to look forward to. There was, however, one thing about this particular morning that made it stand out. It was not his alarm clock or a dash of sunlight that ended Rasmus’ slumber – it was the impact of his support jumping on top of him.

Now, saying that Miky’s urges would occur at the most _random_ times wouldn’t do the unpredictability of the support player justice. Sometimes, he would pull Rasmus into the bathroom during the 10 minute breaks in between scrims. Sometimes, he would ask Rasmus to follow him to his room when the team was having dinner together. Hell, he had even woken Rasmus up in the middle of the night sometimes. There simply was no limit to how insatiable Miky was – and, even though Rasmus was, of course, a guy with _needs_ too – sometimes the ADC just didn’t feel up for the task.

This particular Sunday morning felt like one of those days. When Rasmus opened his eyes to find Miky straddling him with an eager expression, he silently hoped for this to be part of a bizarre dream. He hoped that it was not _actually_ his support waking him up at – he checked his alarm clock on the bedside table – 12 am. _Well, I guess it’s not that early anymore_ , he thought as he squinted at Miky.

He sighed. Normally, this was the point where he would accept his fate, as he usually ended up enjoying their “playtime”, even after initial hesitation. But, today, he just really didn’t feel like it. Maybe that also had something to do with the fact that, even though he had tried his hardest, he still couldn’t fully forgive Miky for basically driving Martin out of G2’s apartment the week before.

“What do you want, Miky…” Rasmus mumbled with a serious expression on his face, his arms resting beside his body.

“Hmm? Well, what could I possibly want…?” The support remarked playfully as he let one of his fingers travel down the ADC’s naked chest.

“I’m not in the mood. Would you please leave?” Rasmus said with a frown, still deliberately not touching the support.

“Did you just say _please?_ Come on, you know better than that…” Miky answered, now looking as if he was pouting on top of the ADC.

“My god,” Rasmus grunted as he shoved the Slovenian off his lap, “would you just leave me alone for _once?_ ”

“That’s more like it!” Miky smirked as he pulled off his shirt, revealing his defined torso.

Rasmus swallowed. Unfortunately, the morning wood in his pants twitched at the sight of his now almost naked support player – especially when he noticed Miky licking his lips.

“Just – just go, Miky.” He said again, but the hesitation in his voice was hard to overhear.

“Oh, I know that’s not what you want, Rasmus,” Miky chuckled as he bent down to inspect the ADC’s boner from up close since he wasn’t wearing his glasses, “it definitely doesn’t involve me leaving…”

“You little –“ Rasmus hissed as Miky reached out to pull down his boxers.

And, suddenly, he was forcefully clutching the support’s jaw with one hand and his wrist with the other. The tight grasp of the ADC caused Miky to inhale sharply. The support’s eyes, which were staring right into Rasmus’ now, were widened in shock – or was it _arousal_? As Rasmus realized that he was, in fact, imitating how Perkz had handled the bratty Miky at the kitchen table the week before, he figured that he might as well try to be just as confident as the midlaner. Maybe then, he could finally feel as if he was the one in control.

“You don’t just get to do what you please.” The ADC remarked calmly, making sure not to loosen his grip just yet. He still couldn’t help but let a grin form on his face.

“I didn’t think I –“ Miky started, but Rasmus cut him off right away by clenching the support’s jaw even tighter.

“I didn’t say you could speak.”

As the ADC propped himself up to press the support down into the mattress, Miky let out a soft moan – or was it more of a whimper? Rasmus suddenly felt an unusual rush overcome him – even though he had, of course, had his fair share of “ _domination training”,_ he had never really tried to do it without the guidance of his sub. Maybe it was also his _actual_ anger and annoyance that motivated him to “punish” Miky as much as he felt like it at the moment. The support was sprawled out on his fours at this point, with his face still secured by Rasmus’ grip. It was only inches away from his bulge – something that the ADC felt like changing.

“Hands on your back.” Rasmus ordered as he pulled down his underwear with his available hand. The support followed his orders obediently. The sight made the ADC’s eyebrows wiggle playfully – something that Miky, _hopefully_ , didn’t notice.

“What a good slut,” Rasmus remarked with a nod, enjoying the sight of his support biting his lips.

For some reason, name-calling was one of the things that really worked for Miky. The ADC still had a hard time with holding back a chuckle – it was almost as if they were filming a dirty episode of _Caps the Actor_ , since he was really putting on a good show right now. The support seemingly didn’t mind Rasmus’ amusement – his eyes were beaming at the ADC with high hopes.

“Now open your mouth,” the ADC said as he grabbed his hard cock to guide it towards the support’s face.

Miky immediately opened his mouth, even sticking out his tongue eagerly, extending it towards Rasmus’ manhood. Without a warning, Rasmus proceeded push his cock down the support’s throat until it was fully swallowed up, causing Miky to gag and tear up a little. The ADC grabbed the support by the hair with his free hand and started to thrust his dick in and out of his mouth with force. The gag noises echoing through the room grew louder, and Miky’s eyes were suddenly pressed close. It only made Rasmus want to move even faster.

“I didn’t allow you to close your eyes, did I? Look at me, you _naughty boy_.” Rasmus ordered again, this time chuckling and panting at the same time.

As silly as the name-calling felt to Rasmus, the ADC was feeling _way too good_ right now. With one-second-delay – possibly because he tried to ignore Rasmus’ chuckle - Miky opened his eyes and looked up to meet the ADC’s gaze. There was a single tear rolling down the support’s face, which was proof enough for Rasmus that he was doing a fine job. He kept fucking Miky’s face relentlessly, rapidly increasing his speed as he felt his orgasm coming up.

“You better take it all,” Rasmus groaned, the grin still on his lips, as he pressed his length in even deeper.

He couldn’t quite figure out whether it was the _actual_ sensation of Miky deep throating his cock, or the intense _arousal_ in the support’s stare, that finally pushed him over the edge – whatever it was, the rush of coming inside of the Slovenian’s mouth had never quite felt this amazing. As he shot his cum down Miky’s throat, he couldn’t help but let out the moans he had previously tried to conceal. The support swallowed effortlessly, not wasting a single drop of the ADC’s hot semen. He was still trying to catch his breath when he finally shoved the support to the side to let himself sink down against the headboard of his bed.

“Yes, fuck, YES!” Miky exclaimed, tears still streaming down his rosy cheeks, “god, _oh please_ , spit in my mouth now and –“

“Give it a rest, Miky,” Rasmus grunted as he pulled the blanket up to cover the both of them, “this is all you get right now.”

“Oh, come on, just a little bit more, _daddy_ …” Miky whispered as he leaned against Rasmus.

“Oh man,” Rasmus wheezed, not trying to hide his laughter anymore, “I’m sorry, but it’s still _impossible_ for me to be serious about all this…”

“Whatever, man, I still enjoyed it – maybe we could just…” The support grinned as he attempted to take off his boxer-shorts.

“No means NO, Mihael!” Rasmus exclaimed as he playfully snipped his finger against the Slovenian’s forehead.

“But, Rasmus, I just want to –“ Miky said with a pout, rubbing his forehead – but he was interrupted yet again, this time by a loud knock on the door.

“Ehm, _don’t come in_!” Rasmus exclaimed nervously, afraid of what might await him on the other side of the door. Despite his plead, the door swung open a second later, nonetheless.

“What did you say? Didn’t hear you,” Luka smirked as he casually strolled into the room, unfazed by the sight of Rasmus and Mihael in bed together.

“That’s NOT HOW KNOCKING WORKS!” Rasmus grunted as he pulled his blanket up to his chin, trying to cover himself.

“Oh relax, would you, I’m not interested in whatever you got going on _under there_ ,” Perkz responded while pointing up and down Rasmus’ body with his index finger, “I just needed someone to talk to.”

“Hop right in,” Miky grinned as he shuffled over to make Luka some space in the bed.

“No, no you can’t just – god, Luka!“ Rasmus started, but he quickly realized that he had no say in this, even though they were in _his room_.

“Yeah, yeah, some people might call me a god,” Luka sighed as he sat down beside Miky, “and they have every reason to do so. But, last night, I didn’t live up to my standards.”

“You don’t say…” Mihael smirked, playfully rolling his eyes at the midlaner.

“Yes – you won’t believe what happened,” Luka began as he looked at the support, “I was talking to Sam when – oh, hey, would you look at that, you got your face _fucked_ this morning, huh?”

While his support and his midlaner were laughing beside him, Rasmus wanted nothing more than to just disappear. Even though he usually enjoyed listening to Perkz’ stories, the setting didn’t exactly allow him to relax.

“Let’s just get to the story, Luka…” Rasmus mumbled as he slowly pulled the blanket over his head.

“What, I can’t even get any details on how you guys are doing it?” Perkz sighed as he crossed his arms in disappointment, “whatever has become out of this team…”

“Oh, don’t be so damn dramatic,” Mihael chuckled, pushing against the midlaner’s shoulder with his own.

Perkz nodded and replied, “Fine, fine – if you really want to know this badly, I’ll tell you about what happened.”

 _Don’t pretend like you didn’t barge in here to tell us_ , Rasmus thought as he rolled his eyes.

“You might remember this bet that I made with Jankos last week, after our first game? Well, yesterday, after our little 4-0 celebration, he decided that he wanted to claim his price.”

“And what was that?” Miky asked with curiosity in his eyes.

“Why, I’m glad you asked,” Luka answered with a grin, “since I knew that he had the hots for Sam, I offered him to spend a night with her. She was into the idea too – of course, I didn’t tell him that I kind of wanted in on the fun as well.”

“Oh man, I know what that’s like,” Mihael sighed as he glanced over at Rasmus, who couldn’t believe his ears. He chose to ignore this sly throwback to the week before, as he didn’t exactly want to relive the situation right now.

“Are you serious, man? _Jankos_?” Rasmus asked the midlaner in disbelief.

“I agree, he ain’t too easy on the eyes – I guess the idea of a threesome just sounded exciting to me…” Luka mumbled, crossing his arms again.

“I can’t believe Jankos would go through with that,” Miky said as he scratched his head, “I once peaked at him through the shower curtain and he, at first, almost cried, and then almost murdered me – _that’s_ how little he’s into dudes.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t go through with it,” Luka sighed, “he freaked out when I tried to get into bed with them – in the end, we “compromised” and I was able to watch but, honestly, that was not as fun as I hoped it would be.”

“So, you just jerked off to the sight of Jankos screwing your girlfriend?” Mihael remarked as if it was the most normal thing anyone could do in that situation.

“Yeah, well, _of course_ , but hearing you say it out loud makes it even more cringy…” The midlaner mumbled as he let his head fall on to the support’s shoulder.

“Wow, I almost feel bad for you,” Rasmus murmured, “but you do realize how _crazy_ that whole plan was to begin with, right?”

“I guess… One can still dream, right?” Perkz remarked as he dramatically raised his clenched fist.

“You know, if you get bored again, you could always join me and Rasmus,” Mihael grinned as he put his arms around both, the midlaner and the ADC to his sides.

“Mikyyyyy…!” Rasmus practically hissed, “you can’t just invite other people into our bed all the time, I swear to god!”

“Fine, fine…” the support mumbled, seemingly pouting again.

“Oh, don’t worry Rasmus, I’m not trying to get back into this!” Perkz said with a wide grin as he slapped Miky’s thigh, “plus, I’ve got my own plans to take my mind off of this.”

“Now you’re just being mean! Who else are you going to invite to a threesome, then?” Mihael groaned as he clenched his fists, now fully living up to his bratty standards.

“That’s not what I meant, stupid!” Perkz laughed as he ruffled Mihael’s hair, “I’m meeting up with Mithy! Catching up with him is the best…I guess I just always had a thing for feisty supports!”

“Weirdo…” Mihael chuckled, “but fine, you do you...!”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to bring some NA gossip back for you to enjoy, too! Pretty sure he’s still dating Zven, those two were always so annoyingly inseparable, if you know what I mean…”

With a wink, the midlaner jumped out of the bed and made his way towards the door of Rasmus’ room. _Mithy and Zven were dating all this time?_ Rasmus thought, and he wondered how he could have been so blind to that for all these years. Somehow, he had never really dared to look beyond his own romantic situation with a teammate – but lately, similar stories just kept coming up. It almost seemed as if there was a lot more guy-on-guy action in the professional League of Legends scene than what he had anticipated. Then again, he had accepted his sexuality by now – so why shouldn’t the others?

“Thanks for listening guys, and good luck for round 2!” Luka exclaimed as he waved goodbye, finally exiting the ADC’s room.

“BYE NERD!” Miky shouted after the midlaner, and Rasmus barely managed to grunt a goodbye before the door fell shut again.

“Wow, that was really something…” Rasmus mumbled as he scratched his head.

“You think? Sounds like typical Luka stuff to me,” Miky yawned beside the ADC, “he should have just asked me instead, honestly.”

“Why, are you even into girls?” Rasmus asked bluntly.

“What a dumb question!” The support laughed out loud as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, “guys, girls, or whatever in between – I really couldn’t care less, as long as they’re hot! And Sam is definitely not too shabby to look at.”

“Well…” Rasmus chuckled as he patted his support on the back, “not everyone is quite as open to anything, Miky!”

“Trust me, I’ve had to come to that realization many times before,” Mihael mumbled as he put his shirt back on.

“Hey, you know you don’t have to leave, right?” Rasmus asked with a nervous smile. He was, despite the weird nature of this morning, kind of hoping that the support would keep him company for a while longer.

“Oh Rasmus, you know the drill by now, right?” Miky grinned at him, “I’m not gonna hold your hand after we’re done – I’m not your boyfriend.”

“Like I’d want you to be!” Rasmus chuckled, “I just wanted to shit talk about Luka for a bit more…”

“Right, right! How about we play some DuoQ instead?” The support answered as he was practically out of the door already.

“Fiiiiine!” Rasmus shouted after him as he got out of bed, “but I have plans in the evening!”

He did, indeed, have plans that day. But a couple of DuoQ games with Miky couldn’t hurt – especially because they had a big game coming up next week. Playing against Fnatic always felt particularly thrilling to the ADC. But, of course, it was also a lot more challenging than their other games. And now, that it would be the only chance for him to actually be in a room – well, on stage, at least – with Martin, it felt even more important.

\---

After a good handful of rather successful games, Rasmus closed his League client with a satisfied sigh. He pushed himself back in his gaming chair and got up, shaking his right leg a little to regain feeling in his foot.

“Sitting in this chair for hours and hours sometimes makes me feel like an old man,” he chuckled as he stretched out his neck.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” The support responded as he let his neck make horrific cracking noises just by moving it slightly.

“Woah, this is not a competition, Miky!” The ADC exclaimed with a shocked, yet fascinated look on his face.

“If it was, I’d be winning,” Miky shrugged as he cued up for another game, “where are you going, anyway? You got a date?”

“If you call bowling with Bwipo a date…” Rasmus grinned as he reached out to turn off his PC.

“Bowling? Not the kind of _playing-with-big-balls_ I imagined you to be doing today, but okay.” Miky pouted, wiggling around in his chair a bit.

“You’re the worst…” Rasmus grinned as he gave his support’s shoulder a squeeze, “well, see ya later!”

After a short ride with the subway, Rasmus arrived at the designated bowling alley. Even though he wouldn’t exactly call himself the sporty type, he enjoyed trying out new activities outside of the office every once in a while – especially when his former teammate and good friend, Bwipo, was there for the ride. Despite the rivalry between their teams, the ADC and the toplaner had managed to stay in close contact and, yes, even meet up quite regularly throughout the last year. Out of all of his former teammates, Bwipo was certainly the easiest to be around. He had never even tried to give Rasmus shit about him leaving Fnatic – something that could _not_ be said about the rest of the squad. Especially in his current state, hanging out with Bwipo did, therefore, sound like a blast to the ADC.

It was already getting dark outside when Rasmus finally made his way through the rows of the establishment, keeping his eyes out for the big head of brown curls of Fnatic’s toplaner. He was running a bit late – mostly because he had miscalculated just how much time it would take to pick out a decent _looking_ and _smelling_ outfit. He ended up being decked out in a black pair of jeans and a red lumberjack shirt, feeling quite confident. In a way, it was nice not to be instantly recognized as a gamer sometimes. But, in the end, he also missed the train he initially wanted to take because of these stylistic measures. As Rasmus couldn’t spot Bwipo in the crowd just yet, he decided to pick up some shoes before continuing his search. The sight of the glorious red and black bowling shoes conjured a smile on the ADC’s face – they matched his outfit _perfectly_.

With his confidence all maxed out, he went back to looking for his “date”. Now that he was thinking about it, he remembered that Bwipo mentioned bringing someone else who had never bowled before – at the time, it seemed to be a fun idea for Rasmus, as it decreased his chances of embarrassing himself on his own. But, at the moment, he had kind of hoped to talk to Bwipo about the situation he was currently in. The toplaner was, as far as Rasmus was concerned, the only person who knew about his past with Martin. It had come up some time after he had left at the team – at first, it had been a shock, but, soon after, a relief. _Well, maybe it’s someone just as chill_ , Rasmus thought as he finally spotted Bwipo waving him over from a few rows away.

“Hey man, so glad you could make it!” Gabriël exclaimed with a beaming smile as he pulled Rasmus in for a hug.

“Hi, yes, thanks for inviting me,” Rasmus grinned, giving the toplaner a wholehearted squeeze, “now, are you ready to go down?”

“You know something about bowling that we don’t, Caps?” Someone behind Bwipo asked.

Rasmus turned his head after releasing the toplaner from the embrace, trying to find the source of the mysterious voice – only to find that he did, indeed, know the person Bwipo had invited to join them.

“Oh, Selfmade, I see,” he chuckled as he extended his hand towards Fnatic’s jungler, “so, you’re a bowling noob too?”

“I guess you could say so,” the jungler replied, shaking Rasmus’ hand loosely.

“Now, isn’t this great guys?” Bwipo laughed as he walked towards the rack with the bowling balls, “I get to kick both of your asses at the same time!”

“Is that why you named yourself _Asskicker_2v1_ , Gabriël?” Rasmus asked with a sassy grin as he eyed the scoreboard, hands on his hips.

“Obviously – and who could this infamous _G2 Inter_ on the board be, Rasmus?” The toplaner replied swiftly, still looking for a suitable bowling ball to use.

“He thought of those after I’ve already entered my name so…” Selfmade scratched his head, cluelessly staring at Bwipo in his thoughtful selection process, “so, I’m just _Oskar_. It’s fine by me if you just, uhm, call me Oskar.”

“Oskar, sure,” Rasmus smiled, and he almost wanted to grab the jungler’s hand again for a second introduction, “you can call me _Inter_ then. Haha, I mean Rasmus, of course.”

Even though the ADC thought his joke was _hilarious_ , a small pause filled with nervous chuckles followed. When Bwipo finally turned to them, a big bowling ball, marbled in blue and green, in hand, both of the newly acquainted guys decided to focus on the game for now.

“Okay, now that you two clowns got to know each other, it’s time to grab yourself a ball.” The toplaner grinned as if he just made a great joke himself – this evening certainly promised to be interesting.

\--

“Aaaaand that’s another strike for me! I’m so OP I swear haha” Gabriël exclaimed as he threw his fists triumphantly into the air.

“Gosh, that was like, the fourth one this game?” Rasmus remarked with a nervous smile.

“And the end of the game, on top of that,” Oskar mumbled as he shook his head in disbelief, “you really can’t let someone’s body shape fool you…”

“What was that?” Bwipo asked quite loudly as he turned around to face his beat down opponents, “I can’t hear you over the sound of this amazing _victory!_ CHEESY FRIES FOR ME, POG!”

Oskar sighed as he closed the electronic scoreboard, accepting his defeat, before he replied, “Yeah yeah, I’ll get you those fries. A bet is a bet… Give me a second.”

As Gabriël and Rasmus watched the jungler head towards the bar to order some food for them, the light-hearted atmosphere surrounding them made the ADC feel weirdly calm and comfortable, even though he had just lost big-time. Both of the guys decided to sit down on the high chairs around the table next to their alley to cool off a bit.

“So, what do you think about Oskar?” Bwipo asked Caps with a genuine smile as he nibbled on his coke.

Rasmus took a moment to consider the question, carefully sucking on the straw in his apple spritzer. While he did enjoy playing with the jungler just now, he wasn’t exactly sure how he was feeling about him just yet.

“He seems to be a good guy, I guess? Not gonna doubt your judgement here.” The ADC replied with a shrug, “but, uhm, I was hoping to talk to you about something… _private_.”

“Hmm?” The toplaner raised his eyebrows in surprise, “something spicy, eh? Actually, you don’t have to worry about Oskar then.”

“I can’t exactly talk about how I… how me and Martin…” Rasmus stuttered as he nervously stirred the juice in front of him with his straw, “you know, we ended up hooking up again last weekend and –“

“A hook-up? Now that sounds like an interesting conversation,” Oskar laughed as he put down three servings of extra-cheesy fries on the table.

“No, no it’s really not,” Rasmus mumbled into his glass, the heat now rising to his cheeks.

“As I said, it’s fine, Rasmus,” Gabriël exclaimed as he patted the ADC on the back, “Oskar here is in a similar situation with Neme –“

“WOAH woah woah, Bwipo, could you not?” Oskar sputtered nervously as he covered the toplaner’s mouth with his hand, preventing him from finishing his sentence.

And, just like that, it dawned on Rasmus.

“Wait, you’re hooking up with Nemesis?” He asked bluntly, ignoring how red Oskar’s face already looked.

“I – uhm, it’s not like that,” Oskar stuttered as he scratched his head again.

“No, I don’t think you understand,” Rasmus beamed as he felt one of the greatest Dad jokes of all times coming up, “I am GAY2!”

While Bwipo was wheezing on one side of the table, Oskar was completely gobsmacked on the other. It took a moment for both of them to calm themselves before there was a reply.

“Honestly Rasmus, how long have you been waiting to say that?” Bwipo was still chuckling but resumed stuffing his face with fries now.

“Let’s just say it has crossed my mind a couple of times…”

“Wait, so you’re really gay?” Oskar asked with a serious tone, letting his fry drop back onto the plate.

“Yeah, I mean, no need to shout it out on broadcast or anything, but I’m not ashamed to admit it.” The ADC shrugged, reaching out for another fry.

“I didn’t want this to feel like a set-up, guys, but you have to admit that this is pretty wild, right?” Gabriël grinned as he licked his cheese-covered finger.

“I still don’t think talking about this will help me, Gabriël,” Oskar mumbled, crossing his arms, “I feel like I’ve told my story a thousand times by now. He’s still in love with Martin, and there’s nothing I can do about that.”

 _Martin? Did he say Martin?_ Rasmus wondered as he squinted his eyes at the jungler, unsure of whether he might have misheard. He couldn’t have possible referred to _his Martin_ , now could he? He took another sip from his juice, not quite certain if he should dare to ask Oskar about it.

“What? Okay, wait,” Bwipo murmured as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, “you mean the ‘other guy’ you told me about is actually Rekkles? Holy POGGERS, what’s wrong with our team man…”

 _Nemesis and… Martin?_ The ADC had a hard time with processing the news. Feeling like the Swede was slipping through his hands again was already bad enough – but imaging him with another guy? And another _midlaner_ , on top of that? For a moment, Rasmus felt as if he had never truly meant anything to the other ADC to begin with – as if he was just the _convenient choice_ back then and replaced immediately as soon as he had left. But, in the end, he knew that that wasn’t true. He let out a long sigh, trying to regain his composure. Across the table, Oskar did the same.

“I thought I mentioned it,” Oskar replied with a half-smile, “but does it matter? I’m out of my _league_ here, man.”

“Oh, come on, don’t say that!” Bwipo exclaimed, nudging the jungler in the side, “you’re a fine catch if you ask me, isn’t that right, Rasmus?”

“Ehm, yes, I agree!” Rasmus laughed nervously, “and you definitely shouldn’t give up on Nemesis, I mean, aren’t you guys super close already?”

“You’d think that would be an advantage,” Oskar sighed, “but I almost feel like he _wants_ to think of me as a friend only, you know?”

 _Well, he shouldn’t_ , Rasmus thought as he took another sip from his drink. Even though he had literally learned about having a rival in love just a second ago, he was already _over it_. If the midlaner could just realize that Selfmade was the better match for him – which Rasmus was convinced off already as well – then Martin at least wouldn’t have to make a choice between the two of them. _This is so much like Vampire Diaries_ , he thought with another long sigh. He never wanted to be the Elena in a scenario more badly.

“I still think you have to ask about him about last weekend, there’s just NO WAY he doesn’t remember and – oh, one second,” Bwipo said as he reached for his buzzing phone, “…it’s Zdravets, shit. He wants to talk to me.”

“You guys have always been like, the cutest couple,” Rasmus jokingly remarked, remembering the way in which the toplaner and the support would always hang around one another back in the day.

But, to the ADC’s surprise, Bwipo didn’t react in his usual humorous manner – instead, him and Oskar were exchanging nervous looks.

“Ehm well, I better get going,” Bwipo mumbled as he got up, “it was bound to happen at some point. See you around, guys!”

“Oh, you’re serious? Okay, uhm, talk to you soon?” Rasmus was caught off guard by the sudden goodbye of the toplaner.

After making sure that the jungler would cover the bill, Bwipo stormed out off the bowling alley as fast as his stamina allowed him. Next to the still baffled Rasmus, Oskar started to shake his head softly.

“He’s got his own stuff going on, you know.”

“Huh,” the ADC replied, “I guess I never really thought about that – he’s always so cheerful, right?”

“Aren’t you the same?” Oskar asked as he picked up the last fry from the tray, “I never would have guessed that your relationship status on Facebook would be that _‘it’s complicated’_ ”

 _Yikes_ , Rasmus thought as he felt a sharp pain in his guts, _that hit the nail on the head_.

“I guess you’re right,” he sighed into his glass, “if only we could do something about that, hm?”

“Honestly, I think I’ve misjudged you in the past, Rasmus – I never thought you could be someone I could trust, you know?” Oskar said with a soft smile on his lips.

“What, just because I’m the one they call _G2 Inter_?” Rasmus chuckled, and, this time, the jungler did the same.

“Yeah, ehm, that’s _exactly_ why,” he grinned, “anyway, would you like to stay a bit longer? We could, like, play an honest bowling game, noobs only?”

“Right, that sounds glorious!” Rasmus exclaimed as he jumped up, “and, while we’re at it, we could talk some more about our _boy-troubles_ , right? Since we're both…”

“No, Rasmus, don’t say it –“ Oskar wheezed beside him, already expecting the worst.

“…GAY-MERS!”

Both of the guys couldn’t contain their laughter anymore, and they were almost rolling on the floor next to the rack filled with bowling balls by the time they finally managed to calm down again. And, as they typed in the names _Noob1_ and _Noob2_ on the scoreboard for their next game, both of them were glad about accepting Bwipo’s silly invitation to go bowling together. The conversations that followed were filled with fun, but also drama and heartbreak – but that couldn’t _possibly_ lead to any unforeseeable complications in the lifes of the Fnatic and the G2 squads, now could it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that's a wrap on Rasmus' POV! I really can't wait to hear your thoughts on the new dynamics that might arise from this chapter, as well as you enjoyed the different set-ups between the characters! 
> 
> I hope that you are also excited when I tell you that there is going to be another guest POV up next before the sixth episode of the DreamServer airs - I wonder who it could belong to... ;) 
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	24. Part 6: Zdravets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks, I have the pleasure of welcoming you to this part's very special guest POV! 
> 
> I was excited to hear that some of you have been waiting on more information regarding this specific character (and his OTP), so I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! 
> 
> Unfortunately, I've come down with a cold (not Corona, I swear), but I should still be able to keep up with my uploading schedule. After all, reading through your comments never fails to make my day! And, in these dark times, that's what we all need, right?
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Saying that these last couple of weeks had been hard for Zdravets would have been a serious understatement. The support couldn’t recall a more troubled time during any phase of his professional League of Legends career – _that’s_ how bad it was. It was not like he was unhappy with his current team or their position – if you counted out how many times the Bulgarian was called an “inter” on social media on a regular basis – things were going great for Fnatic overall. There was, however, one particular teammate that currently made his life a living hell: non other than Fnatic’s quirky toplaner, Bwipo.

During all the years in which he had been playing League of Legends professionally, Zdravets couldn’t think of a team member he _hadn’t_ gotten along with. He was a proper “real-life support”, trying to help out his mates whenever he could. Some even said he behaved “motherly” around them, but he tried to take that as a compliment, meaning that he was simply a caring person. Now, with Bwipo, things had always been a little different.

It was not like he didn’t _like_ the toplaner – no, they had hit it off from the get-go, becoming best friends almost instantly. If anything, he liked the Belgian _too much_. After playing on the same team for a couple of months, it slowly started to dawn on him – _why_ things were somehow different with Gabriël, that is. Even though it was the last thing he wanted for himself, he realized that he was starting to fall in love with the toplaner. It was not something that he could just accept, by any means – no, being with a guy just wasn’t something you could _do_ in Bulgaria. It was not how he had been raised. And, additionally, he had been with his girlfriend, who he adored, for years back then – so why engage with these confusing and conflicting feelings?

But, in the end, ignoring them didn’t make them go away. Over the course of the last two years, his feelings had only grown stronger and stronger – to the point where he couldn’t deny them anymore. Even though he enjoyed hanging out with Bwipo so endlessly much, somehow, it tore the support apart every time. When the Spring Split 2020 rolled around the corner, Zdravets finally decided that he wanted to change things – for real this time. It started with an incredibly painful step. Before he left his home in Bulgaria to go back to Berlin in December, he broke up with his girlfriend of over 5 years. Even though he still loved her dearly, he felt as if he was mostly holding onto her as a friend at this point, which wasn’t fair to her, after all. That didn’t make the break-up any less difficult for the support.

But, as he got back to his daily routine with the Fnatic squad, Zdravets had to come to the conclusion that the first step he had taken was, in fact, not the hardest one. Even though he was technically prepared to finally move forward, he somehow couldn’t even _talk_ to Bwipo properly. And, of course, there was still _his_ girlfriend. In a way, it felt as if the whole world was against them – the obstacles just kept piling up. Zdravets held onto them, used them as excuses to procrastinate; _I’ll just tell him tomorrow, tomorrow is another day…_

But trying to suppress his feelings did, at some point, start to take a toll on the support’s mental stability. The normally so calm and collected Bulgarian slowly transformed into a ticking time bomb. It only took the tiniest little lie from the toplaner to finally cause Zdravets to explode. Remembering their fight, back at the bar after their first LEC game of the Split, still made the support feel ashamed over a week after it had happened. In the moment, everything had just felt like _too damn much_. The confrontation had also led to him jumping three steps backwards in his “winning- Gabriël’s-heart”-plan. In the end, it had kind of given him the impression that Bwipo just didn’t feel the same way about him.

Now, _not talking_ to the toplaner was, still, torture for the support. Zdravets couldn’t even decide whether he was mad at Bwipo or simply disappointed by how everything had turned out. Maybe he was even angrier with himself for being a coward – for running away from the fight again, instead of finally being _honest_ about his feelings. He still wasn’t sure whether he could go through with it now, even though things arguably couldn’t get any worse between them. The only thing he knew for sure is that they couldn’t just ignore each other until the end of the Split; no, that would _kill_ him for sure.

On the Sunday after the second week of the LEC Spring Split 2020, Zdravets felt like putting in some more SoloQ games to get his focus back on track. After all, he couldn’t allow his personal drama to get in the way of his career, especially with their big match against G2 coming up. Seeing Oskar and Tim stream together when he walked into the office warmed the support’s heart – it was just so _nice_ to see how great they got along.

Sure, he was also a bit worried about their personal drama, as he knew something was going on between Martin and Tim and, as it was hard to miss, that Oskar would like to _court_ the midlaner as well. But, as he had had a great talk with Tim the week before, he had decided to trust the Slovenian’s judgement and decision-making for the time being – in and outside of the Rift. Besides, he had too much going on himself anyway to meddle in their business right now.

As SoloQ wasn’t exactly going well, it was a welcome distraction when the team’s coach and former support, Mithy, invited Zdravets and Martin out for coffee. Lately, the support hadn’t felt as _in sync_ with his ADC – some time together, away from their screens, did, therefore, not sound too bad.

When they finally sat down in one of their favourite Cafés near the office, Hylissang noticed Martin looking quite relieved with his cup of coffee in hands next to him. Of course, he had noticed that the ADC probably hadn’t slept too well lately – his dark circles were hard to miss. The support’s needs when it came to sleep hadn’t been met recently, either.

At nights, he just kept lying in his bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Sometimes he would try to figure out whether there were sounds coming from the room next to his – of course, it _had_ to be Bwipo’s room, out of all people... He was, therefore, annoyingly tired on most days. _A little caffeine can go a long way_ _though,_ Zdravets thought as he slurped the foam off of his Latte Macchiato. Alfonso casually stirred his Cappuccino on the other side of the table – and, for a second, the support tried to analyse what their choice of beverage said about them as people. As he was mentally writing the respective article for one of the many gossip magazines he secretly enjoyed, there was a moment of peaceful silence. Finally, the team’s coach started the very in-official and informal meeting.

“So, let’s just start with the elephant in the room.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you invited Bwipo to join us,” Hylissang chuckled as he pretended to look for the toplaner in the crowded joint.

 _Take that_ , he thought to himself in amusement. But, in a way, it also felt like he had shot himself in the foot with that joke – since he was, now, thinking about the team’s toplaner again.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Alfonso responded, shaking his head with a slight smile on his lips, “I mean our match against G2 on Saturday, of course.”

“Not our game against Excel – are you sure?” Martin mumbled, hastily sipping on his coffee.

It was almost out of character for the ADC to attempt to make a joke – immediately, it raised suspicion in Zdravets’ mind. He eyed him a bit more out of the corner of his eye. _What are you hiding now, Martin…?_

“Wow, who turned you two into Comedians over night?” Alfonso rolled his eyes before he returned to the issue at hand, “look, it’s perfectly normal to be nervous about this. Caps is your former teammate and _super_ unpredictable, after all…”

“Well, we’ve been preparing for this match-up for weeks… why do you bring that up again now?” Hylissang asked as he played with the spoon in his glass.

It really felt odd to the support. Sure, the pressure was increased whenever they played against G2 – but the coach didn’t have to tell them twice. _Of course,_ there was always the thing with Caps. Thinking about the team’s former midlaner still made Zdravets a bit sad, even though he had grown to love Tim just as much by now. But there was always this feeling of being abandoned by the Dane – it stung just as much now as it had back then. Of course, Zdravets had also had to deal with the heartbreak of his ADC, which had made his support life harder as well. Now that he thought about it, Alfonso asking them to talk about this match again didn’t feel as strange anymore. The question that remained was, however, just how much the coach _knew_ about their complicated backstory.

“I know a thing or two about the botlane,” the team’s coach remarked with a shrug, “your performance as a Duo has been good, but I feel like something’s still _off_ with you.”

Suddenly, Zdravets felt as if he started to work up a sweat. He hadn’t actually considered the option of anyone finding out about his “situation” with Bwipo – beyond the fight they had had the week before, that is. He didn’t dare to respond to Alfonso’s hint; he silently hoped that it was just a hunch, nothing more than that.

“Okay, uhm,” Alfonso continued, seemingly irritated by how quiet the other two were, “if there are any outside-distractions for either of you, I’d like you to tell me so we can deal with them. We really need this win, I don’t think I have to tell you why.”

Zdravets tried to weigh his options _. I could just tell them about how I feel about Bwipo, about how I only started the fight because I felt insecure about him still having a girlfriend while I broke up with mine and now I’m all torn up_ , the support considered for a moment. Then again, that didn’t really feel like an option at all. Even though he had been nothing but accepting of his teammate’s same-sex-experiences, he couldn’t see all of them welcoming him with open arms like that. It hadn’t been easy for himself, after all, and he knew that Alfonso had been raised just as conservatively. No – he couldn’t just come clean. He nervously looked _anywhere_ but at the team’s coach across the table, who was glancing at his phone.

“Ah, hmm, he’s earlier than I expected,” he mumbled as he let his phone slide into his pocket.

“Who are you talking about?” Hylissang asked, practically jumping onto this new topic. _Anything to get the focus off of our “distractions”_ , he thought.

“Well…” the team’s coach sighed, “I kind of expected this talk to go differently, which is why I invited an old teammate of mine to hang out with us. I honestly thought you guys were just on edge because you were not having enough fun in your free time…”

“Yeah, yup, that’s totally it,” Martin instantly responded.

“I just couldn’t put it into words,” Hylissang said as he nodded in agreement. Whoever was about to walk through this door just provided them with a get-out-of-jail-ticket.

“Huh, still got it then!” Alfonso smirked as he got up and waved someone over to their table.

When Zdravets turned around to find out who the surprise guest he owed this pleasant change of topic to was, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Out of all the people their coach could have invited – how did it end up being G2’s biggest prodigy?

“Quite the party you got here, Mithy!” Perkz chuckled as he gave Alfonso a hug and sat down next to him.

Both Martin and Zdravets greeted G2’s midlaner hesitantly.

“Oh please, don’t let him intimidate you,” Alfonso smirked as he pretended to ruffle Luka’s buzzcut, “let’s just have a bit of fun, right? Enough talk about the match.”

“Well, what do you want to do for fun?” Hylissang asked with a sceptical look on his face, “did you bring any boardgames?”

While the support would have, in fact, enjoyed some boardgames right about now, his guard was still up. He didn’t exactly feel as if he could trust this situation – much less think about _having fun_ with the enemy midlaner sitting across the table.

“You just keep _cracking me up_ , Zdravets,” Alfonso mumbled as he fished for his phone in his pocket, “I thought we would just, you know, chat, like normal people with normal lifes.”

“Hilarious,” Perkz remarked with a grin as he put his arm around his former support, “now, why does your phone keep buzzing anyway? Where are your _manners_?”

“I just need to check something really quick,” the team’s coach mumbled as he turned his phones screen away from the nosy midlaner.

“Oh, come on, just let me see!” Luka exclaimed playfully as he tried to catch a glimpse of the OnePlus’ screen, “you know I haven’t seen Zven shirtless in _forever_!”

 _Hold the phone – now give the phone to me_ , Zdravets thought as he desperately tried to spot what Alfonso was looking at as well. Besides wondering where this random Steven Universe throwback came from, the support’s mind was now fully occupied by this interesting turn of events laid out in front of him. He didn’t exactly know whether it was the image of a shirtless Zven, or maybe rather the prospect of new drama coming up – but, suddenly, he was excited.

“Stop, Luka, I – I need to take this call,” Alfonso murmured as he got up and walked out of the joint as he answered his phone.

“Isn’t it funny,” Luka smirked as he leaned back in his chair, and Hylissang could swear the midlaner was now looking straight at Martin, “how some people just can’t keep their hands off of each other, even when they are not on the same team anymore…?”

 _Oh no_ , Zdravets thought as he turned to his ADC, who was nervously glancing at him – _what did you do, Martin?_ Even though he had a bad hunch, the support decided to ignore it for the time being to jump on the more obvious train of thoughts. In the end, this _tea_ promised to be just as tasty.

“Are you really implying that Mithy and Zven are, what, _dating_?” Zdravets asked with a serious look on his face, getting right down to business.

“Well, obviously,” Luka replied as he rolled his eyes, “not my point, though.”

 _Well shoot_ , the support thought with a small sigh. Despite this new discovery about his coach’s background, which was quite interesting, Zdravets’ thoughts did, once more, wander to his fragile ADC’s mental state. Whatever it was – and he prayed that it wouldn’t be _too bad_ – his job just got harder. Then again – didn’t Perkz say something about people ‘ _not being able to keep their hands off of each other’ despite…_

“Oh no, Martin…” Zdravets whispered, suddenly realizing what must have happened _yet again_ , “please tell me you didn’t…”

“I, uh, what? What do you mean?” Martin stuttered helplessly.

“What, you didn’t even tell your support about this? Is this how Fnatic interprets _synergy_?” Luka chuckled, seemingly amused by the spectacle.

“Oh my god, would you just let it go??” The ADC hissed across the table.

“I can’t believe you would _do this again_ , Martin – and why _now_ , on top of that?” Hylissang mumbled, his mind fully spinning due to all the ways in which this would affect the team.

For a second, he thought about Tim – about how he _knew_ something like that could happen, about how he had just told the midlaner about how complicated Martin could be the week before. He certainly didn’t want to be right about that – but _here we are_. He thought about how hurt the Slovenian would be if he found out about this; but, then again, judging by how little him and Martin had interacted lately, maybe that had already happened. Suddenly, Zdravets felt guilty for not realizing that sooner – he had, after all, really been _too occupied_ with his own drama. He quickly shook himself out of it to get back to dealing with the culprit at hand, who was stuttering beside him.

“I didn’t think, it was just –“ Martin suddenly stopped midsentence and paused for a moment before continuing, “wait, what do you mean with ‘again’? You knew??”

“ _Of course_ I knew, did you think you guys were being sneaky or what?” The support snorted as a response as he crossed his arms.

Back in 2018, he had witnessed how either Martin or Rasmus had “sneaked” back into their own rooms in the mornings before the ADC moved out a couple of times – but that wasn’t what had given them away. No, even though that probably would have still been enough for Zdravets to piece together the puzzle, it was the loud sounds they had regularly produced in the night that led the support to his conclusion. But, considering how happy they seemed together during these first few months after Hylissang had joined Fnatic, he never really saw the need to confront them about it. After Martin had moved out, he figured they had probably just stopped their romantic spin-off adventure.

Obviously, the ADC had not been aware of just _how much_ Zdravets knew about his personal life. In a way, it almost felt like an insult to the support – but he chose to let it go for now, as there was enough going on already. Martin was still stuttering relentlessly when Alfonso returned to the table and sat down with a sigh.

“Sorry about that, it was important, and I couldn’t just – ehm, what’s going on, guys?”

“Well, Martin thought it was a smart idea to get back into Caps’ pants before our match against G2, basically.” Hylissang blurted out, realizing that he maybe couldn’t _let it go_ as much as he thought he could.

“But – but also,” Martin exclaimed before the coach could react, “how come _you_ never told us you had _a boyfriend_ in NA? Is that why you keep running off with your phone?”

On the other side of the table, Alfonso sighed and silently turned to Luka, who was smirking like he was having the time of his life.

“Why are you always like this, Luka…?” He scratched his head to buy some time before he continued, “tensions seem to be running a bit high, how about we all calm down and talk about this…”

“Yeah, sounds like a great plan, you guys do that!” Luka chuckled as he got up and put some money on the table, “had a great time with you, but I better get home to play some more SoloQ. See you!”

“Oh my god, I’m going to kill –“ Alfonso practically bit into his fist to stop his angry mumbles before he turned back to face Martin and Zdravets with a smile. Zdravets couldn’t help but admire the coach’s determination to remain professional in light of these recent shenanigans.

“I’ll just be straight with you here – I might have underestimated the influence of our outside-distractions a little.”

 _A little?_ Zdravets squinted at his coach, now partially judging the former support’s judgement. The _‘outside-distractions’_ were piling up, no end in sight, and he settled for underestimating them _‘a little’?_ Nevertheless, he was eager to see how Alfonso would try to handle this situation, as the coach usually came up with some innovative ideas, not just when it came to drafting.

“Martin, is this thing with Caps going to affect your performance next Saturday?” Alfonso asked with a serious look on his face.

“No, that was a one…or maybe two time thing. I’ll make sure to be in top shape. Actually, I would like to go back to the office to get in some more SoloQ games right now.” The ADC replied, now looking a bit calmer.

“Fine by me,” Alfonso replied without hesitating for a moment as he grabbed his cup, “feel free to go, you guys. I won’t hold you up any longer.”

“Great, thank you,” Martin mumbled as he got up and put on his thick winter coat.

“Actually, I think I’d like to stay to talk to you about something,” Zdravets said, not attempting to leave the table at all.

His prompt, straight-forward approach aside, Hylissang felt like he had a thousand questions for the coach and former support now. Only a selected few of them concerned League of Legends – but, in the end, he couldn’t think of anyone better to answer them. Suddenly, Alfonso looked like he was in distress.

“Ehm, sure, yeah, that would be nice,” he mumbled, “take care, Martin!”

After the Swede had said his goodbye and strolled out of the Café, Zdravets and Alfonso found themselves in a 1v1, staring at each other across the small table.

“So, uhm,” Alfonso began after a short pause, “what did you want to talk about, Zdravets?”

“You and Zven,” Hylissang replied bluntly, relentlessly searching for eye-contact.

Mithy swallowed hard.

“There’s nothing to talk about, really – it shouldn’t be an issue in this day and age, right?” He finally remarked, avoiding the support’s stare.

“That’s not what I meant. I see you in a different light now – but not for the reason you think.” Zdravets mumbled.

Across the table, his coach gave him a confused look, obviously not knowing how to respond.

“I want to know how you did it; how you managed to go through with _being with a guy_ , I mean. You were also raised conservatively, right?” The support continued, hoping that the coach would finally understand as he started to get flustered.

Suddenly, Alfonso’s expression softened. He gave Zdravets a big smile, and it felt strangely good to know that he _knew_.

“It took me a while. But, I’m not gonna lie, I fought it at the beginning. I didn’t _want_ to feel this way about another guy – but I just couldn’t imagine _not being with him_ at some point, you know?”

 _Yeah, I know that too well_ , Zdravets thought with a sigh.

“Did you ever regret it? And does your family know?” The support mumbled, trying to narrow down the amount of questions he wanted to ask.

“Hmm, no and no,” Alfonso smiled at him, “even though this whole long distance thing is quite hard, he’s just… _it_ for me. But I fear my family wouldn’t understand.”

“Did you also think that _we_ wouldn’t understand?” Hylissang asked, considering their team’s “family” dynamic for a moment.

“No, uhm, I guess it’s just…” Alfonso paused, staring down into his empty cup, “I’ve been trying my hardest to gain your respect, you know? Since I’m so fresh off the boat, with basically no coaching experience – I know we should be able to talk as equals, but I wanted your respect so badly.”

It was in this moment that Zdravets’ expression softened. He kind of felt like giving the coach a reassuring hug – but, as they were in a very public setting, words had to do the trick.

“We respect you, Alfonso – you don’t have to be anything but yourself for that.” He smiled at the Spaniard with beaming eyes, feeling incredibly touched by how vulnerable the usually so stern coach suddenly seemed.

“Thank you, Zdravets, that means a lot,” Alfonso smiled back at him, “and thank you for opening up to me, too. I won’t ask for details if you don’t want to share, but I can assure you that I will support you, regardless of what choice you make for yourself. Considering what Martin _does in his free time with members of our rivalling team,_ I assume that he, as well as the rest of the team, wouldn’t mind either.”

Even though, deep down, Zdravets knew all of this – it felt so good to hear Alfonso say it. It also felt grand to hear about the coach living through the same struggles, making it out on the other side and actually being happy about it. _Maybe it was worth a shot?_ Still, thinking about saying the words out loud made the support’s heart beat so much faster.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to me, Alfonso. I want to be brave, I do, but…” Zdravets whispered as his gaze dropped to his shaking hands on the table.

“I know it’s hard. I wish someone had been there to support me when I was in your position,” Alfonso sighed, now placing his hand on top of support’s to calm him, “I promise to be there for you, Zdravets. Even if things don’t work out with _this guy_ …”

Zdravets swallowed hard.

“It’s Gabriël.” He whispered, barely daring to let the words leave his lips.

There was a pause. The support heard his coach take a deep breath, he seemed to be trying to process the news as calmly as possible.

“Well, I can’t say that I’m not worried about how that might affect our team moving forward, but, honestly, who am I to judge. All the drama you two had since the beginning of the Split makes a lot more sense to me now – sorry for being so _dense_.”

 _You and me both_ , Zdravets thought with another sigh, desperately regretting how much he had misjudged how Mithy would react to the support’s situation. If only he had opened up to his coach about this earlier – but, alas, there was no way he could have known that they had been _kindred spirits_ all along. Right now, he felt as if they could talk about anything. For a moment, he considered telling his coach about drama going on between Martin, Tim and Oskar – but, then again, he had already burdened Alfonso with too much for one day. Besides, the situation might clear itself out without any noticeable effects on Fnatic’s performance, right?

“Thanks for this talk, Alfonso. I think I’m ready to tell him...” The support said with a smile as he got up, grabbing his jacket.

“Good luck with that!” Alfonso replied with a grin, “I think I’ll stay behind a bit… kind of have to return the call that I cut short before.”

“Yeah, thanks and, uhm, greetings to Zven?” Hylissang remarked hesitantly, not sure how the etiquette regarding the previously unknown boyfriend of his coach looked like.

“Uhm – okay?” Alfonso replied, obviously unsure about how to handle the new circumstances too, “anyways, see you tomorrow!”

And, with that, Zdravets finally left the Café. In his mind, he was already racing home – finally ready to face Gabriël. He texted the toplaner, telling him to meet him at the apartment as soon as possible to talk things out. Zdravets desperately hoped that Bwipo would, wherever he was, drop everything to meet him – yes, he secretly hoped that the Belgian was longing to talk to him again just as much. He didn’t want to consider the possibility that he wouldn’t show up. No, right now, he needed to be brave.

Since the Café was not too far away from Fnatic’s gaming apartment, Zdravets was the first to arrive. He wondered about where time had gone, as it was already dark when he finally opened the front door of the team’s living quarters. After carefully placing his shoes in the rack near the entrance, he made his way to his room, all the way at the end of the hallway. It was not hard to notice just how nervous he was – the support’s heart was beating so fast, and his hands were shaking as he reached for the doorknob. _Is it too late to get cold feet now?_

In order to calm himself down, Zdravets tried to find a comfortable position on the bed. Even though Bwipo had replied to his text right away, saying that he would come by soon, it could still take a while until the toplaner arrived. While his gaze was roaming around the room, Zdravets noticed that his alarm clock on his nightstand did not stand aligned to the picture of his family behind it. He carefully bend down to reposition the bright red alarm, trying to achieve a perfect parallel. Even though the storm in his mind was beyond his control, he wanted to create _order_ where he could right now. Just as he was about to find the perfect angle, the door behind him suddenly swung open with a bang.

“Zdravets!” Bwipo exclaimed in his usual loud manner, obviously severely out of breath.

“Ehm, oh, Gabriël – wait, did you run here?” Zdravets replied, still not fully realizing that his toplaner had just stormed the room without _knocking_ – a common courtesy that, somehow, many people forgot about these days.

“What? No, don’t be silly,” the toplaner panted, placing his arms in his sides for support, “I was uhm, close by I guess. You wanted to talk?”

Zdravets squinted at the toplaner in front of him, who was still trying to catch his breath. Even though he had a thousand questions and tasteless jokes in mind, he chose to shove them aside for the greater good.

“Yeah, I want to talk. You wanna sit down?” The support said, signalling Bwipo to sit down on the bed beside him.

“Uhm, okay, sure,” the toplaner mumbled hesitantly as he sat down.

“So, listen…” Zdravets began, now playing with his hands nervously, “this fight has been going on for too long and I know that I haven’t been fair to you.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly make it easy for you by lying, did I?” Gabriël sighed, leaning back into a more comfortable position.

“Yeah,” Hylissang nodded, trying to reel in his desire to emphasize how _right_ he was about that, “but, the thing is that, uhm… I haven’t been _honest_ to you either. About why that made me so mad…”

“What do you mean?” Bwipo suddenly leaned back forward, trying to search for eye-contact, “You mean there’s… another reason?”

“You could say that, yeah it’s, uhm,” Zdravets stuttered, feeling as if the curious stare of his toplaner might cause him to blush any second now. He desperately tried to push forward – to just say it.

“Wait – please, wait a second.” Gabriël mumbled, cutting off the support’s stammering.

“No, I need to say this…” Zdravets whispered, now turning to face Bwipo. But, when he looked at him, he noticed that the expression on the toplaner’s face looked pained, his eyes seemingly glossy… what was going on?

“I think I need to tell you something first.” Gabriël mumbled, swallowing hard before he continued, “that night, my girlfriend didn’t sneak into my room to do, uhm, you know…”

“What then…?” Zdravets whispered, and his mind couldn’t comprehend where the toplaner could _possibly_ be going with this.

“She came by to…” Bwipo took a deep breath, “to pick up her stuff. Because I broke up with her.”

And, just like that, Zdravets was speechless. Out of all the things that could have happened – he never saw _this_ coming. He couldn’t bring out any words – he just stared at Bwipo in complete disbelief.

“Shit, I – I don’t know why I couldn’t tell you, okay? I wanted to, it’s just that…” Gabriël said, the desperation showing in his expression, “I was just scared of what you might think of me.”

“I don’t think I understand,” the support replied softly, his voice shaking, “why did you do it?”

“I think I just didn’t want to be unfair to her, because I… uhm, I just realized I couldn’t give her what she deserves.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” the support mumbled, suddenly feeling like he was about to burst out into laughter, a huge grin forming on his lips, “you can’t be serious…?”

“Uhm, Zdravets, what’s going on?” Gabriël asked carefully, clearly irritated by the support’s weird emotional response.

Maybe it was because the situation was so exceptionally emotionally draining for the support – or maybe simply the fact that, as viewed from the outside, the ironic parallels were simply _hilarious_. Yes, for whatever reason, Zdravets started laughing. It felt as if the heavy weight, which he had carried around for years now, had finally been lifted off his shoulders. Next to him, Gabriël was, however, freaking out.

“Shit, Zdravets, what happened? Oh _holy poggers_ , did I break you??” The toplaner exclaimed in panic, wildly gesturing with his hands.

“No – No, you big dummy,” Zdravets chuckled, trying to catch his breath again, “you just don’t understand how funny this is…!”

“Funny? Now that’s just hurtful…” Bwipo replied, now looking genuinely shocked, “I knew you didn’t like her, but geez…”

“Oh god, would you shut up for a moment –“ The support mumbled as he put one of his hands on the toplaner’s thigh, “it’s funny because I wanted to tell you the exact same thing.”

“The exact same – what now?” Bwipo asked with wide eyes, looking back and forth between the support’s eyes and the hand resting on his thigh.

“Gabriël, I broke up with my girlfriend before coming back to Berlin. And I was too afraid to tell you about it, too…”

Bwipo swallowed hard, his eyes suddenly looking as big as the moon, before he replied, “…and you did it because…?”

“Yeah…” Zdravets whispered, relentlessly looking deep into his toplaner’s eyes, “because of you.”

As the toplaner desperately bit on his lip, visibly on the verge of tears, his cheeks fully flushed and his eyebrows trembling, Zdravets pulled him into a tight embrace. Swiftly, he felt Gabriël’s arms wrap around him – and, just like that, they held each other as tightly as they could – and surely tighter than they had ever dared to before. For a moment, they just sat there, holding each other as if it was the first embrace they had ever shared, softly sobbing and chuckling into each other’s shoulders. All the tension, the conflict, the drama – suddenly, it all seemed worth it, yet still so surreal.

When the toplaner and the support finally pulled away from the embrace, their hands finding each other swiftly, neither of them could figure out what to say. The watery eyes of the Belgian kept flashing back and forth between the Bulgarian’s lips and his longing gaze. Even though Zdravets could think of a thousand things he _wanted_ to say to Gabriël right now, there was one thing that he wanted to do more. With both of his hands, he grabbed the toplaner’s face to bring it closer to his, making their lips meet – carefully in the first, and more passionately in the following moment.

As they sat there, on the support’s bed in the middle of his dark room, it felt as if they might as well have been in the middle of a firework. Zdravets felt his whole body tingle as Gabriël’s hands wandered down his back, pressing their bodies closer together. The toplaner’s lips felt so soft – his tongue so tender, so delicate. Even though it was by far not his first, no kiss had ever quite felt like this for the support. Somehow, even though Zdravets had never imagined things to go down this way, it felt perfect to him.

After slowly pulling away from a kiss that seemed to have lasted for an eternity, both of the guys let themselves fall onto the bed. They were still facing each other, lovingly tracing the other’s features with their fingers, almost as if they were a work of art.

“I can’t believe it took us this long to figure this out,” Zdravets mumbled, the smile returning to his lips.

“Yeah – aren’t we some stupid motherfuckers?” Gabriël replied, now chuckling as well.

“Better late than never, though…” The support whispered as he leaned in again.

“Yeah…” The toplaner smirked, shuffling closer to the support as well.

And, as they shared the next kiss of a thousand that would take place that night, the both of them couldn’t have felt any better. And, for just this night, they forgot about everything else. The drama going on in Fnatic’s squad, their upcoming match against G2, the pressure that came with it – no, during this night, the only thing they thought about was how _lucky_ they felt to have finally _found_ each other. And about how they would never let go again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's a wrap on part 6! Next up is another episode of the DreamServer, and I promise to make it extra hard this time around... ;) 
> 
> You can find a little bonus scene in the comments, check it out! It was entirely written by my girlfriend, who happens to love the ZvenxMithy ship, so all credit goes to her! I felt like it was a nice addition to the chapter, what do you think? 
> 
> Feel free to leave any thoughts and feelings in the comments! And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	25. Part 6: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riddle me this, riddle me that - watch out folks, the DreamServer is back!
> 
> I've been told that this is the hardest one so far - then again, I feel like I always say that ;) you guys just keep forcing me to step up my game! Can't wait to see whether you can solve the puzzle this time around...!

_After a Sunday that was troubling for some, exciting and, yes, even exhilarating for others, many players found themselves logged onto the DreamServer that night. Now, one might wonder what exactly the admission requirements for the prestigious DreamServer platform look like – since the guidelines of the format seem to lack any sort of consistency. Does one only have to be a professional League of Legends player? Or, maybe, the affiliation to one of the top teams of the LEC is the deciding factor? In the end, how this mysterious phenomenon really works will remain uncertain. But wouldn’t it be possible that one only has to be able to dream and have something important to say?_

\- **[hopeful], [recovering]** , **[lucky]** and **[flirty]** have joined the DreamServer -

 **[hopeful]** : good day to you, gentlemen

 **[recovering]** : uhm, hello?

 **[lucky]** : g’day kind sir, I’m beyond _hopeful_ for a good talk today!

 **[flirty]** : wow, aren’t you cute haha

 **[flirty]** : hi btw

 **[recovering]** : what’s up with you, guys?

 **[recovering]** : Are you in a good mood or what

 **[lucky]** : Oh, the BEST mood

 **[lucky]** : you see, last night I got

 **[lucky]** : _lucky_

 **[flirty]** : nice

 **[hopeful]** : good for you, man, but

 **[hopeful]** : may I ask why that is such a big deal to you?

 **[hopeful]** : unless it doesn't happen a lot uhm

 **[hopeful]** : not to say that you are not attractive

 **[hopeful]** : I mean, I can’t really tell but –

 **[recovering]** : just stop, dude, you are only making it worse…

 **[lucky]** : no offense taken

 **[lucky]** : It was not about the activity itself, though

 **[flirty]** : oh, oh! Let me guess

 **[flirty]** : You were with someone _special_ …!

 **[hopeful]** : ahh, yes, I get that

 **[lucky]** : right indeed!

 **[lucky]** : For the first time, too

 **[lucky]** : But I’ve basically been in love with this guy since the beginning

 **[recovering]** : aww, I can relate…

 **[lucky]** : And, just last night, I found out he feels the same way?

 **[lucky]** : such an overwhelming feeling!

 **[flirty]** : that’s like, so romantic

 **[hopeful]** : and now you guys are a couple??

 **[recovering]** : I can’t relate anymore…

 **[lucky]** : uhm, well

 **[lucky]** : I don’t know?

 **[lucky]** : We haven’t exactly had time to talk, if you know what I mean

 **[flirty]** : uff, did you get all hot and busy?

 **[hopeful]** : full force?

 **[flirty]** : and did you top or bottom??

 **[lucky]** : what? Guys, no

 **[lucky]** : we just uhm, kissed?

 **[recovering]** : what, the whole night long?

 **[lucky]** : …yeah?

 **[lucky]** : Why does that sound so weird when you say it

 **[flirty]** : because it’s lame??

 **[flirty]** : If you guys are young and in love, why not fuck to celebrate

 **[hopeful]** : what he’s saying

 **[flirty]** : hmm?

 **[recovering]** : I agree, a love confession usually leads to getting down to business in my books

 **[recovering]** : …then again

 **[lucky]** : wow, okay

 **[lucky]** : it’s not like I didn’t think about it it’s just

 **[lucky]** : I’ve never done it with a guy? Neither has he

 **[flirty]** : aww, virgins in love

 **[flirty]** : ain’t that precious

 **[lucky]** : what – hey, don’t call me a virgin!

 **[lucky]** : not pog

 **[recovering]** : but, in this case, you are, dude!

 **[hopeful]** : it’s nothing to be ashamed about

 **[hopeful]** : new things can be scary!

 **[hopeful]** : I’m about to do something new as well, and I’m a bit nervous about it

 **[flirty]** : you’re a virgin too?

 **[flirty]** : this really is a gamer-zone, huh

 **[hopeful]** : NO – not a virgin

 **[hopeful]** : definitely not

 **[hopeful]** : I just asked the dude I like out on a date and, well, I haven’t done that in a long time

 **[hopeful]** : so far, we’ve only…you know

 **[flirty]** : _wink wink_

**[recovering]** : gay culture, am I right

 **[lucky]** : ahh, but dating is easy!

 **[lucky]** : just take him out to a nice restaurant, bring some roses, tell him how much he means to you…

 **[hopeful]** : hmm, I DO like roses

 **[hopeful]** : but I don’t think he would enjoy all that?

 **[recovering]** : ah yeah, the guy I like wouldn’t care about this romantic crap either

 **[recovering]** : …now I’m sad

 **[flirty]** : is everyone gay around here or what

 **[lucky]** : hmpf, you guys don’t know anything about romance…

 **[lucky]** : I guess not everyone can be as naturally charming as me

 **[hopeful]** : right, right

 **[hopeful]** : how are you gonna work on your sexy side, though?

 **[lucky]** : not to worry

 **[lucky]** : I recently got really close to one of my teammates

 **[lucky]** : he happens to be a gay veteran

 **[recovering]** : a what now?

 **[flirty]** : is he, like, a hundred years old or...?

 **[lucky]** : ehh no?

 **[lucky]** : I just meant he has a lot of _experience_ with guys

 **[lucky]** : I hope he can explain some stuff to me…

 **[hopeful]** : sounds like a great friend to have

 **[lucky]** : oh yeah, he’s the best

 **[lucky]** : sadly, he’s been going through some stuff lately…

 **[lucky]** : I like to think we support each other

 **[flirty]** : that’s beautiful

 **[recovering]** : my prayers go out to that dude…

 **[lucky]** : oh, don’t worry too much – I already helped him _recover_ a little

 **[hopeful]** : LOL

 **[hopeful]** : how though

 **[lucky]** : went out with him last night to introduce an old teammate of mine

 **[lucky]** : boy, they hit it off right away

 **[flirty]** : hot

 **[lucky]** : ah geez, no, not like that

 **[lucky]** : I just meant that I think they will be great friends, you know?

 **[lucky]** : Them both being gay and kind of heartbroken, that is

 **[hopeful]** : wow, what a delightful match…

 **[recovering]** : that does sound kind of depressing

 **[recovering]** : also, two gay dudes, single and ready to mingle?

 **[recovering]** : I mean, yeah, it’s nice to meet someone who’s going through the same stuff

 **[recovering]** : but you can’t possibly expect them to just be “friends”

 **[lucky]** : why not…?

 **[hopeful]** : boners, man

 **[hopeful]** : boners

 **[lucky]** : seriously, you guys just keep blowing my mind

 **[flirty]** : well, don’t be afraid to learn something new, right?

 **[flirty]** : I think what you did for your friend was great!

 **[lucky]** : thanks…

 **[lucky]** : you see, I feel like he’s more than just a friend

 **[recovering]** : you mean like... ;)

 **[lucky]** : NO

 **[lucky]** : I mean I feel like our team is a FAMILY

 **[lucky]** : … then again, I’d be dating my brother then?

 **[hopeful]** : wtf

 **[flirty]** : every metaphor has its inconsistencies, just go with it

 **[lucky]** : you’re right, uhm, so yeah, he’s like family

 **[lucky]** : … where was I going with this?

 **[recovering]** : I think you just mean that you guys can talk about anything?

 **[recovering]** : be there for each other?

 **[recovering]** : at least, that’s what I feel like with my team now

 **[hopeful]** : oh yeah, me too

 **[hopeful]** : well…

 **[hopeful]** : except for this one guy

 **[lucky]** : while I would love to find out more

 **[lucky]** : think my brain just had an error…

 **[lucky]** : need to reboot – take care!

\- **[lucky]** has left the DreamServer –

\- **[overwhelmed]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[overwhelmed]** : hi lads

 **[overwhelmed]** : what are we talking about today

 **[flirty]** : whether a team should be like a family?

 **[flirty]** : I think

 **[recovering]** : it’s only natural to play better then, right?

 **[overwhelmed]** : hmm, well

 **[overwhelmed]** : I think it’s more complicated than that…

 **[hopeful]** : well, it’s not like you have to hold hands with everyone

 **[hopeful]** : I, for example, still want to punch one of my teammates in the face on a regular basis

 **[recovering]** : oh my god, same

 **[overwhelmed]** : see, this is what I’m talking about…

 **[overwhelmed]** : the DRAMA of it all

 **[flirty]** : your point?

 **[overwhelmed]** : huh?

 **[flirty]** : I don’t see the problem here…

 **[flirty]** : How can you not love drama

 **[overwhelmed]** : you obviously never had to WORK under these circumstances…

 **[overwhelmed]** : it’s just unprofessional

 **[overwhelmed]** : where's the respect??

 **[hopeful]** : do you ever, like, just chill

 **[recovering]** : yeah man, loosen up a little

 **[recovering]** : what’s wrong with a little physical altercation

 **[overwhelmed]** : first of all – EVERYTHING

 **[overwhelmed]** : but I guess I could let my guard down a little…

 **[overwhelmed]** : bossing everyone around is nice but

 **[overwhelmed]** : I sometimes get lonely? Idk

 **[flirty]** : oh man… :(

 **[hopeful]** : I wish that guy I want to punch would lower his guard a little, if you know what I mean

 **[recovering]** : haha exactly

 **[recovering]** : what did that guy do to you, anyway?

 **[hopeful]** : well, he’s basically trying to steal my man

 **[flirty]** : oh boy!

 **[overwhelmed]** : oh boy…

 **[recovering]** : haha, are we like, the same person?

 **[recovering]** : same with me

 **[hopeful]** : what a funny coincidence!

 **[hopeful]** : Anyway, I don’t like him being up in my face all the time…

 **[recovering]** : …but he’s also playing for the same team, so you can’t exactly beat him to a pulp?

 **[hopeful]** : you just get me!

 **[hopeful]** : but, to be honest, I don’t think I could even _physically fight_ someone

 **[flirty]** : now that’s disappointing

 **[overwhelmed]** : where I come from, we settle things like that with a 1v1 in the Rift

 **[recovering]** : not the worst idea…

 **[recovering]** : but I guess all I can do is wait right now

 **[recovering]** : my crush will realize what a jerk that guy is…

 **[hopeful]** : hope you don’t give him too much credit there

 **[hopeful]** : I mean, the guy sounds like a total jackass but

 **[hopeful]** : those types tend to be the most charming

 **[flirty]** : yay for bad boys

 **[recovering]** : …

 **[recovering]** : I choose to believe otherwise

\- **[recovering]** has left the DreamServer –

\- **[flustered]** and **[remorseful]** have joined the DreamServer -

 **[flustered]** : Hi guys

 **[remorseful]** : Lovely weather we’re having, huh

 **[flirty]** : haha, what?

 **[overwhelmed]** : you guys got any input regarding drama in the working environment

 **[overwhelmed]** : kind of doing a survey here

 **[hopeful]** : wait, when did I sign up for this

 **[flustered]** : oh, OH!

 **[flustered]** : …I have something to say to that

 **[remorseful]** : why don’t you just do it then

 **[remorseful]** : like, no need to raise your hand here

 **[flustered]** : no, I don’t think you understand

 **[flustered]** : … asking beforehand is only what’s polite

 **[flirty]** : oh oh, who hurt you?

 **[overwhelmed]** : this is turning into a whole different operation…

 **[overwhelmed]** : but I agree

 **[overwhelmed]** : Imagine being outed in front of you teammates without your approval…

 **[flirty]** : oh, back to the drama!

 **[remorseful]** : now, I can’t imagine why anyone would do that

 **[remorseful]** : … on purpose

 **[hopeful]** : what? Isn’t it common sense to _not_ out other people?

 **[overwhelmed]** : exactly

 **[overwhelmed]** : people have their reasons to hide stuff like that from their teammates

 **[flirty]** : you mean so they can isolate and alienate themselves completely to be “respected”?

 **[overwhelmed]** : …

 **[overwhelmed]** : ouch

 **[remorseful]** : oh man, that was a sweet burn, dude

 **[flirty]** : uhm–

 **[remorseful]** : but seriously

 **[remorseful]** : maybe the guy just didn’t _know_ that your teammates didn’t know?

 **[hopeful]** : well, you can’t expect everyone to have an open mind these days

 **[flustered]** : what are you guys even _talking_ about

 **[hopeful]** : …

 **[hopeful]** : see?

 **[overwhelmed]** : yeah, you have a point…

 **[overwhelmed]** : I guess I’m just a bit sensitive when it comes to this topic

 **[overwhelmed]** : but I also got to talk about my boyfriend for the first time in a while

 **[overwhelmed]** : help one of my teammates out

 **[overwhelmed]** : I guess it’s not all that bad

 **[flirty]** : beautiful…

 **[flustered]** : THIS is what teammates are supposed to do

 **[flustered]** : SUPPORT each other

 **[flustered]** : not try to...to...!

 **[overwhelmed]** : …

 **[overwhelmed]** : you know what

\- **[overwhelmed]** has left the DreamServer –

\- **[bold]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[bold]** : quick question

 **[bold]** : do you think it’s weird to want your current lover to be more like your ex?

 **[remorseful]** : no

 **[flirty]** : maybe a little?

 **[flustered]** : ex?

 **[hopeful]** : ehm yeah?

 **[hopeful]** : I mean no

 **[hopeful]** : I mean, I’m not thinking about my ex at all haha

 **[hopeful]** : especially not when I’m hooking up with the guy I’m seeing now, no

 **[hopeful]** : no, uhm, you are!

 **[bold]** : yeah, that’s the whole point?

 **[bold]** : The sex I mean

 **[remorseful]** : ugh, fuck, don’t bring that up now…

 **[flustered]** : YES I AGREE

 **[flustered]** : you don’t understand what I went through

 **[flirty]** : aww, come on

 **[flirty]** : no fun, I want in on the kinky talk

 **[bold]** : now, that’s refreshing

 **[bold]** : anyway, I think I just need some new input?

 **[bold]** : even though he tries really hard, things are just getting stale

 **[bold]** : lying in bed with my ex and my fuckbuddy really spoke to me though…

 **[flirty]** : oh, that’s so hot

 **[flirty]** : sounds like a threesome is needed!

 **[flustered]** : OH MY GOD NO

 **[flustered]** : please no

 **[bold]** : wow, what’s gotten into you man?

 **[remorseful]** : sadly, that’s the unfortunate reality

 **[remorseful]** : not everyone is into the idea of a threesome…

 **[flustered]** : I’m just NOT into dudes, okay??

 **[flustered]** : …even though it was kind of hot when he touched me but –

 **[flustered]** : BUT I’M NOT GAY!!

 **[flirty]** : wow, calm down there, buddy

 **[flirty]** : you realize that it’s okay to enjoy an MMF-threesome without being gay, right?

 **[remorseful]** : exactly!!

 **[flustered]** : wait, what

 **[hopeful]** : also, no need to be so freaked out about putting a label on everything…

 **[hopeful]** : first time in a while I’m _not_ fantasizing about a threesome, actually

 **[hopeful]** : am I really getting over him…?

 **[flirty]** : who?

 **[bold]** : sounds like you are getting _old_ to me

 **[hopeful]** : wow, rude

 **[hopeful]** : have fun, “kids”…

\- **[hopeful]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[flirty]** : was that really necessary? I wanted to hear details, geez…

 **[remorseful]** : aren’t you inquisitive…

 **[remorseful]** : it’s kind of cute

 **[flustered]** : labels aside, could you guys at least not FLIRT on here??

 **[flustered]** : just let me talk about girls for once okay

 **[flirty]** : uhm, well

 **[bold]** : well, go ahead then

 **[bold]** : I actually think it’s kind of refreshing to have a girl around the house too

 **[bold]** : it’s also another temptation, though

 **[flustered]** : now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

 **[flustered]** : I think I really like the girl I hooked up with…

 **[flustered]** : even though she’s kind of with my ass-grabbing teammate?

 **[remorseful]** : doesn’t sound like he minds sharing to me… ;)

 **[flirty]** : I agree… maybe she’s also just looking for some fun?

 **[flirty]** : At least I’m not about to be serious with anyone, maybe she’s the same!

 **[flustered]** : oh BOY

 **[flustered]** : would I really, really LOVE to have some more fun with her…!

 **[flustered]** : wish me luck, guys!!

\- **[flustered]** has left the DreamServer –

\- **[powerless]** and **[no_control]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[no_control]** : hi guys

 **[powerless]** : hello hello, what’s today’s topic?

 **[flirty]** : oh well, you just missed this guy who fucked his teammate’s girlfriend

 **[flirty]** : and now he wants to steal her away, basically

 **[remorseful]** : allegedly his girlfriend, though

 **[powerless]** : okay first, yikes for that guy

 **[powerless]** : but also, I’m interested in that “stealing away” thing

 **[powerless]** : what did you guys think about that?

 **[powerless]** : …asking for a friend

 **[no_control]** : honestly, that’s just trash

 **[flirty]** : I don’t know if “stealing” was the right word here but

 **[flirty]** : you guys seem to have something interesting to contribute?

 **[no_control]** : yeah

 **[no_control]** : …it’s trash

 **[powerless]** : well, but what if you didn’t KNOW that you were stealing someone away from someone else

 **[remorseful]** : because you didn’t know they were serious…?

 **[remorseful]** : what if the dude doesn’t even know _himself_

 **[bold]** : why do you guys always have to make things this complicated…

 **[bold]** : the world would be so much easier if everyone could just CHILL with this romance crap

 **[flirty]** : but it would also be so much more BORING

 **[flirty]** : just spit it out, @remorseful!

 **[remorseful]** : huh?

 **[flirty]** : come on, you’ve been sulking this whole time…

 **[flirty]** : what’s bugging you

 **[powerless]:** hmm, sulking…

 **[remorseful]** : well…

 **[remorseful]** : I guess I realized that I like the girl I’m dating a lot more than I thought

 **[remorseful]** : I thought I was a no-strings-attached kind of guy…

 **[no_control]** : but...?

 **[bold]** : man, why does there always have to be a _but_ …

 **[remorseful]** : but – uhm, well

 **[remorseful]** : then I saw her in bed with someone else and I don’t know

 **[remorseful]** : I didn’t like it like I thought I would

 **[flirty]** : OMG you’re the guy??

 **[flirty]** : that’s _priceless_ , oh man!!

 **[bold]** : lol, no wonder you were so butthurt before!

 **[powerless]** : is this a hidden camera moment?

 **[powerless]** : what’s happening?

 **[remorseful]** : would you guys stop??

 **[remorseful]** : this is a coincidence, I swear!

 **[no_control]** : scratched ego or…?

 **[flirty]** : oh, how I’d HATE to be in the middle of this

 **[flirty]** : you and @flustered need to sort this out

 **[flirty]** : oh, right, he left

 **[remorseful]** : I’m not usually like this – GOD

 **[remorseful]** : I’m so embarrassed

 **[bold]** : well, as much as I hate to say it

 **[bold]** : maybe this girl is just _someone special_?

 **[bold]** : That’s something you don’t mess with…

 **[bold]** : trust me, I’ve tried, and it totally backfired – not a great feeling

 **[no_control]** : wishful thinking

 **[flirty]** : well, I really like the guy I’m with, but I think staying open to new experiences is still fun?

 **[bold]** : oh, how I wish people around me would feel the same way…

 **[remorseful]** : That used to be me, too…

 **[remorseful]** : what have I become

 **[flirty]** : boring?

 **[remorseful]** : …

\- **[remorseful]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[bold]** : honestly, it’s so nice to have more people open to sexual adventures on here today

 **[powerless]** : it is kind of fun to try new things

 **[powerless]** : even though it can feel a bit weird at first…

 **[powerless]** : like, how do people get turned on by being called a dirty slut?

 **[flirty]** : how can they not?

 **[bold]** : you just get me…

 **[no_control]** : …ehm

 **[no_control]** : I don’t like talking about this…

 **[bold]** : but? BUT?

 **[bold]** : weird haha, now I want there to be a but…

 **[powerless]** : and here I was thinking you would ALWAYS like a BUTT

 **[bold]** : …touché

 **[no_control]** : …uhm yeah, what I meant to say was

 **[no_control]** : _but_ …

 **[no_control]** : I guess I also tried something new recently…

 **[flirty]** : Good for you!!

 **[bold]** : Indeed!

 **[flirty]** : Details?

 **[no_control]** : no, it was not GOOD

 **[no_control]** : I had sex with my ex again…

 **[no_control]** : in a, uhm, gaming chair

 **[bold]** : ANY GAYMERS IN CHAT

 **[flirty]** : so hot

 **[powerless]** : sex with the ex, huh

 **[powerless]** : rookie mistake!

 **[powerless]** : …ah yes, now I’m sad

 **[no_control]** : …

 **[no_control]** : I’m just ashamed, honestly

 **[no_control]** : I thought I was stronger than this, but my body acted on its own…

 **[bold]** : hey, would you mind me stealing that excuse?

 **[flirty]** : oh honey, maybe you’re just unaware of your desires?

 **[powerless]** : well, if it’s anything like mine, your body wants your ex back

 **[no_control]** : there’s just all of this tension around me…

 **[no_control]** : I mean, there’s also my best friend, who’s like

 **[no_control]** : acting like he wants to be more than friends but…

 **[bold]** : noooo, come on, let’s get back to the hot office sex

 **[flirty]** : PSHH, let the man finish, what about your best friend??

 **[bold]** : …

 **[bold]** : okay, back to porn it is

\- **[bold]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[powerless]** : what a weird guy, haha

 **[powerless]** : kind of reminds me of my fuckbuddy

 **[flirty]** : oh wow, the stories just keep piling up

 **[flirty]** : amazing

 **[no_control]** : why are you even so into this…

 **[no_control]** : anyway

 **[no_control]** : I don’t want to risk my friendship for something that may never work out

 **[powerless]** : I can totally relate

 **[powerless]** : even though I just made this new friend yesterday, it would be horrible to lose him

 **[powerless]** : he’s just so cool

 **[no_control]** : so cool…

 **[flirty]** : oh man, now I want to meet that guy!

 **[flirty]** : wait, maybe I have…?

 **[powerless]** : oh, you’d know

 **[powerless]** : he’s almost cool enough to make me forget about my ex haha

 **[no_control]** : really?

 **[powerless]** : ... nah, who am I kidding

 **[powerless]** : I’m just avoiding the fact that he’s avoiding me and

 **[powerless]** : that I feel so…

 **[powerless]** : so…

 **[powerless]** : <\-- !

 **[flirty]** : oh, right, I get it lol

 **[flirty]** : a comedian, even in tragedy

 **[flirty]** : I respect that

 **[powerless]** : why, thank you

 **[powerless]** : I happen to love my craft

 **[powerless]** : anyway, I hope he gets back to me soon…

 **[no_control]** : fingers crossed

 **[flirty]** : yeah, good luck!

 **[powerless]** : you guys are the best!!

\- **[powerless]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[no_control]** : idk why, but things feel different today

 **[flirty]** : in a good way?

 **[no_control]** : I guess so

 **[no_control]** : maybe I’m just starting to warm up to this whole thing…

 **[flirty]** : sounds healthy to me

 **[no_control]** : well, riddle me this

 **[no_control]** : when I was hooking up with my ex I had these… flashbacks

 **[flirty]** : another soap-worthy episode, omg

 **[no_control]** : ehm, what?

 **[no_control]** : I meant that I remembered being touched and kissed and… stuff

 **[no_control]** : but I couldn’t quite pin down whether that was also my ex or…

 **[flirty]** : or?

 **[flirty]** : OR??

 **[no_control]** : well, you know

 **[flirty]** : your BEST FRIEND

 **[flirty]** : oh man, oh man

 **[flirty]** : so, how did you like the flashbacks…?

 **[no_control]** : honestly

 **[no_control]** : they were so hot…

 **[no_control]** : I almost felt guilty because it was even more arousing than what my ex was doing

 **[no_control]** : is that bad?

 **[flirty]** : no

 **[flirty]** : no, that’s fantastic

 **[no_control]** : doesn’t really feel like that…

 **[no_control]** : I really have a shot with my ex this time, I think

 **[no_control]** : he even asked me out on a date…

 **[flirty]** : oh, _that_ guy

 **[no_control]** : what?

 **[flirty]** : nothing

 **[flirty]** : I’d say just keep an open mind!

 **[flirty]** : I guess that’s my go-to advice right now, lol

 **[no_control]** : I don’t understand…

 **[flirty]** : just let your ex court you a little, see how it feels!

 **[flirty]** : and if he can’t live up to your flashbacks then you know who you should be with instead

 **[no_control]** : you make that sound so easy

 **[flirty]** : I guess it is for me ;)

 **[no_control]** : no fair…

 **[no_control]** : well, whatever

 **[no_control]** : might as well try

 **[no_control]** : thanks, man

 **[no_control]** : first time I actually feel like this helped me

 **[flirty]** : I, uhm

 **[flirty]** : oh, what the hell – you’re welcome!

\- **[no_control]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[flirty]** : guess I’m alone now

 **[flirty]** : this was so much fun…

 **[flirty]** : I wish I could do it every night!

 **[flirty]** : …

 **[flirty]** : please?

 **[flirty]** : oh, come on

 **[flirty]** : I was _good_ , wasn’t I?

 **[flirty]** : please, just consider it for a moment before you –

\- **[flirty]** has left the DreamServer –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on part 6! Feel free to leave your guesses for the "who's who" in the comments :) 
> 
> Moving on to week 3 of the Spring Split, the big derby (FNC vs. G2) is coming up in part 7! It's going to be a bumpy ride! 
> 
> Hope to see you then - and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	26. Part 7: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome, welcome, everyone! In Part 7, the fight is finally on - Fagnatic against Gay2 Esports! Uhm, I mean FNC vs. G2. The drama is bound to ensue! 
> 
> Sorry for the delayed upload, my head was no good yesterday. Plus, the chapters are getting longer and longer and I'm sort of a perfectionist - so I guess it would only be reasonable to return to my twice a week schedule for now. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter :)

At first, it was a morning like any other for Tim. He woke up, grumpily rolled around in his bed for a while, and then finally grabbed his OnePlus to check his messages. He liked to feel closely connected to his fans, which is why he specifically treasured his Discord presence. Sure, he wouldn’t reply to all of the messages he received – but he tried to make time to at least get back to some of the fans trying to reach out to him. And, just like on most other mornings, there were a lot of those today. Tim smiled as he read through all the encouraging messages, wishing him the best of luck for his upcoming match against G2. Even though he felt confident enough as it was, it still felt good to know just how many people were cheering him on.

But there was one message that was not like the rest – which made this morning different from the others, after all.

 **Nemesisfan_69** : Hi, this is Caps

 **Nemesisfan_69** : sorry to write to you like this – I thought I might reach you on Discord since I don’t have your phone number

 **Nemesisfan_69** : I just wanted to apologize for how things went down with Martin

 **Nemesisfan_69** : I didn’t know you two were a thing

 **Nemesisfan_69** : I would have acted differently If I had known

 _That username is definitely dumb enough to belong to Caps,_ Tim thought as he abruptly sat himself up, feeling as if he had just gotten hit by a truck. He didn’t know what irritated him more – G2’s ADC knowing about his relationship with Martin or the fact that he was _actually_ trying to apologize to him. Maybe it was the first thing of the two; in the end, how could he have possibly found out? Tim knew for a fact that Martin had not been in contact with the other ADC for almost two weeks at this point, so he couldn’t have spilled the beans. Then again, he couldn’t completely rule out the rest of his team…

With a long sigh, Tim got up to get dressed. He figured that he wouldn’t be able to deal with this situation on his own – no, he needed help. Since Martin was still at his place, the midlaner figured that he could instead ask his best friend for advice. He knew him just as well, if not better, after all. Just as Tim was about to knock on his jungler’s door, he hesitated – _yes_ , some part of him felt weird about running to Oskar because of this early morning drama. Even though they had been there for each other in somewhat _weirder_ situations – he recalled the morning they had been marriage counsellors together – things felt heavier than usual. But, maybe because he was so desperate to tell someone about the strange message he had just read, Tim decided to shake off his doubts and knock on the door anyway.

“Morning, Oskar – I need to talk to you about something,” he said as he lazily knocked on the wooden door.

There was a moment of silence before Tim was finally called in. To his surprise, he found Oskar sitting on the bed with Bwipo, a variety of different objects sprawled out on the bed.

“Morning Tim,” Oskar said with his usual bright smile. Next to him, the team’s toplaner was blushing.

“M-morning,” Bwipo mumbled as he got off the bed quickly, “I was just leaving!”

“Uhm, okay?” Tim squinted at Bwipo as the toplaner squeezed past him, not fully grasping the situation.

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Oskar remarked as he noticed the midlaner’s confused glare, “I was just showing him some stuff he asked me about.”

As Tim got closer to the bed to sit down, he took a closer look at the items lying on it. There was a variety of different vegetables, lube bottles, condoms… it didn’t take the midlaner too long to connect the dots.

“What is this, _Sex Ed_?” He mumbled with a nervous grin, unsure of whether he actually wanted to hear the answer.

“I guess you could say that,” Oskar shrugged as he put the teaching material aside, “he’s just unsure because he’s so inexperienced. I think it's kind of sweet.”

“So, him and Hyli are really a thing now? I mean, I thought I saw them making out in the kitchen a couple of days ago, but I wasn’t sure…”

“Yeah, they somehow managed to get there…” Oskar mumbled, giving Tim a soft, yet somehow sad smile.

“I guess we did our jobs then.” Tim replied, half-smiling back at his jungler.

There was a long, awkward pause. It felt as if there were a thousand things flying through the room, desperate to be said out loud – but Oskar didn’t dare to say them, and Tim didn’t dare to ask.

“So, uhm, what did you want to talk about?” Oskar finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Oh yeah,” Tim said, remembering why he came to the jungler’s room in the first place, “I got this weird message on Discord and I wanted to ask what you –“

“Hey guys!” Alfonso exclaimed, sticking his head through the half-opened door, “quick memo: our meeting will start an hour earlier than originally scheduled.”

The jungler and the midlaner stared back at their coach, absolutely irritated by his sudden appearance. It took a moment to process his request.

“That’s in, like, 30 minutes?” Tim asked, still looking mighty confused.

“That’s why I came to pick you up,” Alfonso replied swiftly, checking his watch, “you see, we have kind of an emergency situation on our hands. Be ready in 5, alright?”

And, just as quickly as he showed up, the team’s coach was gone, leaving Oskar and Tim baffled.

“Well, uhm, can you make it quick or…?” Oskar asked with a nervous smile.

“No, it’s fine, let’s talk about it later,” Tim shrugged, getting off the bed to get his things from his room.

Five minutes were hardly enough to discuss the matter at hand, after all. Also, Tim found himself growing nervous about the reason why Alfonso chose to gather them even earlier – what the hell did he mean with this “emergency situation” anyway? It must have been something about their upcoming match against G2, right? It was the _last thing_ the team needed right now.

As the midlaner sat down on the big, grey couch in Fnatic’s office, his mind couldn’t help but wander back to the last time his body had been pressed up against its cushions. He shuffled around nervously as he remembered the way Martin had held him – hell, he had even _carried_ him around the place. Somehow, in the middle of this unsettling morning, thinking about the ADC made Tim feel a little more at ease. It was, therefore, no surprise that he wanted to jump up to hug him when Martin entered the room, being the last one to arrive. But, in the end, with the whole team watching, the midlaner would have never dared to make a move like that. No – he stayed put.

In a very different manner, Bwipo and Hylissang were practically cuddling next to Tim. The toplaner had casually swung his arm around the support, lovingly caressing the Bulgarian’s shoulder. They had finally gone back to giggling around all day long – but, of course, in a very different way now. It was almost _annoyingly_ cute. Tim crossed his arms. It had only been a couple of days at this point, but the midlaner was already over the lovey-dovey couple. But, suddenly, he noticed how longingly Oskar was staring at them – or was he staring at him?

“Okay, okay, listen up everyone,” Alfonso announced as all of them had finally found a place to sit, “thanks for showing up on time, I appreciate it. Now, does anyone have an idea why I called you in earlier?”

Bwipo put up his hand, and, looking dead-serious, he said, “You enjoy seeing us suffer.”

The other players around him nodded knowingly. But, beside the toplaner, Hylissang shook his head.

“You must have gotten some last minute information on the G2 draft that you wanted to discuss, right?” The support suggested instead, looking quite confident with his guess.

“No and no… well, maybe yes to that first one, actually,” Alfonso grinned slyly, “but there’s a much more urgent reason why I called you here.”

 _More urgent than seeing us suffer or ruining G2’s draft? God save us all_ , Tim thought dismissively as he let his head fall back and rolled his eyes. It seemed as if, yet again, the team’s coach got hung up on something absolutely irrelevant. While some part of the midlaner was curious to find out what it was this time, the other part just wanted to go back to bed. Or, at least, go back to obsessing over what to respond to Caps’ weird message from before. As there was no reaction to his dramatic speech, Alfonso simply picked it up where he left off.

“So, yeah, as I was saying…” he continued as he crammed for something in his pocket, “THIS is the reason why I needed to talk to you guys…”

He presented the team with something that looked like the wrapper of a condom in a sealable plastic bag, waving it around as if it was the evidence of a major crime. Suddenly, Tim felt as if the room’s temperature had just risen dramatically – he was working up a sweat.

“What, you gathered us here just to tell us that you finally got laid?” Oskar laughed as he playfully clapped his hands, “congrats man, but don’t you think that’s a bit too much?”

Alfonso blushed a little as the rest of the team chuckled at the jungler’s remark.

“That’s of course _not_ the reason – my god, you guys are so childish this morning…” The team’s coach mumbled, now taking a seat, “I found _this_ near this couch yesterday. Yes, _this couch_ you are all sitting on right now.”

Suddenly, the laughter stopped.

“Good, you get it now,” Alfonso continued, now wildly gesturing with his hands, “ _someone_ here obviously thought it was a good idea to _screw_ on this very couch we sit on every day – and I am, to say the least, _disgusted_.”

Nervously, Tim glanced over to meet Martin’s gaze. No words were needed – both of them knew _they_ were the one’s responsible for this scolding. But it was also obvious that their coach didn’t have this information; so why should they confess now? Tim quickly broke off the eye-contact, trying his best to look as innocent as possible. For all he knew, the much more obvious suspects were sitting next to him, annoyingly close to each other. From what the midlaner could tell without staring at them too much, both Bwipo and Hyli were looking pretty pale.

“Fine, so no one wants to confess… but I’m not letting this slide. If we want to have any sort of chance for the title, we need _order_ in this team! _No fucking in the office_ , god damn it!”

This time, Alfonso was seemingly talking _directly_ to the team’s toplaner and support, who were, by now, practically cowering under the coach’s angry glare. Neither of them said anything in response, but it was quite obvious that they had just been accused of the crime. Growing more and more uneasy, Tim looked at Martin again – they couldn’t _possibly_ let the two newlyweds take the fall for them, could they? Unfortunately, the ADC looked just as clueless about what to do as the midlaner. It felt as if they had manoeuvred themselves right into the midst of a moral dilemma. It was Oskar who finally broke the silence.

“It wasn’t them, Alfonso.”

“Oh yeah, and how do you know that, Oskar?” The team’s coach asked the jungler provocatively, crossing his arms in the process.

“Uhm, I’d rather not say…” the jungler mumbled, hesitantly scratching his head, “but I’m 100% sure about it. It must have been someone else.”

Tim stared at Oskar. Part of him was impressed by how the jungler stood up for his friend, probably due to how inexperienced both Bwipo and Hylissang were. But there was something else about his utterance that hit so much harder. Even though he spoke calmly, he looked so sad – so _broken_. It felt as if this was the first time in forever that the midlaner had truly _looked_ at his jungler. Now, why did it sting so much to see him like this? Tim assumed that Oskar could have figured out who the condom wrapper belonged to by now, even though he chose not to tell the team’s enraged coach. 

Even though the situation was not _new_ , it felt a hell lot more uncomfortable to Tim now. After all, he remembered Oskar’s soft expression after their kiss in the bar – and, deep down, he _knew_ that there must have been a lot more to it. Seeing him this upset now – yes, Tim felt as if he had metaphorically punched the jungler in the face, causing him to feel this pain. Of course, he never _meant_ to; but did that make any difference now?

“Okay, fine, it’s settled then,” Alfonso grumpily mumbled as he got up, “let’s focus on the game – meet me in the gaming room in five minutes.”

And, just like that, Tim had missed the entire resolution of the team’s “emergency situation”. He must have completely zoned out, thinking about Oskar – by the time he finally snapped back to reality, the problem had _somehow_ been solved without the truth being revealed. At least that’s what he _figured_ must have happened, since neither him nor Martin had been burned at the stake by Alfonso. At this point, he was too afraid to ask what had _actually_ happened; maybe the team’s ADC could fill him in later.

As he watched Bwipo hug Oskar lovingly, thanking him again and again, Tim took a moment to think about the unexpected, and yet somehow beautiful friendship that had recently blossomed between the toplaner and the jungler. They had even started to talk about _streaming together_ – that was the point where Tim really started to notice how much closer they had gotten. Of course, the fact that they had gone _bowling_ together, out of all the lame things one could do in Berlin, could have also been a valuable hint. Nevertheless, the midlaner was kind of glad that Oskar had found someone else to talk to, _of course_ he would be – now, why did he have to feel so _guilty_ about still wanting him all to himself somehow?

But he had different things to think about now. It was the fated day of their match against G2 – long awaited, yet equally feared. Tim’s mind was suddenly swarming with flashbacks from their past matches. Yes, he was more than eager to make the _right_ kind of memories today. He was so lost in thoughts during the team’s car ride to the LEC studio, he might as well have teleported there. When Tim finally entered the stage, he could practically feel his blood rush through his veins – that’s how pumped up he was. When he caught a glimpse of Caps, who was seemingly eyeing him, he felt the fire in his chest burn even brighter. He wanted to win no matter what – he wanted to _beat_ the ADC, in the rift as well as in life. When he could finally pick one of his comfort champs, Veigar, Tim felt as if he was one step closer to victory.

But, in the end, victory was soon out of sight. Even though the beginning of the game had looked promising for Fnatic, the game didn’t nearly last long enough for the midlaner to have any sort of impact. While he was waiting for the late-game, his teammates were getting picked up left and right. While he was praying for the chance to get at least some more stacks, G2 was already tearing apart their base. And, after only 30 minutes, the game was lost.

Tim bit his lip as he slowly stood up to shake the winner’s hands, trying his best not to let the frustration show on his face. Even though the loss felt as bitter as ever, it was still nice to hug Miky, as they had become even closer friends through traveling home to Slovenia together. The support smiled even _brighter_ than usual today; it made Tim wonder whether it was something beyond the victory that made Miky happy today. Either way, his flashing smile was not nearly enough to make this moment any less than crushing for the midlaner. He had wanted to beat G2 from the very beginning, of course – but never as much as today. Oh, how he _wished_ that he could have personally wiped that awful smile off of Caps’ face. Instead, he had to loosely shake the ADC's hand for the camera. Tim’s hands were still trembling when he picked up his mouse and keyboard afterwards, carefully putting his set-up back into the plastic bag. He suddenly felt even worse when he looked at _his_ ADC.

Martin’s face was as white as chalk, and his movements were painfully slow. Tim could tell how defeated the ADC must have felt – hell, he felt the same way. But he wasn’t the one that would have to sit through the whole Post-Game Lobby, next to Caps, out of all people. Yes, when that set-up had been announced, it had felt like a sick joke to Tim. It still did now. He wanted nothing more than to just reach out to hug his ADC, to tell him it would be okay no matter what… but, in the end, they were in the LEC studio – there was hardly a more inappropriate place and time for the display of affection.

That didn’t seem to bother Bwipo and Hyli as much, as they grabbed each other’s hands immediately after setting foot into the camera-free hallway. Shortly after, Martin parted ways with the team, heading over to the lounge for the final interview of the day. Since it would probably take some time, the team had decided beforehand that the ADC would take a cab back to his place so that the rest of the squad could drive home already. It pained Tim to see Martin walk away, knowing that sheer hell on earth awaited him on that PGL couch. Somehow, he wished that he could see him afterwards – _maybe just talk to him?_ He considered reaching out later on as he clumsily climbed into the Fnatic van.

In an attempt to take his mind off of the miserable outcome of the game, Tim fished for his OnePlus in his pocket to check his Discord server. He knew that it would probably be overflowing with positive reinforcements – and, as silly as it was, he really needed to hear that the loss was not his fault. But, as he opened the app, he immediately started to regret his decision, since the username “ **Nemesisfan_69** ” on his screen threw him right back to thinking about Caps.

For a moment, he felt as if he remembered seeing that specific username lurking around on his own server - didn't he ask him some questions in the Q&A tab as well? _I hope I'm mistaken,_ he thought with a flinch. Suddenly, Tim felt an even bigger need to share this crazy turn of events with someone - he turned his head to look at Oskar, who was staring out of the window, seemingly lost in thoughts himself. _Maybe I’ll just ask him to talk back home_ , Tim thought as he put on some music, trying to empty his mind.

When they finally reached Fnatic’s apartment, Tim swore he could see the dust whirl up behind Bwipo and Hylissang – _that’s_ how fast they disappeared into one of their rooms together. The team’s jungler took more time taking off his shoes, looking as if he was in no particular rush to get anywhere. As Tim had already kicked off his shoes, he felt as if this was the moment to ask Oskar to continue their conversation from before. Why did that even feel like such a big deal? By the time he finally found the words to use, the jungler had already started to move towards his room.

“Hey, uhm, could we talk about that thing from earlier now?” He asked, trying his best to sound casual.

“Now, Tim?” Oskar asked with a soft sigh as he reached for the door knob, “I’m kind of exhausted.”

“I know, me too…” The midlaner mumbled, “but it’s important – I feel like it could even be the reason why we lost.”

That seemed to have caught the jungler’s attention. Without another word, he pointed towards the now open door of his room, signalling Tim to follow him inside. The midlaner strolled inside and sat down on the messy bed. Oskar did, however, choose to sit down in his gaming chair instead, seemingly not wanting to be too close to the midlaner. It somehow _hurt_ Tim, even though he knew he was in no position to feel this way. He tried to focus on the topic at hand, at least for now.

“So, Caps texted me on Discord this morning.”

“Caps?” Oskar raised one of his eyebrows, “what did he want?”

“Well, he somehow _knows_ about the thing with me and Martin now… he apologized, saying that he would have acted differently if he had known before.” Tim swallowed – saying the words out loud suddenly gave them even more power over him.

“Well, that’s a surprise,” Oskar mumbled as he scratched his chin, “but isn’t it kind of nice, too?”

“Nice? How exactly is that _nice_?” Tim responded, crossing his arms, “saying something like that on the day of our match sounds more like psychological warfare to me.”

“But he apologized, Tim…” The jungler eyed the midlaner with a concerned gaze now.

“It was not his place! And how did he even find out?” Tim hissed, suddenly feeling a lot more agitated than before.

It was when there was no response from Oskar when Tim suddenly remembered. He replayed the scene in his head – the G2 players slowly walked over to them after their victory, shaking the hands of Fnatic’s players one by one, when suddenly…

“Oh my god, it was you…” Tim whispered, “you hugged him you… you told him about me and Martin!”

“Now, Tim, wait, just because I hugged Rasmus that doesn’t mean I –“

“Oh, _Rasmus_? That’s how it is?”

“That’s his name, yes,” Oskar mumbled with a sigh, “would you please just calm down? I told you we were friends now before, after the night we went bowling…”

“I –“ Tim began, stopping abruptly.

He wanted to disagree, but, considering how conveniently he had missed more or a less an _entire conversation_ today because he had been lost in thought, chances were that Oskar was probably right. That didn’t make this situation any less infuriating, though.

“So what if you told me – you had no right to tell _him_ anything about _me_!” Tim exclaimed as he jumped off the bed, ready to storm out of the room.

“It’s not like I meant to do that, Tim,” Oskar said as he got up as well, blocking the midlaner’s path, “I just needed to talk to someone, okay? Do you have any idea how hard all of this is for me? Seeing you back together with him?”

 _I do_ , was what Tim thought – but, instead, he said, “just because I agreed to go out with him _once_ I don’t think we’re back together and –“

“Oh, okay, so you really think I don’t know it was you? With the condom, in the office?” Oskar responded, the pain written all over his face.

 _I don’t_ , was what Tim thought this time. He wanted to say something – but, instead, he just stood there, inches away from his jungler, staring at him with big eyes.

“It’s the worst, Tim. It’s the worst and I just wanted to talk to someone who… understands. I’m sorry that that affected you, but please don’t pretend like you don’t know why I’m upset…” Oskar whispered, avoiding eye contact with the midlaner.

For a moment, all Tim wanted to do was to hug him – to comfort him, to tell him how sorry he was for causing him pain. But, in the end, wouldn’t that have made it worse? He just didn’t know what to do – it felt as if he was trapped in open water, suddenly not able to swim anymore. And why was his heart racing so fast anyway? Wasn’t he supposed to be angry at the jungler who spilled his secrets to his sworn enemy? It all suddenly felt so insignificant. He just couldn’t stop staring at Oskar’s sad eyes…

“I’m sorry, Oskar.” He mouthed, hoping that the jungler saw.

When Oskar’s ice-blue eyes found Tim’s an instant later, his heart jumped a beat. Even though he should have been mad still, _furious_ even, he suddenly wished for something different – when the jungler reached out to gently stroke a strain of the midlaner’s messy hair out of his face, he felt as if he was supposed to close his eyes somehow…

“I think you should go.” Oskar said before finally turning away.

And that was it. Tim’s rage had disappeared; now, all he felt was shame. Shame he felt for causing Oskar pain – but also for his sudden _desires_. As someone who usually didn’t have many desires to begin with, Tim’s head was spinning when he exited the gloomy atmosphere surrounding his jungler’s room. He let himself fall onto his bed shortly after, trying to gather his thoughts into something other than a big furball of confusion and frustration. But, in the end, he didn’t find much more than that. It felt as if hours had went by when he felt his OnePlus vibrate in his pocket.

Martin: Meet me at the hotel?

Martin: I want to see you

It was surprising, to say the least – Martin had never asked him to come over, much less at this time of the day. But, in the end, it was a welcomed distraction from the mess that had just happened here. And Tim certainly didn’t mind spending the next day, or at least the morning, far away from Oskar. For a moment, he considered telling Martin about this falling out – but, then again, maybe it was the best to just forget about it for now. Even though it felt bittersweet somehow, Tim just wanted to be _held_ by the ADC right now – and he hoped that’s what Martin had in mind as well when he asked him to come over.

With the softest hint of a smile, Tim threw some things into a bag and headed out. The midlaner wondered what the Post-Game Lobby might have been like for the ADC – the thought of him sitting next to Caps was not necessarily an uplifting image, though. _But he wants to see me_ , _not him_ , Tim reassured himself as he walked through dark streets, Berlin’s starry night sky above him. Throughout all the troubles of the day, it was the one thing the midlaner was able to hold onto now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Tim's POV. This time, Rasmus' perspective will follow... 
> 
> Thanks for tuning in, guys!


	27. Part 7: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, folks! As people say that history is written by the victors, this particular POV should prove to be interesting, right? 
> 
> Let's dive into the G2 madeness - hope you enjoy!

On special days, Rasmus sometimes liked to get up a bit earlier than usual. For some reason, the illusion of having a healthy sleep schedule gave him a confidence boost – and, today, as it was the day G2 would finally face off against Fnatic, he was in desperate need for that. Rasmus didn’t even need his alarm clock this morning; no, as soon as the sun poked into his room, the ADC was wide awake. It felt almost as if he was a child again, eagerly jumping out of bed on Christmas morning – or was it more like in his nervous teenager years, right before a big exam in school? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out whether he was _excited_ or _scared shitless_. As Rasmus clumsily tried to pull up his sweatpants, almost falling down face-first in the process, he decided to settle on _a little bit of both_.

After all, it was also the day that Martin could no longer run away from him. After exactly two weeks of constantly texting the other ADC without getting a reply, it was a long-overdue confrontation that Rasmus was definitely looking forward to. Of course, there was this one thing which had made his situation a bit more complicated – and that “thing” was a tall, slender and absolutely amazing guy that just happened to be Fnatic’s jungler. Then again, maybe it was more about what he had _said_ to Rasmus that confused the ADC. Either way, he was in need of help with figuring out what to do now. Even though it was an ungodly hour for anyone that called themselves a gamer, Rasmus already had a good idea of who he wanted to wake up to give him an assist; call it _payback_ if you want.

“Oh, noooo, oh no Miky, I’m so hungryyyy,” he wailed as he jumped on top of the support player, who was grumpily struggling underneath him.

“Rasmus, I’m trying to sleep here…” Mihael mumbled as he covered his eyes in an attempt to shield his vision from the light suddenly beaming through the window, as Rasmus had made sure to draw the curtains back.

“But Mikyyyyy,” Rasmus sobbed, putting on his best show as he grabbed the support’s wrists, “I’m so hungry, I’ll die if you don’t help me…!”

With a long sigh, Mihael opened his eyes and stared at his ADC. Despite the circumstances, it was hard to deny that _Caps the Actor_ was absolutely adorable – and Rasmus was very well aware of that. Without further ado, Miky grabbed his ADC by the hips and got up, carefully letting Rasmus down to stand on his own feet again. Even though the whole act was kind of silly, Rasmus found himself enjoying it quite a bit. Plus, he knew that his support didn’t exactly mind being used as a servant – quite the opposite, actually.

“Noooo, Miky, I don’t think I can walk on my own,” the ADC whimpered, dramatically sticking out his arms as if he was absolutely helpless.

“Well, there’s only one thing to do then,” Mihael mumbled with a grin as he lifted Rasmus back up, now carrying him to the kitchen like a princess.

It wasn’t exactly what the ADC had imagined – but it’s not like he minded being carried around like this. It reminded him of how Martin had lifted him up back then… but, also, Perkz had made a habit of doing it sometimes back when Rasmus had joined G2. He did, therefore, enjoy the princess treatment Miky provided him with this morning. As he was carefully put down onto his chair in the kitchen, Rasmus eagerly pointed towards the box of cereal on the counter.

“Ohhh, if only I had some cereal…!” He called out playfully, causing Miky to squirm to get a bowl and some milk to match the colourful Fruit loops.

“Thanks,” Rasmus chuckled, “can I have a spoon as well?”

With a final sigh, Mihael grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers and sat down beside his ADC. His cheeks looked slightly rosy – Rasmus figured that his sudden demands must have done something for the support as well. He munched on his cereal, feeling more than satisfied. _A true win-win-situation_ , he thought. But then he remembered the reason why he had woken up Miky to begin with, which called for more than a bowl of delicious breakfast.

“So, uhm, Miky,” Rasmus said hesitantly, “you remember how I told you I’m sort of hanging out with Oskar now?”

“Oh yeah, the guy with the big …uhm _bowling balls_ ,” Mihael chuckled, filling some cereal into his own bowl.

Amused by the comment, Rasmus continued with a wide smile, “Right… so he’s super chill and –“

“And now you want to get into his pants. Don’t worry, I get it, he’s pretty hot… you don’t have to ask me for permission,” Miky shrugged with a huge grin across his face.

“Noooo, no Miky, that’s not what I meant,” Rasmus laughed it off, but his cheeks suddenly felt a bit flushed…

“You keep telling yourself that,” Mihael mumbled, shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth, “what is it, then?”

“Well, uhm, he kind of told me he’s in love with Nemesis.”

“Weird taste, but okay,” the support remarked, seemingly unfazed, “so you guys talked about your unfortunate crushes or…?”

“Kind of…” Rasmus sighed, fidgeting with his spoon, “the thing is, he doesn’t seem the only one with weird taste… it looks like Martin is actually, uhm, _dating_ Nemesis?”

“Shut the front door…” Mihael mumbled, his mouth wide open in shock, “he sure moves on fast, huh?”

“Well no, I guess they have been seeing each other for a while… Oskar told me about that yesterday, and now I think they were together while I seduced Martin?”

“Hot damn –“ Miky nearly choked on his spoon, “I really underestimated that sly ADC…! Now I _really_ regret not getting a piece of him when he –“

“MIKY!” Rasmus exclaimed, almost angrily, “we talked about this…!”

“Right, right, sorry,” the support mumbled as he put his spoon down, “so, what does that make you feel like or whatever…”

“Thank you – uhm, I’m actually not sure,” Rasmus scratched his head, “I just don’t want to feel like I’m _stealing_ him away from someone, you know? I might not really know the guy, but I’m sure he would be hurt if he knew…”

“Oh yeah, you bet Tim is pissed,” Mihael casually remarked, as if Rasmus should have _naturally_ been aware of their unlikely friendship.

“Right, you know the guy!” Rasmus exclaimed, now feeling almost excited, “what do you think, how should I break it to him?”

“Well, first of all, you probably shouldn’t say that you ‘ _stole_ ’ from him and –“

“GOOD MORNING GUYS, what are you talking about on this great day??” A loud voice, undeniably belonging to Jankos, announced the jungler’s arrival.

“You better not be talking about stealing my special cereal, thief…” Wunder mumbled as he slouched into the kitchen right behind Jankos, giving Miky an annoyed glance.

“God no, Wunder, no one besides you likes that crap,” Mihael replied as he rolled his eyes, “in fact, I wouldn’t even eat your disgusting protein-crisps if you paid me to do so.”

“Haha, that’s funny ‘cause it’s TRUE!” Jankos exclaimed with a laugh, slapping the toplaner’s back, “I accidentally tried them ONCE and I almost PUKED!”

“Wow, guys, fine, you didn’t have to go that far,” Wunder mumbled as he grabbed his box of cereal and sat down at the table.

“Aww, don’t be sad, Wunder,” Rasmus chuckled next to him, “I’d totally eat your cereal if there was nothing else in the house.”

“Geez, thanks,” the toplaner flinched, “what were you guys stealing anyway, if not my breakfast?”

“Well, apparently, Rasmus stole Nemesis’ man.” Miky said with a dead serious expression.

“Oh, shut up…!” Jankos mumbled as he stared at the ADC, and, to Rasmus’ surprise, he actually looked intrigued by the news.

“Yeah, uhm, I guess Martin is _really_ into dating his midlaners,” Rasmus smiled as if it was a joke, but saying the words out loud actually made him feel quite sad.

“So what? Now that you know about that, you feel guilty?” Wunder remarked with his eyes half closed, seemingly unfazed by the weird topic.

“Well, unlike you, I do have a heart, Wunder,” Rasmus shrugged, “so yeah, I don’t feel too good about stealing Martin away…”

“Oh well!” Jankos blurted out as he slammed his spoon onto the table, “I think it’s FINE to do that when the person is, like, really UGLY!”

“Ugly?” Mihael smirked, nudging Rasmus’ arm playfully, “you mean if they have a really big nose for example?”

“Oh my god, Miky, why are you always so mean…” The ADC mumbled, but he still couldn’t hide his amusement.

“Big nose, no hair, bad skin… you know, these kinds of things,” Jankos nodded in a serious manner, as if what he was saying didn’t sound absolutely ridiculous. Next to the jungler, the team’s toplaner’s spoon suddenly fell right out of his hand.

“Wait, are you talking about Perkz??” Wunder exclaimed, both seemingly in shock and in awe by the great burn.

“Oh wow, Wunder, I’m not used to you being so SMART,” Jankos laughed, “I mean, I might have THOUGHT about him when I said that…”

“I can’t believe you!” The toplaner snorted, “you really want to make a move on Sam??”

“Judging by the sounds I heard coming from his room last weekend, he’s past that,” Miky shrugged again, not even flinching.

“MIKY!” Rasmus pinched the support’s cheek angrily, “I thought we talked about this whole ‘listening in’ thing…!”

“What, I thought I was not supposed to do that to _you_ , and I didn’t…” Mihael mumbled, now rubbing his rosy cheek softly.

“EHM, you are so DEAD to me, Miky,” Jankos hissed, then turning to Wunder, “but yeah, what he said.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Wunder exclaimed, slamming his fist onto the table, “I should have been the one!”

“Guys, would you please calm down…” Rasmus sighed, trying to make soothing gestures with his hands, “I was kind of trying to figure out whether I should apologize to Nemesis here…?”

“What do you want to apologize for, Rasmus?” A female voice, undoubtedly belonging to Sam, chirped in from the hallway.

As Perkz entered the kitchen with his arm swung around Sam, the first thing that Rasmus noticed was the slender girl’s outfit. She was, yet again, wearing a big T-shirt that must have belonged to the midlaner, paired with some striped boxers. What was striking about that was, however, not that Sam was borrowing her boyfriend’s clothes – no, the weird thing was that her outfit did, _yet again_ , match Miky’s. At this point, it felt too strange to still be a coincidence, which is why the ADC leaned over to whisper into his support’s ear.

“Miky, why are you and Sam always wearing the same clothes in the morning…?”

Next to him, the support didn’t look too impressed by the observation. He shrugged.

“Must be a coincidence, right?” He replied casually.

But the soft grin on his support’s lips gave Rasmus the impression that there was something else going on. Then again, if it was something Mihael didn’t want to talk about, it was probably nothing for the ADC’s innocent ears… While Rasmus was still wondering about Sam’s fashion choices, Jankos had already pulled out a chair for her, acting like a real gentleman. Even though it was obvious that Wunder was more than annoyed by how the jungler was acting, the girl’s sudden arrival had shut him up. It was almost funny to Rasmus to see just how _differently_ the both of them acted around her…

“Hey, Jankos, why don’t you pull out my chair as well?” Perkz smirked, mockingly putting his hands on his hips.

“What, did you wake up even more USELESS today or what? Do it yourself!” Jankos laughed as he fidgeted around with the coffee machine on the counter.

“And here I thought you were a real gentleman,” Luka sighed as he shook his head and sat down beside Sam, casually playing with her blonde locks.

Even though their interaction didn’t feel particularly unusual, Rasmus still swore he saw the jungler shoot his midlaner an angry glance…

“Rasmus, did you hear what I asked?” Sam said again, after waiting on the ADC’s answer for a while.

“Oh, forgive our ADC, he is just very TIRED,” Jankos exclaimed as he put a cup of coffee in front of the blonde girl.

“Oh, thank you,” she smiled brightly, now turning to the team’s ADC, “I just can’t imagine _Rasmus_ needing to apologize for anything – he’s just _too damn cute_ , isn’t he?”

Wunder leant back, pretending to push his finger down his throat in disgust without Sam noticing. Next to Rasmus, Miky started to laugh into his fist. Next to Sam, however, Perkz let out a grunt as he crossed his arms.

“Let’s just settle on no one apologizing for anything,” he mumbled with sudden annoyance written all over his face. From one moment to the other, Jankos’ face looked as red as a tomato.

“Come on, don’t make this about you,” Sam smiled as she playfully tugged on Luka’s ear, “if Rasmus really feels like he needs to apologize for doing something, I think he should…!”

“Why, thank you _, Mom_ ,” the ADC remarked with a chuckle, “now, _Dad_ , do you think I should text Nemesis?”

“I swear to god, I’m one year older than you…” Luka grinned, but the new title, even if just given as a joke, somehow seemed to suit him quite well.

“Oh, what, so this is about Rekkles and that other midlaner?” Sam gasped, her eyes sparkling with joy – gossip did, after all, never fail to make her day.

“Fine, fine, if it’s that important,” Perkz sighed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, “I know just the way to reach him…”

“You have his phone number? Is this another sex thing…” Wunder mumbled, not exactly looking like he wanted to hear the answer.

“Gross,” Luka shuddered, “no, I just joined his Discord server a while back. I like to check on what the other midlaners in the League are doing…”

Rasmus took Perkz’ phone with curiosity in his eyes, carefully scanning through the profile he was presented with. The username did, however, almost immediately cause him to start laughing.

“How in the hell did you come up with **Nemesisfan_69**??” He wheezed, tilting the screen a little so that Miky could take a look himself.

“What can I say, gotta stay under the radar, right?” Luka replied, leaning back in his chair, “I swear, the whole server is _swarming_ with fangirls, so this was an obvious choice.”

“Fangirls?? For that weeb?” Wunder clenched his fists in disbelief, “ _fuck_ , I need my own server, like, yesterday…!”

“Okay, message sent!” Rasmus smiled, ignoring the fangirl remark in the hopes of avoiding to talk about… well, fangirls.

“Good job!” Sam reassured him, playfully ruffling his messy, brown hair.

“Honestly, you should see this as a sign if you ask me. Forget about Rekkles and stick to Selfmade instead…” Miky smirked, swinging his arm around his ADC.

“Selfmade?? CAPS, are you telling me you are cheating on me with another Polish jungler??” Jankos exclaimed with exaggerated shock.

Sam suddenly started to laugh – on the other side of the table, Wunder nervously joined in, obviously pretending to enjoy Jankos’ humour to get on the blonde’s good side. The weird harmony of Sam’s bright, chirping laughter and the toplaner’s weird, squealy imitation filled G2’s kitchen. Jankos looked quite pleased; Perkz, on the other hand, was staring daggers at his teammates.

“You guys are ridiculous,” he mumbled as he put his arm around Sam’s waist, pulling her a bit closer to him.

“Oh, come on, we can’t all be as cool as **Nemesisfan_69** …!” Sam smirked as she gave Luka a peck on his cheek, causing the midlaner to blush a little.

“Speaking of which,” Rasmus said as he _recklessly_ slammed Perkz’ phone onto the table, “Nemesis hasn’t replied yet, even though it clearly says that he’s online…”

“Would you be more careful with that…” Luka mumbled, still looking a bit flustered, before putting his phone back into his pocket.

“My god, Caps, you can be such a GIRL sometimes…” Wunder teased the ADC, who was back to playing with his spoon. He did, however, register Sam shooting the toplaner an angry glance…

“I – I meant to say that, uhm, I’m sure he will reply soon, don’t worry about it,” Wunder hastily added, nervously scratching his head in the process.

“Oh WELL, even if he doesn’t, I’m sure it will psyche him OUT enough for us to get a FREE WIN tonight!” Jankos blurted out with a triumphant smile, raising his fist into the air.

Instantly, Rasmus regretted sending the message out right away - he didn't even _consider_ that today was probably the worst imaginable timing for his apology. Silently, he hoped that the midlaner wouldn't interpret his apology as an attempt to throw him off his game, as that was the last thing Rasmus wanted and, well, needed.

“Hmpf, it’s not like we _need_ that to win,” Luka grumbled as if he could read the ADC's mind, arms crossed, “I’d beat that stick figure into the ground either way, you know…”

“This is not about physical strength, Luka, just remember how skinny Doinb –“ Miky started, almost immediately coming to a stop again.

G2’s squad sighed collectively as they remembered their tragic match against the current World Champions, FunPlus Phoenix. Even though it was one the team’s winning qualities, that day proved that they could, indeed, be _too cocky_ sometimes. With their reputation on the line, they couldn’t allow themselves to let something like that happen today against Fnatic. Suddenly, a wild determination burned in the eyes of the squad – causing Sam to glance around the room in confusion.

“What’s wrong guys? You’ll win no matter what, right?” She asked carefully.

“You see, we are kind of traumatized when it comes to skinny midlaners…” Luka sighed next to her.

“And that _Lee Sin_ , god, I still have nightmares of Tian’s Lee Sin…!” Jankos whispered in awe – it was an unusual thing to happen. In fact, Rasmus couldn’t recall having ever heard the jungler whisper before.

“Yikes, that sounds awful,” Sam said with a frown, seemingly wanting to give the whole team a big hug, “I better come cheer you on tonight then, right?”

“Oh, it’s not like Fnatic is anywhere close to FPX’ level, you don’t need to –“ Miky began, but Jankos quickly covered the support’s mouth with his hand.

“YES, yes that would be very NICE of you!” The jungler beamed at her with rosy cheeks. Next to him, Wunder nodded eagerly as well.

“It’s a deal then!” Sam chuckled as she got up to put her cup into the sink.

“Alright, time to get our heads into the game then…!” Luka tapped his head with his index finger, trying to build eye contact with one teammate after the other, “off to the gaming room!”

\---

As Rasmus finally took the stage, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. He kept glancing over to see if Fnatic’s squad had taken their seats yet – somehow, G2’s team seemed to have arrived a bit earlier than their opponents. Next to the ADC, Miky was also shuffling in his seat, which was a rather unusual sight. Even though he was shaking himself, Rasmus decided to put a hand on his support’s shoulder to give him some reassurance.

“It’s okay, Miky, we’ll win…” he said with a crooked smile, trying his best to sound convincing.

“Huh?” Mihael mumbled, “of course we will, why are you saying something weird like that now?”

“Uhh, well, you look kind of nervous…?” Rasmus replied, his head now tilted in confusion.

“Oh, no that’s not it,” Miky shrugged, leaning in a bit closer to whisper into his ADC’s ear, “I’ve just never worn a butt-plug _this big_ on stage, I’m still trying to adjust.”

“You are WHAT –“ Rasmus shrieked, almost jumping up in his chair.

His support was still laughing at how flustered the ADC looked when Fnatic’s team finally took the stage. Rasmus tried his hardest to regain his composure, eyeing his opponents carefully. Martin looked a bit pale, even though his messy beard made it hard to tell. The team’s midlaner did, however, look completely unbothered. For a moment, as he stared at the Slovenian relentlessly, Rasmus wondered whether he might have not read his messages, after all. Or was it _actually_ possible for someone to be this calm after receiving this kind of news…?

“Oh, he’s bothered, alright,” Miky smirked next to Rasmus, as apparently everyone was able to read his mind today, “he’s just not someone to let that show… but we’ll see in the Rift.”

And so they did. Even though Fnatic played quite aggressively, pushing Caps and Miky to their tower in the early game, a teleport from Wunder to the botlane, five minutes in, quickly turned the game in G2’s favour. After that, Rasmus felt Martin not really being able to recover. But it was not like the game was just won – no, they had to play with respect, which showed in their first Baron attempt fifteen minutes later. Even though they had killed off their opponent’s jungler – _sorry, Oskar, but that’s the name of the game_ – G2 hesitated to start the Baron. Against any other team, they wouldn’t have batted an eye. But, with Fnatic, things always felt different, after all. They had to respect that Fnatic could come back if they made one mistake; and, in the end, that led them to victory.

After the rush of the victory ebbed away, the team had to walk over to shake their opponents hands. Normally, that was a mere formality and nothing that really affected Rasmus’ nerves – but, of course, that _also_ felt different with Fnatic. It was his old team, or maybe _even family_ , after all. First, he gave Bwipo a big hug. Even in defeat, the toplaner gave Rasmus a huge smile as he passed him. Next, he hugged Oskar, not thinking twice about how that might make some people wonder about their relationship. But then, there was Nemesis. And then, just as Rasmus thought that a handshake couldn’t possibly feel more forced, there was Martin. By the time the ADC had reached the end of the line to hug Hylissang, the victory suddenly didn’t feel as sweet anymore.

When Rasmus had been asked to join the Post-Game Lobby after his big match against Fnatic, he had been more than excited to accept the invitation. The thought of sitting next to Martin for an extended period of time still thrilled the ADC – but now, after seeing how cold and distant the Swede was acting, he was also kind of nervous about it. When Martin sat down, seemingly as far away from Rasmus as possible, it felt as if the Dane’s worst fear had come true. Even though this moment felt like a gift to him, it must have been hell on earth for the other ADC – and that was the last thing Rasmus wanted to be.

As Martin was asked about the game first, Rasmus made sure to listen and nod, not trying to interrupt or steal the spotlight away. It was, of course, _actually_ nice to hear what the ADC had to say. Or just to listen to his voice, really – it was almost annoying to Rasmus just _how longingly_ he was staring at the Swede sitting beside him. It was incredibly difficult to figure out what to do with his stupid hands, who wanted nothing more but to reach out to touch Martin. Rasmus settled on putting them on his knees. _I need to focus, god damn it_ , he nervously thought.

Hearing that Martin was blaming himself for the loss, saying that the TP bot in the first five minutes had already sealed the deal, surprised Rasmus. _Did he blame himself when he lost me, too?_ He wondered, supressing a sigh. Of course he knew that the other ADC had the tendency to be too hard on himself, but he undeniably played quite well today in Rasmus’ eyes. This was the point where he tried to get a word in – he expressed how Fnatic just kept coming back, and how respectful he had to play against them. He tried to be subtle about it, but what Rasmus really meant to say was _please, please stop beating yourself up, Martin_.

When Martin explained how his ultimate goal was to win Worlds, and how he tried to _reset_ himself every year, Rasmus couldn’t help but feel a little offended. _Is that what you are doing right now? With Nemesis?_ Another sigh threatened to escape the ADC’s lips, but he managed to keep his composure somehow. He didn’t want to expose or ridicule Martin, after all. But if “resetting” meant crossing the Dane out of his life, Rasmus didn’t exactly enjoy the Swede’s approach to the new year.

It was when Froskurinn asked about the better relationship between team members – as in being colleagues or friends – that Rasmus finally felt comfortable enough to explain himself a bit further. He just hoped that Martin was listening; not just hearing what he _said_ but understanding what he really _meant_. He described how his team felt much more than a family than anything else – and he emphasized that this was how he had _always_ felt like. Of course, he would have rather told Martin directly just how much he, as well as the time he had spent with Fnatic, truly meant to him. But it was already a silver lining when he caught the hint of a smile forming on Martin’s lips. _Maybe he understood_ , he thought, hopelessly lost in the Swede’s blue eyes for the rest of the interview.

When the Post-Game Lobby finally came to an end, Rasmus felt as if he had so much _more_ to say. As him and Martin walked through the hallway backstage together, he decided to at least _try_ to continue their conversation, this time without anyone else watching.

“So, uhm, that was a bit weird,” he nervously laughed, one hand at the back of his head.

“Yeah,” the other ADC mumbled.

“Sorry for blowing up your phone this whole time,” Rasmus whispered, the shame overcoming him again, “I just wanted to talk to you about everything, you know…”

“And I didn’t.” Martin shrugged, his hands now in the pockets of his sweatpants.

There was a pause – but they were still walking into the same direction, side by side.

“Well, uhm, would you consider talking now, maybe? Since we are already out here together…” Rasmus mumbled, nervously glancing over to watch out for Martin’s reaction.

“Fine.” The other ADC replied calmly.

“Huh?” Rasmus was baffled – he certainly didn’t expect the Swede to simply agree to his proposition.

“What, I thought that’s what you wanted?” Martin snorted, sounding annoyed this time.

“Well yes, I just didn’t expect you to say…yes.” Rasmus mumbled shyly, avoiding the other ADC’s gaze – at this point, they had walked right out of the studio. There was a cab waiting on the side of the road.

“Okay… so are you gonna come or not?” Martin asked as he opened the cab’s door, climbing inside of the car.

“To, uhm, to your place?” Rasmus was even more confused now – _what the hell is going on? Wasn’t he ignoring my very existence just a minute ago?_

“I guess you could call it that. If you want to talk now then get inside already…” Martin waved the Dane over.

Even though he still couldn’t fully process the request, Rasmus didn’t hesitate for another second. Quickly, he made his way into the passenger seat next to Martin. He tried his best to remain calm – after all, he really only wanted to talk to the other ADC. He wanted to apologize, to get the record straight…

“I guess I should mention that I currently live in a hotel…” Martin shrugged as he stretched his arms and yawned.

 _In a hotel? With hotel rooms? With a big …bed?_ Rasmus thought, suddenly starting to sweat. In the past, their hotel adventures in different cities, for LEC finals or Worlds, had certainly always made for the best memories. Immediately, Rasmus’ composure began to crumble. Even though he had entered this car with a resolve, right now, he wasn’t so sure about what he wanted to happen anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Rasmus' POV :) writing scenes witht he whole G2 squad is always especially fun to write, so I can only hope that it's just as nice to read them! 
> 
> Now, there's a lot of pressure on Martin's POV to fill the all the holes Tim and Rasmus have ripped open... and I can promise you that it will... it's the longest chapter I've written yet with almost 8k words. Hope that's something to look forward to!
> 
> Anyway, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	28. Part 7: Martin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks! Glad you could make it again ;) 
> 
> This time around, Martin's POV is supposed to tie all the loose ends together, so let's see where the journey takes us...! 
> 
> As I've already mentioned before, this chapter is the longest one I've written so far - also, did you know that this fic has, by now, surpassed both "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" in terms of word count? Both of them have less than 100k words, the third volume has about 107k. I looked these things up as a joke, but it seems like I've kind of written a book about the Fnatic & G2 boys? And also that all of you have READ a whole book about them. Isn't that wild? Anyway, there's no stopping for me at this point, so let's see what other milestones we can reach together. 
> 
> Okay, enough rambling - hope you enjoy this chapter!

When Martin woke up in his hotel room, only to stare at the blank ceiling to the sound of his alarm clock chiming a song that he used to enjoy, he regretted being alone. Even though he had, by now, grown used to spending his mornings by himself, far away from the shenanigans that occurred back when he was living at the gaming apartment, waking up alone had somehow felt particularly lonely lately. As the ADC got up to head to the bathroom, he took a moment to consider the reason for his sudden longing for company. A smile flashed across his face – yes, it wasn't hard to point out what had recently changed in his love life. He thought about Tim, and, more specifically about the way in which they had gotten _“closer”_ during the last week.

Even though he had never expected the midlaner to take the initiative like that, the memory of their hook-up in the office the weekend before was still so present in his mind, he felt as if he could almost taste Tim’s lips on his. Then again, they hadn’t wasted any time to _repeat_ their sensual adventure elsewhere several times over the course of the last couple of days. The only thing that they hadn’t done was taking the _next step_. Although Martin had finally dared to ask Tim out on a date, they hadn’t managed to find the time to go through with it.

 _Or maybe I’m still scared?_ Martin considered as he brushed his teeth, carefully eyeing himself in the bathroom mirror. The current “look” he was sporting didn’t really appeal to him too much anymore – the lazy beard, the messy hair… he was in desperate need for a new hairdresser. Yet another thing that he had no time for; or, well, maybe another thing that he was scared of. With all the change happening in his life, it would have been nice to hold onto something familiar, after all – oh, why did his long-trusted hairdresser have to move away now, of all times?

Martin was reminded of another thing that had recently changed when he picked up his OnePlus to check his messages. With a sigh he saw that there were, yet again, several messages from Rasmus. Quickly, Martin deleted the notifications and threw his phone on the bed, not wanting to deal with the other ADC’s new desperate attempts to get his attention. After the Dane had called him “childish” for not answering about a week before, he had hoped that that would be the end of it. But, sadly, he knew that Rasmus was more persistent than that.

He also knew that he had to stop running away at some point. He was just so mad, and, at the same time, he just wanted to indulge in how nice things with Tim felt right now. _Maybe that does make me a little childish_ , Martin thought with a grumpy expression on his face, trying to squeeze himself into his tight Gymshark attire. Maybe some time in the gym would help him get his mind off of this whole drama for a while – or, rather, help him focus on the task of the day. Considering that he had to play against G2 today, he probably wouldn’t be able to avoid thinking about Rasmus at least a little bit, after all.

As he was about to head out, gym bag thrown over his shoulder, Martin suddenly felt his OnePlus vibrate in his pocket – _who’s calling me at this time of the day?_ He thought with a grunt, trying to fish his phone out of his pocket hastily. Initially, he just planned to send Rasmus straight to the mailbox, as he had done many times this last week. But, to his surprise, it was not the other ADC calling.

“Oh, good morning Alfonso,” he mumbled, stopping in his tracks, “what’s up?”

“Morning, Martin! Listen, I need you to come to the office an hour earlier than scheduled.” The coach chirped, not wasting a second to get down to business.

“Uhm, okay? Why that?” Martin asked in confusion as he sat down to take off his shoes again.

“Well, I can’t really explain that on the phone – let’s just say it’s urgent.”

“I see… see you in a bit, then.” The ADC replied, wondering why his coach could possibly sound so serious right now.

“Great, bye!”

And, with that, the brief conversation had already found its end. This sudden change of events had truly startled Martin, who now had to change up his _whole_ morning routine to meet his coach’s request. No gym, no intensely long hairstyling session… Immediately, his mood was ruined. Then again, he didn’t mind seeing Tim a little earlier. With the image of his grumpy midlaner cuddling with a cushion on the grey coach in the viewing area in mind, the ADC started to put on another outfit to head to the office with a smile.

When Martin finally arrived in the office, after a short cab drive and a lousy cup of coffee, this image was exactly what he was searching for. As he stumbled into the viewing area of the office, his eyes quickly met with Tim’s, who was already sitting on the couch, just like Martin had anticipated. His first instinct was to rush in to hug the midlaner, maybe even to tell him that he would have loved having him by his side this night – but, then again, this was hardly the time nor the place for that. He could tell by how serious the team’s coach was looking that the news couldn’t be good. Thinking about some last-minute draft scandal against G2 sent a shiver down Martin’s spine.

Martin tried his best not to imagine the worst – he didn’t want to worry unnecessarily. After all, it might be nothing too serious; everyone knew that the coach had the tendency to blow things out of proportion. But, as he starred at the condom wrapper in Mithy’s hand, he realized that he hadn’t worried _enough_. The sight of the evidence Tim and the ADC had carelessly left behind the weekend before made Martin’s blood freeze in his veins. The worst possible outcomes of this scenario suddenly flashed through his mind, causing panic to take over. It was a comment from his jungler that finally grounded him again.

“What, you gathered us here just to tell us that you finally got laid?” Oskar laughed as he playfully clapped his hands, “congrats man, but don’t you think that’s a bit too much?”

 _Nice one_ , Martin thought with the hint of a smirk. Even though he hated to admit it, he kind of wished he had been the one to come up with a witty remark like that. But he didn’t want to give the jungler the satisfaction of actually laughing out loud – mostly because of their overly complicated relationship. Yes, in many ways, he envied Oskar. For the way he so easily got along with all of his teammates right away, for his effortless humour and, of course, his relationship with Tim.

Now, one could argue that that didn’t make any sense, since Martin was arguably a lot _closer_ to the midlaner as of right now. But there was this voice, somewhere deep inside of him, that kept telling the ADC that he simply couldn’t give Tim what Oskar had to offer. And that thought terrified Martin. While the ADC had, again, lost his way wandering the ominous dark forest of his mind, the team’s coach had spared no efforts to dismiss Selfmade’s silly joke.

“That’s of course _not_ the reason – my god, you guys are so childish this morning…” The team’s coach mumbled, now taking a seat, “I found _this_ near this couch yesterday. Yes, _this couch_ you are all sitting on right now.”

While Martin was still pondering what Alfonso even _could_ have done with the condom, judging by how his boyfriend lived in a completely different time zone, the laughter around him stopped. By now, all of his teammates must have realized the madness Martin had been aware of from the second he laid his eyes on that stupid condom wrapper.

“Good, you get it now,” Alfonso continued, now wildly gesturing with his hands, “someone here obviously thought it was a good idea to _screw_ on this very couch we sit on every day – and I am, to say the least, _disgusted_.”

He quickly glanced over to look at Tim, who was sitting way too far away, all the way on the other end of the couch. The midlaner looked nervous, even though one look into his eyes was enough for Martin to tell that he was trying to hide it. _Good call_ , Martin thought as he sat himself up straight to make himself look less suspicious – or, wait, did that make him look _more_ suspicious, actually? _What would Spencer Reid do?_ The ADC asked himself as he helplessly kept shuffling in his seat, unable to decide what an innocent man would sit like. 

As he felt like his plan was failing, he caught a glimpse of the team’s cuddling toplaner and support, sitting right next to his terrified midlaner. The old married couple of the team had recently started to act like an _actual couple_ – at first, it surprised the ADC, but right now, it felt quite _convenient_ to him. After all, they weren’t exactly being _sneaky_ about their lovey-doveyness. Still nervously biting his lower lip, Martin considered that the coach might put the blame on them. Judging from their conversation the weekend before, he at least couldn’t have possibly known about him and Tim, right? Almost as if he could read the ADC’s mind, the team’s coach turned to look directly at Bwipo and Hylissang.

“Fine, so no one wants to confess… but I’m not letting this slide. If we want to have any sort of chance for the title, we need _order_ in this team! _No fucking in the office_ , god damn it!”

 _There it was._ Without even as much as saying a single thing, Martin’s head had just been spared. It felt almost too good to be true – but then, as he looked at his panicking toplaner and his pale support, he realized that he couldn’t _possibly l_ et them take the fall. A quick exchange of glances with Tim confirmed that the midlaner felt uneasy about that as well; but what could they do instead? Confess? The punishment would be cruel, that much was for sure. Then again, what would Hylissang do to the ADC if he and Bwipo ended up being blamed for this? Martin had no doubt that Detective Hyli had, by now, solved the case already.

Suddenly, Oskar broke the silence. “It wasn’t them, Alfonso.”

“Oh yeah, and how do you know that, Oskar?” The team’s coach asked the jungler provocatively, crossing his arms in the process.

“Uhm, I’d rather not say…” the jungler mumbled, hesitantly scratching his head, “but I’m 100% sure about it. It must have been someone else.”

 _And how do you know that?_ Martin thought sullenly, almost as if he _hadn’t_ just tried to come up with a plan to draw suspicion away from the team’s toplaner and support, too. Yes, if anything, _he_ should have been the one to do it. But he hardly had the time to sulk about his jungler, yet again, swooping in to save the day. After all, it was now his head, as well as his midlaner’s, that were on the chopping block if he didn’t come up with another plan quickly. His lip was almost bleeding due to all the biting when finally, it came to him – or, rather, the sight of Fnatic’s self-proclaimed maid-of-all-work walking through the room that gave him an idea.

“Pete!” Martin exclaimed, causing all heads in the room to turn towards him.

“Uhm, Hi Martin, what’s up? I was just –“

“What are you trying to do here, Martin?” Alfonso jumped in, interrupting Pete immediately, with his death stare set on the team’s ADC.

“I was just thinking, you know, we are all assuming the worst here, but maybe the condom was just part of another video for our YouTube channel?” Martin suggested, and he prayed that no one heard just how much his voice was shaking. The team’s coach squinted at him.

“Oh, I hardly doubt that he would –“

“Actually, yes, uhm you see I was planning to do this prank video, but we didn’t have any balloons lying around so I just tried to improvise…” Pete laughed, shaking his head at his own silly idea.

“Oh boy, a prank video sounds pog! Can we get these big, red balloons that look like hearts?” Bwipo chuckled, obviously looking at Hylissang right next to him.

“I doubt that those would be good for pranks,” the support mumbled, his cheeks burning red, “but I would also advise you to get some real balloons, Pete.”

“Oh, yes, I already put those on my shopping list,” he remarked with a smile, “sorry for the inconvenience, Alfonso, I really thought I had cleaned up everything!”

The team’s coach was staring back and forth between the condom wrapper in his hand and the apologetic Pete in the doorway. He seemingly wasn’t buying what Pete was selling – but, then again, why would he try to deny this perfectly reasonable confession? _And he's no Spencer Reid_ , the ADC thought, feeling satisfied with himself as he had managed to come up with an alibi. In his mind, Martin was already trying to imagine what he could do to repay Pete for this grand gesture – drinks for the next _years_ would be on him, at least. As Alfonso dismissed the “culprit” with a sigh and a nod, the ADC watched Pete give him a subtle wink before he strolled out of the room. _Oh, he knows I owe him big time_ , Martin thought, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Okay, fine, it’s settled then,” Alfonso grumpily mumbled as he got up, “let’s focus on the game, now – meet me in the gaming room in five minutes.”

When Martin got up, in a rush to get to Tim to ask him about how he felt about his sick plan to save their heads, he was blocked by Hylissang.

“A word?” The support mumbled, pointing towards the empty hallway.

“I – I guess?” Martin replied hesitantly, his gaze still trying to find Tim’s.

Swiftly, Hylissang pulled the ADC to the side. The concerned look on his face already gave Martin an idea about what he wanted to talk about – and, boy, was he nervous about that.

“It was you, wasn’t it… that day, when you went back to the office.”

“Uhm, I don’t know what you’re talking about I –“ Martin mumbled, strictly avoiding to look at his support.

“Oh, cut the crap, Martin, we both know you’re a terrible liar,” Zdravets sighed, now putting one hand in his side, “you have to understand, I just don’t want you or Tim to get hurt.”

“Well, uhm,” the ADC swallowed hard, trying to process just how much his support gathered from such little information, “Mithy took the bait, so no one is going to die at least, right?”

“That’s not funny… you know what’s on the line here, you can’t just mess around like that all the time!” Zdravets hissed, wildly gesturing with his free hand.

“It’s not like I’m trying to _mess around_ with Tim, okay…” Martin mumbled, feeling himself blush a little.

“What is it then? And what about Caps?” The support murmured, now looking as if the thought of the former midlaner had suddenly made him sad.

“I’m serious about Tim, okay? And Rasmus – that’s over, I told you… I’m over him.” Martin clarified, trying his best to build eye-contact now.

And, oh, how he _wished_ that was true. As much as he wanted to simply forget about the other ADC to build a future with his midlaner, he just couldn’t seem to do it. Then again, maybe that was because Rasmus kept blowing up his phone. Maybe the night’s forced confrontation was exactly what Martin needed to make his false words come true. His support, standing only inches away from him, didn’t look awfully convinced.

“I don’t know about that, Martin… please just be careful, okay? And come talk to me when stuff gets hard?”

“What about you, Zdravets?” The ADC mumbled, “are you going to talk to me, too? I mean, there is obviously something going on between you and Bwipo and you haven’t –“

“Guys, I said 5 MINUTES! Don’t push my buttons today, I swear to god…!” Alfonso’s voice echoed from the gaming room, his tone both defiant and terrifying.

“We better get in there,” Hylissang smiled plaintively, “but you’re right, we should set some time aside to talk soon.”

And, with a pat on the back, both of the players slouched towards the gaming room, where the rough, last-minute briefing for the upcoming match ensued. While all of the player’s were on edge due to the immense pressure of playing against their rivals G2, there was also a burning determination in each of their faces. Everyone seemed to have their own motivation, besides the obvious desire for victory. On their car ride to the studio, Martin witnessed one of them, while being parked in the back seat next to Bwipo and Hylissang. He was wearing headphones, but he had decided to turn off the music when he felt as if he couldn’t concentrate properly. It was, therefore, a sheer coincidence that he heard the guys beside him whisper to each other.

“Gabriël, please, we should really stop being so… obvious! Everyone is already talking about us…” Hylissang whispered with a grin, playfully shoving Bwipo’s hand away.

“Oh, let them talk, Zdravets,” the toplaner smirked. Out of the corner of his eye, Martin could see the toplaner’s hand travelling up the support’s thigh, causing him to nervously look away immediately.

“Gosh, I don’t think I can focus on the game like this…” Zdravets giggled in response.

“Hmm but imagine how much nicer doing _stuff_ tonight would feel after a victory!” Bwipo whispered.

At this point, Martin debated whether he should just turn his music back on. Honestly, he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to know what kind of _stuff_ the toplaner was referring to. Then again, he was curious by heart – one of the reason’s why he considered himself to be more of a cat-person. _Oh, what the hell_ , he thought with a slight sigh, _I might as well hear the end of this_. After all, he kind of needed to make sure that his support would be able to concentrate on the match later on, right?

“Why, uhm, what kind of stuff…?” Zdravets asked with big eyes.

“Well, let’s just say I asked Oskar to tell me all about…” Bwipo’s whispers kept getting quieter, to the point where Martin couldn’t understand them anymore.

 _What? He told you about what?_ The ADC thought grumpily, more than annoyed by the fact that it was _yet again_ the team’s jungler that had the solution for everything. It wasn’t necessarily that he wished for Bwipo or Hylissang to come to him for sex advice, if this was what they were talking about – no, he was still trying his hardest _not_ to imagine them getting it on. It was more of a question of principle at this point. Next to Martin, it seemed as if Hylissang had, unlike the ADC, understood every single word his toplaner had ushered. His face was burning bright red.

“Don’t you think we’ll end up doing that anyway…?” The support said softly, his hand finding the toplaner’s again.

“Well, probably – but let’s still win, right?” Bwipo chuckled, tightly clutching onto his support’s hand.

 _They are so stupidly cute_ , Martin thought as he turned his head to look out of the window. Even though he felt happy for the both of them, their newly found luck somehow seemed to put a magnifying lens on all of his romantic shortcomings. In the end, he just _wanted_ what they had – someone to hold, to kiss, to talk to… no doubt, no troubles. Why did that always feel so far out of reach for him? _Maybe I have a shot this time_ , the ADC thought as he subtly stroked the messy dark-blonde hair of his midlaner in front of him. For that, he had to overcome the challenges that awaited him on stage today.

When Fnatic’s squad took the stage, their opponents were already seated and ready to go, seemingly lurking at the players dressed in black and orange. Martin immediately felt Rasmus’ eyes on him and, even though he tried not to, he caught himself glancing over at the other ADC a couple of times. Ignoring him certainly had felt a lot easier when he didn’t have to _look_ at him. But, after all, the much more urgent objective now was to beat G2 into the ground, and Martin felt more than prepared to do so. Next to him, Tim looked just as fired up. Seeing his midlaner ready to jump into the waves with him caused a smile to flash over Martin’s lips.

Unfortunately, the game didn’t exactly go as planned. Even though both Rekkles and Hylissang played quite aggressively in the early game, pushing Caps and Miky all the way back, a TP bot five minutes in broke their neck. After giving away first blood, Martin felt like the worst piece of crap in the League, and, even though Fnatic kept clinging on to chances to come back, the ADC just couldn’t seem to regain his confidence. When G2 wouldn’t even go for the Baron right away after killing Selfmade in the midlane, Martin felt as if they were taunting them – _Don’t go easy on me, Rasmus_ , he thought, desperately trying to hold on to his strength. But, in the end, he didn’t manage to hold on. Instead, the game was lost after only thirty minutes in the Rift.

Getting up to shake the winner’s hands had always felt particularly dreadful to the ADC. Maybe he was just a sore loser? Or maybe he’d just rather stay seated to beat himself up after losing, just like any normal player would. At least, that’s what he preferred to _tell_ himself. Even though his tendency to react badly to losses had gotten better over the years, today’s loss hurt just as much as his first one, if not more. As he stood there, waiting for G2’s smiling members to make their way to their side, he felt as if his legs were about to give in at any moment. His stare followed Rasmus’ every move, and that’s why he happened to catch a glimpse of the ADC hugging Fnatic’s jungler – _why in the hell…?_

But he didn’t have time to think about all the possible reasons why the two players who should have been strangers at this point decided to hug each other. After Tim had somehow managed to squeeze Rasmus’ hand loosely, it was his turn. Under different circumstances, he might have considered hugging his old teammate – but, in the end, that was unthinkable today. He reached his hand out for about a second, trying to look anywhere but into Rasmus’ eyes. Seeing the other ADC’s big, wavering eyes might have just been too much for Martin right now. When the rest of the G2 players had finally passed him, the ADC let himself sink back into his chair, grateful that his legs didn’t have to hold him up anymore. It felt as if he was packing up his set-up in time lapse – then again, maybe he _was_. He was certainly not in a rush to get to his next _appointment_.

He still had absolutely no idea why on earth he had even agreed to join the Post-Game Lobby after this fateful game. At the time, he couldn’t see himself loosing the match-up; maybe that had caused his brain to go soft enough to overlook what an obvious _set-up_ the whole thing was. They wanted drama, or, even worse, a reconciliation – but Martin was determined not to give it to them. Right now, he just wanted to get it over with.

As Fnatic’s squad walked off-stage, Martin looked over at Tim, who was walking a few meters in front of him. Especially after seeing Bwipo and Hylissang reach for each other’s hands right away, Martin wanted nothing more than to call out to his midlaner, to fling him over his shoulder and just run away from the stupid PGL. But that was not an option at this point. If he wanted to have a shot this time around, he had to find closure with Rasmus. So, instead, he simply took the turn in the hallway with a last wave goodbye.

When he walked into the studio, Martin noticed that Rasmus already found a spot right in the middle of the couch. As the image of their knees accidentally touching flickered through his mind, the ADC decided to sit as far away from the other guy as possible, to the point where he was basically hugging the armrest of the couch. But, despite that, the moment had finally come. That is, the moment when Martin finally couldn’t look away anymore. Partially, it was because he had, after years of training, acquired more than enough experience and knowledge when it came to being in front of a camera. But maybe, just maybe, a part of him _wanted_ to look at Rasmus. The other ADC looked so frail, so soft – Martin instantly felt the longing in his stare. Keeping his resolve up suddenly felt a lot harder.

Just like a thousand times before, Martin was asked about how the game went down. It was a terribly tedious question by now, especially since the ADC was so used to reflect every single game at length with his team anyway. But, being the professional that he is, he explained what went _wrong_. Even though they didn’t specifically ask for that, he knew that it was what they wanted to hear. That he messed up, that he should have seen that TP coming – that he should have been better. In his head, he was already picturing the comments he would receive; how they would make him a laughing stock for loosing on the botlane against his former midlaner. The thought alone made him flinch. He explained how he knew that his fans probably wouldn’t be too happy with his performance – but he also knew that wouldn’t be enough to stop the comments from flowing.

When he glanced over at Rasmus after ending his own game analysis, some part of him expected a cocky smile to grace the other ADC’s lips. After all, that was all he wanted to do, right? To _mock_ Martin when he was at his lowest. In a sense, it was just like when he had left him in 2018. _The misery, the humiliation; what was it even good for, Rasmus?_ Martin thought angrily, clenching his fists just enough so that the camera wouldn’t catch it. But, when he finally laid eyes on the Dane’s expression, he realized how wrong he was. Rasmus’ features were soft and honest, and his words were _way too kind_ for someone who had just won the derby between rivals. He explained how respectful G2 had to play, how Fnatic kept coming back… but, somehow, it felt as if he spoke to Martin on a different level. And that marked the first time Martin felt like a jerk during this Post-Game Lobby.

Now, when Martin was asked to name his ultimate goal, he sort of expected the interviewer to know the answer by now. It was the same for every reasonable League of Legends pro, if you asked him – winning Worlds. He had come awfully close to that in 2018, but he truly believed that he would get another shot at it. Maybe 2020 was the year? For that, he explained how he tried to reset himself every year, trying to make the best out of it without letting the past pull him down. Next to him, a _big part of his past_ suddenly seemed to sink deep into the couch’s cushions, almost as if he wanted to disappear. It was only after the words had left his mouth that Martin realized what exactly he had just said about his time with Rasmus – he had spoken of it as if it was just another burden that he had to leave behind to move forward. Even if a part of him felt that way still, he didn’t mean to say it like _that_. And, for the second time within minutes, Martin felt like a jerk.

When Froskurinn finally asked whether teammates should just be colleagues or rather friends, Martin saw the light in Rasmus’ eyes return. Of course, he would also express that having a good relationship with his teammates would improve his performance – but, in the end, he didn’t feel quite as passionately about that as the other ADC. Rasmus went on and on about how he felt as if his team was his family, not just his friends. And, yes, that is also an impression that Martin had gained over the course of the last year. While one part of him was grateful to G2’s squad for making Rasmus so _happy_ , the other part despised them for it. This pathetic jealousy made the ADC, yet again, feel like a jerk. 

Then, suddenly, the nostalgia seemed to take over Rasmus’ mind, causing the ADC to explain that that was what he had always felt like, even with Fnatic. It was something so obvious, and yet it made Martin feel such a wild range of emotions all at once. A smile formed on his lips. The time had meant _so much_ to him, too. But he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, especially not with all the cameras around. While the Dane was somehow able to just lay his heart on the line like that, the only thing Martin seemed to be able to do was feel like a jerk. 

When the Post-Game Lobby finally came to an end, Martin felt as if he had so much _more_ to say. As him and Rasmus walked through the hallway backstage together, however, he didn’t know how to approach the other ADC. He had had a plan before all of this, but after the rather unexpected emotional rollercoaster that other called “Post-Game Lobby”, he wasn’t too sure about what to say anymore. So, for a moment, they just walked beside each other. Since the ADC knew that a cab was waiting on him outside, he was painfully aware of how little time they actually had right now.

“So, uhm, that was a bit weird,” Rasmus suddenly laughed nervously, one hand at the back of his head.

“Yeah,” the Martin mumbled.

He just needed a little more _time_ to find the words, if he just had a little more time…

“Sorry for blowing up your phone this whole time,” Rasmus whispered softly, “I just wanted to talk to you about everything, you know…”

“And I didn’t.” Martin shrugged, but he didn’t feel _nearly_ as cool as he was trying to present himself right now – under the cover of the pockets of his sweatpants, his fingernails were piercing into the palms of his hands.

There was a pause – Martin considered just asking Rasmus for some more time, for a chance to really talk this over. But, in the end, he didn’t want to seem desperate – no, he couldn’t possibly explain himself correctly if a cocky grin flashed across Rasmus’ face even _once_. He was still debating what the most casual way to invite someone to join them in a cab could be when the other ADC spoke up, essentially taking the choice away from the Swede.

“Well, uhm, would you consider talking now, maybe? Since we are already out here together…” Rasmus mumbled, nervously glancing over.

“Fine.” Martin replied calmly.

In his head, something clicked. _Why am I even worried about this?_ Martin asked himself for a moment _, I’m the one with the upper hand, right?_ Considering how the other ADC had been texting him relentlessly, he must have been more than desperate to get back with him, after all. As long as he could keep his cool, Martin should be able to stay in control of this situation. And, eventually, he would be able to tell Rasmus about Tim as well.

“Huh?” Rasmus responded, obviously startled by the Swede’s cooperation.

“What, I thought that’s what you wanted?” Martin snorted – maybe he was pushing it a bit t _oo hard_ with how annoyed his voice sounded right now?

“Well yes, I just didn’t expect you to say…yes.” Rasmus mumbled – at this point, they had walked right out of the studio.

The cab was, just as expected, waiting for them on the side of the road. _Now, just be as casual as possible_ , Martin thought nervously as he approached the car. He needed to go through with this – but, by god, he didn’t want to give Rasmus the impression that he wanted to sleep with him again. Even if the smallest, tiniest bit of him wanted to – the image of Bwipo and Hylissang holding hands in the car suddenly flickered across his mind again. And, in the end, that’s what he wanted. Not just some meaningless hook-up with a ghost of his past.

“Okay… so are you gonna come or not?” Martin settled on asking as he opened the cab’s door, climbing inside of the car.

“To, uhm, to your place?” Rasmus responded, seemingly quite confused.

“I guess you could call it that. If you want to talk now then get inside already…” Martin waved the Dane over.

To the ADC’s relief, Rasmus didn’t hesitate for another second to make his way into the passenger seat next to Martin. Even though, for some reason, sitting this close to the other ADC made Martin’s heart beat a little faster, he felt as if his plan was working out. Maybe this was finally the night in which he could get rid of this huge weight he had been carrying around for so long. Well, arguably, Rasmus didn’t exactly weigh a lot – _but every metaphor has its inconsistencies, right?_ With a chuckle, Martin suddenly remembered that there was one piece of crucial information that he should probably break to Rasmus before they arrived at his current living quarters. Now, what do people do again when they are absolutely not nervous and 100 percent casual?

“I guess I should mention that I currently live in a hotel…” Martin shrugged as he stretched his arms and yawned.

 _Nailed it_ , he thought with a sense of self-satisfaction. Martin felt a little more confident now that he had chosen the playing field, _much different_ from the last time he had been with the Dane. There was no reply – and, thus, Martin considered what might be going through Rasmus’ head right now. Immediately, different images of hotel rooms around the world flooded the ADC’s mind. In the past, their hotel adventures in different cities, for LEC finals or Worlds, had certainly always made for the best memories, after all. Martin bit his lip as he remembered all the things they had done in between games to blow off steam – somehow, keeping his resolve up felt _even harder_ now. Where exactly did all of his anger go…?

None of the guys said a word until they finally arrived in Martin’s hotel room, which was rather plain, but still comfortable enough. As they walked inside, Martin remembered that he hadn’t bothered to clean up the place before leaving in the morning, resulting in the clothes of the previous day still being splattered across the floor. He hurried to sneakily kick his dirty pair of boxer briefs under the bed before turning back to the other ADC.

“So, uhm, can I offer you something to drink?” He asked, nervously running his fingers through his hair.

“You know I don’t drink,” Rasmus replied, looking slightly irritated, “but I guess water would be good?”

“Right, uhm, that’s what I meant,” He mumbled as he leant down to grab a bottle of water out of the minibar.

As he handed the bottle to Rasmus, he wondered why the Dane hadn’t sit down on the bed yet. If he was trying to _seduce_ him, he should be trying a bit harder, right? Martin let his gaze wander up and down Rasmus’ body, wondering what the other player had come up with to win him back. Tired of standing on his feet and waiting for Rasmus to make a move, Martin decided to let himself sink down on one of the armchairs near the window. Eagerly, the other ADC followed his lead.

“I think we should get right down to business,” Rasmus mumbled nervously as he sipped on his water repetitively.

“Well, I don’t know what kind of _business_ you expected to go down here,” Martin sighed, shaking his head ever so softly, “but I don’t think I can give you what you want.”

“What? What did he say to you?” Rasmus squinted at the ADC, obviously confused by his insinuation.

“Who?” Martin asked, just as irritated. This conversation was taking a weird turn, right off the bat.

“Well, Nemesis?” The Dane whispered, a sad smile on his lips.

 _What? How does he know?_ Martin swallowed hard as one question after the other bombarded his mind. The realization that, somehow, the other ADC had found out about his current relationship with Tim caught Martin completely off-guard. And, just like that, he didn’t feel like he was the one with the leverage anymore. He kept fidgeting around with his fingers under the coffee table, almost as if that could calm him down somehow. He wanted it to be a misunderstanding so badly.

“Nemesis? What about him?”

“Well, uhm, I wanted to know how he reacted to my apology since he hasn’t responded to my message yet?” Rasmus mumbled, scratching his head in uncertainty.

“Your apology? What kind of joke is this…?” Martin murmured, staring at his blank hands before lifting his gaze to face Rasmus, “who even told you about us?”

“Hmm, yeah, so it’s true, huh?” Rasmus closed his eyes, “I just wanted him to know that I was sorry about getting it on with you while you were a thing, you know.”

“That’s not – it wasn’t like this,” Martin hissed, even though he knew that was a convenient excuse, “you still haven’t answered my question. Who told you?”

“Well, it wasn’t you, right?” Rasmus snorted, “don’t you think it _should_ have been you?” 

“Yeah, you’re right,” The Swede mumbled as he leant forward, “I should have told you. But there are just as many things that _you_ should have told _me_ , don’t you agree?”

Rasmus sighed.

“Yeah, I guess… but you still didn’t have to lead me on this way. At least things between me and Miky were never anything close to a relationship, you know.”

“What’s your point, exactly?” Martin asked, looking back at his hands, “you knew that this was never going to be…”

He paused to look Rasmus in the eye.

“…serious.”

It felt as if he saw the world collapsing in Rasmus’ eyes. Martin breathed in sharply – suddenly, it almost felt like he regretted the words leaving his lips. As he thought that he saw Rasmus fighting the urge to cry, he wanted nothing more than to reach out to touch him, to pull him in close…

“Right,” Rasmus replied after clearing his throat, “now that makes me curious – are things with Nemesis really _serious_ for you, then? Or is he just another midlaner?”

“Another midlaner? Rasmus, why would you even say something like that?” Martin asked, feeling almost offended by the accusation of the other ADC. Then again, it was hard to deny that he had a certain _tendency_ when it came to choosing his romantic and sexual partners.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Rasmus whispered, his crooked smile looking tortured, “I didn’t want to believe that you could just replace me like that, you know… Honestly, I thought I was special to you.”

“Of course you’re special!” Martin exclaimed and, without thinking, he grabbed the Dane’s hand.

There was a pause – Rasmus stared Martin in the eyes, and, for just that one moment, the weight of the last years didn’t weigh them down anymore. It was only this one second, but the connection Martin felt was so pure; oh, how he wished that the weight would never return. But, after all, it did.

“I mean – I mean you were,” he whispered, shamefully looking away again as he let go of the other ADC’s hand, “you were special to me, Rasmus. But we have to move on, right?”

“God, don’t pretend like that’s an easy thing to do,” Rasmus sighed, pulling his hands back onto his lap, “if it were, life sure would be a lot less shitty for me, and don’t get me started on Oskar…”

“What did you just say?”

“Huh?”

“Oskar? Did you seriously just say Oskar?” Martin whispered.

He slowly felt all the anger that had cooked up during the day starting to rage in his chest. Well, if he was honest with himself, it had been building up for much longer than that.

“Well, yeah, him and I are kind of friends now? Bwipo introduced us last week and – god, do you ever _talk_ to your teammates?” Rasmus replied, back to his usual crooked smile.

“Of course I do!” Martin hissed immediately, sounding defensive if anything, “maybe not today, or, well, last week…but uhm –“

 _Yeah, I guess I really don’t talk to them enough_ , the ADC admitted to himself. Even though he had wanted to all day long, he ended up not speaking a single word to his midlaner and, well, lover, today. His lacking communication with his support was the reason why he had to find out about his recent breakthrough with Bwipo on his own – and, well, he generally avoided the team’s jungler at any cost these days. It was a bittersweet realization to have, especially during a conversation that _he_ had planned to dominate from the beginning.

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” Rasmus sighed, “listen, I just wanted to apologize to Nemesis, okay? And, well, I guess to you, for the way stuff went down two weeks ago…”

“ _That’s_ the reason why you followed me here?” Martin managed to reply, still absolutely shaken to the core. He couldn’t grasp what was going on.

“Yeah. And, honestly, seeing how much stuff you have to deal with right now, I’m probably better off without you.”

“What’s up with the high horse now?” Martin snorted, crossing his arms, “you’ve been blowing up my phone for weeks, and suddenly you’re _too goo_ d for me?”

“Ehm? Martin, are you listening to yourself right now?” Rasmus tilted his head, “I thought _you_ were the one telling me to move on?”

“But –“ The Swede started, immediately coming to a stop again. _But what?_ The other ADC was right, his whole objective was to find closure. Why did he suddenly feel like putting up a fight?

“Yeah, I figured as much…” the Dane mumbled as he got up.

“Wait, where are you going?” Martin sputtered, jumping up as well.

“I’m leaving.” Rasmus shrugged, “as things look right now, Miky was right. I should just stick with Oskar.”

“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” Martin grunted as he stepped forward to block Rasmus’ path towards the door. There was no way he could just let the other ADC leave – not after what he had just insinuated.

“Well, what I meant is that if you’re going to be _serious_ with Nemesis and all, I might as well weigh my _options_ , right?” The Dane said calmly, staring into Martin’s rage-filled eyes.

“But – but why _him?_ Of all people?” Martin whispered as he pressed his fist into the wall behind Rasmus, their faces now only inches away from each other.

“He’s a decent guy, Martin,” Rasmus mumbled, slightly blushing, “so why wouldn’t I go out with him?”

“Going out, huh…" the ADC swallowed, "well, I’ll have you know that I’m taking Tim out on a date next week.” Martin whispered, his forehead almost touching Rasmus’.

“Is that so? Good for you…” Rasmus whispered back, and his eyes kept flashing back and forth between the Swede’s eyes and lips.

Even though their words pointed into an entirely different direction, their chemistry was boiling hot, making Martin’s body tingle all over. The bulge in his pants screamed for him to go in for the kiss, to finally, finally make Rasmus stop spurting all of this nonsense. But, before he had a chance to act, the other ADC turned away.

“I better get going, you know, traffic and stuff,” he mumbled as he put his shoes back on.

“No, what? You can’t just leave…!” Martin exclaimed, his heart still racing fast in his chest.

“Funny, isn’t it,” Rasmus whispered, looking more solemn than Martin had ever seen him before, “I wanted to say that to you so many times in the past…”

“But this is not – I’m not, I –“ Martin stuttered, unable to produce a coherent sentence as he desperately reached out for the other ADC.

“Yeah, I know. Take care, Martin.” Rasmus said quietly as he got up.

And, without saying another word, he left. Martin still stood there, unable to move, long after the Dane had left the room. He couldn’t fully process what had happened to him – after all, wasn’t _he_ the one who had a plan? Who had the upper hand? Who wanted to finally find closure with his toxic ex? The world couldn’t have possibly felt more different now. Martin slowly sat down onto the bed, trying to figure out what to do next. _I mean, technically we ended things for good, right?_ He thought as he got out his OnePlus. Even though the situation had not played out as he had imagine it, the end result was, at least partially, what he had hoped for. But why did he have to feel so _ashamed_ about it?

He decided to shake it off. Because, after all, it was over now. He unlocked his phone, scrolling through his messages to find Tim’s chat. He tried to push the thought that they did, like Rasmus had suggested, not talk enough, aside. Right now, he certainly didn’t feel like talking, after all. He wanted to hold Tim in his arms, to forget about what a shitty day it had been – and, yes, maybe even to cuddle until they fall asleep. He had never done that with Tim. He had always been too afraid that things would end up like with _him_. But now, he didn’t want to let Rasmus stand in his way any longer. _It’s over, right? For real this time?_ Martin started typing.

Martin: Meet me at the hotel?

Martin: I want to see you

To his relief, the midlaner replied swiftly, saying that he would head out right away. And, even though it still felt so bittersweet to the ADC, a hint of a smile formed on Martin’s lips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's a wrap on Part 7 - next up, another episode of the DreamServer. 
> 
> There won't be a guest POV this time, mostly because I didn't really think it would contribute to the story, but also because I was really excited to start working on the next part! Can you guess the theme of Part 8...? I can promise you that it will be spicy ;) 
> 
> Anyway, let me hear your thoughts in the comments and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	29. Part 7: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello hello! I'm excited to welcome you folks to the seventh episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> The puzzles have gotten harder and harder over the course of the last episodes, but I wouldn't say that this one is the "most challenging yet"... which doesn't mean that it won't be interesting, I hope ;) In the end, the format wouldn't really work if it was impossible to find out who's who (think about all the irony that would be lost!) - but I'm determined to find other ways to keep it fresh! 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this episode; just like the whole part 7, I like to call it "Rivals in the Rift"

_After another clashing of the giants in the rift, some rivals found their hopes burned to a crisp, while others celebrated their long awaited victory. Ironically, some of the victorious ones couldn’t consider this day a win at all, while some of the presumed losers, on the other hand, found themselves in paradise that night. The curse – or is it the blessing? – of the team’s rivalry caused tension to run high yet again. Now, one might wonder whether some new rules have been laid down, now that the DreamServer had experienced a particularly peculiar episode the week before. The terms and conditions couldn’t possibly get any looser, now could they?_

\- **[concerned], [uncertain], [open_book]** and **[isolated]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[isolated]** : Anyone there?

 **[uncertain]** : Hi I guess

 **[open_book]** : yeah, you guessed it, I was also about to say hi

 **[concerned]** : I’m getting weird vibes right off the bat…

 **[concerned]** : so hi, let’s just jump to what’s up with you people

 **[uncertain]** : honestly, I don’t even know anymore

 **[open_book]** : shouldn’t you be able to tell, **@concerned**?

 **[open_book]** : Anyone can these days, it seems

 **[isolated]** : you know how Superman lives in his fortress of solitude?

 **[concerned]** : uhm no

 **[concerned]** : is that common knowledge?

 **[open_book]** : well, if you’re into comic books…

 **[isolated]** : there’s literally _tons_ of movies too

 **[isolated]** : but okay…

 **[isolated]** : let me put it in simpler terms

 **[isolated]** : I’m lonely

 **[uncertain]** : and standoffish, geez

 **[concerned]** : now, those things don’t necessarily have to be connected

 **[concerned]** : …but are they?

 **[isolated]** : what, now you’re saying I’m responsible for my own misery?

 **[open_book]** : aren’t we all…

 **[isolated]** : no

 **[isolated]** : it’s my teammates' fault...

 **[isolated]** :I just can’t seem to connect with them lately

 **[uncertain]** : bro, it really sounds like you’re the root of this problem

 **[concerned]** : maybe you’re just dealing with a lot yourself right now?

 **[isolated]** : maybe…

 **[isolated]** : I just don’t like to think of myself as this _weak,_ you know?

 **[open_book]** : that’s kind of a generic statement

 **[open_book]** : do you know anyone who _likes_ to be weak?

 **[concerned]** : well, some people pride themselves for having a sensitive side…

 **[concerned]** : but whatever, back to the issue

 **[uncertain]** : maybe you just need to grow some balls, man

 **[isolated]** : …

 **[isolated]** : I don’t think you understand on how many levels you offended me just now

 **[concerned]** : this is not helpful, @ **uncertain**

 **[uncertain]** : Honestly, would I be _uncertain_ if I had any sort of valuable advice

 **[open_book]** : well, at least he knows

 **[isolated]** : let’s just talk about something else, okay…

 **[isolated]** : like about how someone likes getting _read_

 **[open_book]** : ha-ha

 **[open_book]** : very _funny_

 **[open_book]** : I never said I LIKED it

 **[uncertain]** : I get that

 **[uncertain]** : there’s a reason why you don’t want people to see your true colours

 **[concerned]** : that sounds a bit alarming to me

 **[concerned]** : are you saying that you pretend to be someone else all the time?

 **[open_book]** : no, that’s too dramatic

 **[uncertain]** : hmm, is it?

 **[open_book]** : YES

 **[open_book]** : I mean if it isn’t for you… you got issues

 **[open_book]** : anyway

 **[open_book]** : there’s this one person who just seems to look right through me

 **[isolated]** : ahh, man

 **[isolated]** : if that’s the reason they don’t want to hang out with you…

 **[isolated]** : then I feel you

 **[concerned]** : don’t want to hang out?

 **[concerned]** : guys, you realize that you have TEAMMATES right

 **[concerned]** : you kind of _have_ to get along

 **[uncertain]** : it’s one thing to get along…

 **[uncertain]** : and another to hang out after games

 **[isolated]** : and a whole nother to bang

 **[concerned]** : ahh, so it comes down to that again…

 **[open_book]** : it always seems to, yes

 **[isolated]** : it’s not like that…

 **[isolated]** : well, of course I’d like to be more than friends with _one person_

 **[uncertain]** : ah, another brother in the friendzone

 **[concerned]** : is that a real thing?

 **[isolated]** : it’s not a real place, no

 **[uncertain]** : omg could you imagine?

 **[uncertain]** : “mom, can you come pick me up, I was dropped off in the friendzone again”

 **[isolated]** : lol

 **[concerned]** : wow, no, that was not my question guys…

 **[concerned]** : I just thought it was a thing girls did, you know

 **[concerned]** : …okay, I realize that’s a simplified worldview right there

 **[open_book]** : I was about to say…

 **[open_book]** : it happens to everyone

 **[open_book]** : and sometimes you did that to someone...?

 **[uncertain]** : oh oh

 **[uncertain]** : be honest, @ **open_book** , did you put @ **isolated** in the friendzone?

 **[open_book]** : what?

 **[isolated]** : NO

 **[concerned]** : okay, would you stop stirring the pot for a second

 **[concerned]** : but, uhm, I’d also like to know what happened @ **open_book**

 **[open_book]** : practice what you preach, would you…

 **[open_book]** : well, there’s this guy and…

 **[open_book]** : I guess I hurt him because our friendship is just too important to me?

 **[uncertain]** : friendship over sex?

 **[uncertain]** : Lol

 **[concerned]** : I can tell you from experience that things are not that easy

 **[isolated]** : some sex still sounds nice right about now

 **[isolated]** : I’d be fine with just a fling too...

 **[open_book]** : but that’s not what he wants…

 **[open_book]** : at least I don’t think so

 **[concerned]** : the real question is what _you_ want, right?

 **[open_book]** : It’s not that easy for me, really

 **[open_book]** : things are looking good for me and my uhh

 **[open_book]** : the guy I’m seeing

 **[isolated]** : why not just call him your boyfriend

 **[uncertain]** : no, it would be stupid to do that too early

 **[uncertain]** : if you haven’t talked about it in detail, chances are…

 **[uncertain]** : well

 **[open_book]** : yeah, I’d rather not rush it

 **[concerned]** : that’s good too, but wait

 **[concerned]** : what’s going on, @ **uncertain**?

 **[uncertain]** : it’s just that…

\- **[focus_on_me] has joined the DreamServer –**

 **[focus_on_me]** : Hi folks

 **[uncertain]** : the current programme has been paused

 **[uncertain]** : please welcome to the stage ~

 **[uncertain]** : ARIANNA GRANDEEEEE

 **[isolated]** : lol

 **[open_book]** : have people told you you’re not as funny as you think before

 **[concerned]** : wait, I don’t get it

 **[focus_on_me]** : I’ll take it as a compliment

 **[focus_on_me]** : anyway, what’s today’s topic

 **[isolated]** : think it’s _“when is it okay for me to call someone my boyfriend, please send help I'm only 12”_ right now?

 **[concerned]** : or girlfriend

 **[concerned]** : and also hey, don’t be so condescending

 **[isolated]** : condes- uh what now?

 **[uncertain]** : just try not to be a prick for a second, would you

 **[open_book]** : he’s probably just salty

 **[isolated]** : would you guys just stop picking on me?

 **[isolated]** : No one around here is getting my humour, I swear

 **[focus_on_me]** : uhm okay

 **[focus_on_me]** : I felt that

 **[focus_on_me]** : it’s heartbreaking when you have this really good joke in your head

 **[focus_on_me]** : and your teammates just don’t laugh at it?

 **[isolated]** : EXACTLY

 **[open_book]** : well, I’ve never had a problem with that

 **[concerned]** : not to be a party pooper or anything…

 **[concerned]** : but don’t we have more important things to discuss

 **[uncertain]** : geez man, why do you keep pushing like that?

 **[open_book]** : it’s true, you got like, a thousand questions…

 **[concerned]** : well, _because_

 **[concerned]** : …

 **[concerned]** : I think I’m just upset because I feel like I haven’t talked to my teammates

 **[concerned]** : like, I haven’t listened?

 **[concerned]** : I just feel like I should have been there for them…

 **[isolated]** : what is this feeling in my chest

 **[isolated]** : am I touched? Is this an _emotion_?

 **[focus_on_me]** : lol

 **[uncertain]** : that was at least _kind of_ funny

 **[open_book]** : bad timing though

 **[open_book]** : don’t beat yourself up, @ **concerned**

 **[open_book]** : even if you’re only half as annoying in real life, I’m sure they feel like you care

 **[focus_on_me]** : lol

 **[concerned]** : hmm, was that actually meant to comfort me?

 **[concerned]** : I feel like I’ve gotten worse at reading people

 **[uncertain]** : well, you’ve just been _read_

 **[focus_on_me]** : you guys are hilarious

 **[focus_on_me]** : but on a more serious note

 **[focus_on_me]** : I actually wanted to say something about that boyfriend thing

 **[isolated]** : great, let’s get back to that topic… yay

 **[open_book]** : spill it

 **[focus_on_me]** : it’s been a while since I’ve been serious with anyone

 **[focus_on_me]** : but I’m strongly considering it at the moment

 **[uncertain]** : that’s it?

 **[concerned]** : I think that’s a great thing!

 **[concerned]** : then again, I know nothing about flings, really

 **[concerned]** : I’ve basically been serious with my boyfriend from day one

 **[open_book]** : wait, you’re in a relationship?

 **[isolated]** : well, it’s nice that you didn’t flex on us plebs from the get-go

 **[uncertain]** : why does this even make me sad…

 **[focus_on_me]** : wow, I’m sorry

 **[focus_on_me]** : I didn’t realize this was a trigger for …

 **[focus_on_me]** : well, for all of you

 **[open_book]** : I wouldn’t go that far

 **[open_book]** : but two of my teammates just recently became a couple and…

 **[open_book]** : seeing them all lovey-dovey just makes me want to have the same

 **[uncertain]** : my god, I want to puke

 **[isolated]** : but you feel the _same_ …?

 **[uncertain]** : oh shut up

\- **[breathing]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[breathing]** : hello

 **[concerned]** : oh, another new voice, hello!

 **[concerned]** : but wait, I was going to say

 **[concerned]** : that romance is something worth treasuring

 **[focus_on_me]** : I also like to read fortune cookie wisdoms sometimes

 **[isolated]** : lol

 **[open_book]** : but so is friendship

 **[uncertain]** : my god, this is not an _anime_ , okay

 **[breathing]** : well, but the guy does have a point

 **[breathing]** : sometimes, a friendship is too important

 **[breathing]** : but, then again, who likes the _friendzone_...

 **[isolated]** : NO

 **[isolated]** : we are NOT going there again

 **[focus_on_me]** : friendzone… yeah no, doesn’t ring a bell

 **[uncertain]** : well, good for you

 **[concerned]** : okay, uhm, I feel like we’re walking in circles right now

 **[breathing]** : well, for anyone wondering

 **[breathing]** : there’s only one thing you can do when someone puts you in the friendzone

 **[open_book]** : you fight for them?

 **[isolated]** : you throw beads on the ground and hope your love rivals trip on them?

 **[uncertain]** : you just endure it in silence and hope no one notices that you care?

 **[breathing]** : wtf no

 **[breathing]** : you MOVE ON

 **[breathing]** : as hard as it is, you can’t CHANGE someone’s mind when it comes to this

 **[concerned]** : huh, that’s actually good advice

 **[concerned]** : @ **uncertain** could never

 **[isolated]** : LOL

 **[isolated]** : now _you’re_ the one being shady

 **[focus_on_me]** : ah, no one’s perfect, right

 **[uncertain]** : I’m offended, but a good joke is a good joke

 **[breathing]** : seems like I missed the good stuff already?

 **[open_book]** : oh, don’t worry

 **[open_book]** : with these guys, new drama just keeps popping up…

 **[focus_on_me]** : speaking of which

 **[isolated]** : here we go

 **[focus_on_me]** : I was wondering what you guys would do about…

 **[focus_on_me]** : being jealous?

 **[uncertain]** : uff, well

 **[uncertain]** : ask anyone here, I’m not the one to give out advice

 **[uncertain]** : I’ve got some major jealousy problems myself

 **[concerned]** : agreed

 **[concerned]** : but what _exactly_ makes you jealous?

 **[uncertain]** : well, I can’t seem to keep my lover for myself at this point

 **[uncertain]** : aaaaand it looks like I've got commitment issues

 **[focus_on_me]** : I’m a bit concerned about that too..

 **[focus_on_me]** : but I don’t think that’s all

 **[isolated]** : there’s more?

 **[isolated]** : why, tell me EVERYTHING…

 **[open_book]** : honestly, just leave if you don’t want to listen

 **[open_book]** : I feel this topic…

 **[concerned]** : hmm okay, so jealousy in a partnership or

 **[concerned]** : soon-to-be-partnership?

 **[breathing]** : it’s hard, especially when you have to face the person that makes you jealous everyday

 **[focus_on_me]** : it is!

 **[focus_on_me]** : also, I feel like that other guy just _tops_ me in everything…

 **[isolated]** : hahaha oh _does he_?

 **[uncertain]** : LOL

 **[uncertain]** : now that’s _definitely_ not my problem

 **[uncertain]** : honestly, this whole thing is so unlike me

 **[uncertain]** : I think I've got issues with having commitment issues?

 **[concerned]** : well, @ **uncertain** , maybe it will help you grow as a person

 **[uncertain]** : no, I’m not going to accept this

 **[uncertain]** : she’s probably not even going to say yes but..

 **[open_book]** : wait, you've been sulking about a _girl_ this whole time?

 **[concerned]** : pshh, please go on, what wouldn’t she accept?

 **[uncertain]** : …

 **[uncertain]** : well, one of my teammates told me he wants to ask her out

 **[isolated]** : what, the girl you thought was your girlfriend?

 **[isolated]** : I’d laugh if it wasn’t so sad

 **[concerned]** : seriously can’t tell if that was genuine…

 **[concerned]** : man, I used to see right through people

 **[open_book]** : *sigh*

 **[uncertain]** : ugh, this sucks

 **[uncertain]** : you know what, I just don’t want to talk about it anymore

 **[breathing]** : ahh, come on, no reason to leave

 **[breathing]** : I just got here

\- **[flipside]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[flipside]** : hi there

 **[focus_on_me]** : huh, there’s another one

 **[concerned]** : why, hello!

 **[concerned]** : we were just talking about

 **[concerned]** : hmm, being jealous I suppose?

 **[flipside]** : I’m not about that life

 **[flipside]** : but feel free to tell me all about it

 **[focus_on_me]** : how exactly can you “not be about that life”

 **[focus_on_me]** : it’s not like anyone _chooses_ to be jealous

 **[isolated]** : exactly

 **[open_book]** : damn, tell me where the switch is if you can…

 **[flipside]** : ah geez

 **[flipside]** : I can’t help you with that, I was born like this

 **[breathing]** : isn’t that, uhm, that Lady Gaga song?

 **[focus_on_me]** : ohh, looks like there’s a theme today

 **[concerned]** : can the theme not just be that we listen and try to help each other?

 **[breathing]** : now, in what world is that more interesting than _Pop Icons_

 **[isolated]** : what are you guys even talking about…

 **[open_book]** : beats me

 **[concerned]** : oh boy

 **[concerned]** : do you guys feel like it’s getting crowded in here?

 **[focus_on_me]** : maybe a little…

 **[focus_on_me]** : still, I just want to say that there is now one more person I envy

 **[flipside]** : oh please, there’s no need for that

 **[flipside]** : to every advantage in life, there’s always a –

 **[isolated]** : FLIPSIDE AHAHAHA

 **[focus_on_me]** : hahaha I get it now

 **[focus_on_me]** : seriously though, never being jealous sounds dope

 **[flipside]** : then again, some people say that romance is the world’s greatest joy

 **[concerned]** : ah yes, people like me

 **[concerned]** : I say that

 **[open_book]** : can confirm

 **[flipside]** : right…

 **[flipside]** : so yeah, my theory is that if you want to be with someone that badly

 **[flipside]** : it’s only natural to be afraid to lose them

 **[isolated]** : well, what if you don’t even have them to begin with

 **[focus_on_me]** : or if you’re more so jealous of _how_ someone is?

 **[flipside]** : then the word you’re looking for is “envious”

 **[flipside]** : and you’re pathetic

 **[breathing]** : oh boy hahaha

 **[breathing]** : this went south fast

 **[concerned]** : I was really starting to warm up to you giving advice but no uhm

 **[isolated]** : did this just turn into an English lesson or…

 **[focus_on_me]** : well, I guess I do feel _particularly_ pathetic today…

 **[open_book]** : oh, cry me a river

 **[flipside]** : geez, you asked me, didn’t you?

 **[flipside]** : I’m just sick of people judging me on one hand

 **[flipside]** : but then idolizing my lifestyle for being “drama-free”

 **[concerned]** : what kind of lifestyle are we talking about here

 **[isolated]** : maybe it’s like mine but he actually _wants_ to be alone all the time

 **[flipside]** : nah, I’m not alone

 **[flipside]** : I just keep things casual

 **[back_to_basics]** : that’s what I’m all about as well

 **[back_to_basics]** : cum & go

 **[flipside]** :ohh, nice one, just like my own mantra...

 **[flipside]** : blow your load & hit the road

 **[back_to_basics]** : ejaculate & evacuate

 **[flipside]** : bust a nut & off ya strut

 **[isolated]** : SQUIRT & DESERT

 **[isolated]** : …sorry I got excited about that one

 **[focus_on_me]** : you guys are a riot…

 **[focus_on_me]** : but that sort of lifestyle tends to backfire on you

 **[concerned]** : it doesn’t really seem healthy to me either it –

 **[concerned]** : wait

 **[concerned]** : who are you, @ **back_to_basics**?

 **[back_to_basics]** : hmm?

 **[breathing]** : you mean he hasn’t been here before me?

 **[open_book]** : now that you say it, I don’t remember him logging on…?

 **[focus_on_me]** : uff, did anyone else just get goose bumps?

 **[flipside]** : I don’t see the problem

 **[flipside]** : the more the merrier, I always say

 **[concerned]** : I don’t think you understand…

 **[concerned]** : things are just weird today…

 **[concerned]** : and now this

 **[back_to_basics]** : uhm, well I have no idea what you’re talking about

 **[back_to_basics]** : I’ve been here the whole time I think?

 **[open_book]** : what

 **[isolated]** : I feel so SPIED on right now…

 **[open_book]** : don’t flatter yourself, no one cares about your life

 **[isolated]** : ouch… too real

 **[breathing]** : I’m confused, what exactly is “weird” today…?

- **[fresh_air]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[fresh_air]** : hi guys!

 **[concerned]** : THAT’S what’s weird

 **[fresh_air]** : uhm, okay, I mean I’ve had warmer welcomes, but I’ll take it

 **[isolated]** : lol

 **[concerned]** : ahh, no, sorry

 **[concerned]** : It’s not you, it’s just that people keep logging on

 **[breathing]** : but isn’t that kind of the point

 **[open_book]** : normally, some people should have pissed off already

 **[open_book]** : I’m looking at you, @ **isolated**

 **[isolated]** : dully noted…

 **[back_to_basics]** : whatever, let’s just enjoy ourselves, right?

 **[back_to_basics]** : let’s talk about something fun

 **[fresh_air]** : I like me some fun

 **[flipside]** : me 2

 **[focus_on_me]** : oh, oh, I think I’ve got something

 **[focus_on_me]** : ever since @ **flipside** has joined I was wondering

 **[focus_on_me]** : exactly _how good_ are you in bed? If that’s all you do?

 **[isolated]** : oh, that’s a good one…

 **[concerned]** : uhm no, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m comfortable with talking about –

 **[flipside]** : WELL

 **[flipside]** : I don’t think it’s something you can really judge yourself but

 **[flipside]** : I’d say I’m pretty legendary

 **[flipside]** : probably S+ tier

 **[isolated]** : same man, I’m a damn PUSSY DESTROYER

 **[open_book]** : gross...

 **[back_to_basics]** : pussy is nice and all, but let’s get back to the Icons here, okay

 **[back_to_basics]** : COCK DESTROYERS

 **[back_to_basics]** : ...anyone? No? Do you guys have internet access or...

 **[breathing]** : ah, yes, that’s a good one!

 **[breathing]** : see, that’s proof that he’s been here, no?

 **[concerned]** : honestly, I’m not convinced…

 **[fresh_air]** : I don’t know what that’s about but

 **[fresh_air]** : I’ve been told that I’m getting better at _doing the do_ recently

 **[fresh_air]** : … by someone with somewhat freaky standards, though

 **[back_to_basics]** : ah, the best kind

 **[open_book]** : isn’t it hard to tell how good you are if you’ve only been with, uhm

 **[open_book]** : one person?

 **[isolated]** : hahaha, what?

 **[isolated]** : Are you serious?

 **[concerned]** : hey, I told you not to be condescending…!

 **[concerned]** : besides…

 **[concerned]** : some people are, you know, maybe still _waiting_ on their first time

 **[flipside]** : NO WAY

 **[focus_on_me]** : a virgin?

 **[isolated]** : HAHAHA

 **[concerned]** : omg would you stop

 **[concerned]** : this is exactly why I haven’t asked anyone about advice on this…

 **[back_to_basics]** : well, look how the tables have turned…

 **[back_to_basics]** : so you’re looking for advice now, huh?

 **[breathing]** : you’re in luck, @ **concerned**

 **[breathing]** : I’ve recently been declared a sex expert for some reason

 **[open_book]** : by someone with credentials or…

 **[flipside]** : hey, I want to print that on my business card as well

 **[breathing]** : oh, haha, don’t ask me

 **[breathing]** : one of my teammates just started idolizing me I guess..

 **[focus_on_me]** : well, what’s _your game_ like, then?

 **[breathing]** : ah, well…

 **[breathing]** : I do have my fair share of experience with guys from my hometown

 **[breathing]** : but also from Spain, Berlin…

 **[flipside]** : hot

 **[back_to_basics]** : so you really went for it, huh?

 **[breathing]** : I’ve always been comfortable with my sexuality

 **[breathing]** : and, honestly, it’s not hard to find hook-ups with today’s technology

 **[concerned]** : but there’s more to it than experience, right…?

 **[isolated]** : oh, don’t worry little virgin, I’m sure we can give you some tips

 **[fresh_air]** : oh yeah, I can confirm that you can get better in no time with some help

 **[concerned]** : okay, uhm…

 **[concerned]** : so, first off

 **[concerned]** : how do you decide who’s _on top_ …?

 **[open_book]** : arm wrestle it out, stronger one wins

 **[back_to_basics]** : flip a coin

 **[isolated]** : compare dick sizes

 **[focus_on_me]** : whoever has the most Penta kills tops

 **[fresh_air]** : rock paper scissors?

 **[flipside]** : oh man, you guys are the worst…

 **[flipside]** : I mean, you _could_ do any of those things

 **[flipside]** : or you just see what you are most comfortable with

 **[breathing]** : couldn’t have said it any better

 **[breathing]** : ah, and don’t be afraid to try

 **[breathing]** : many guys never realize how nice it is to have something up your ass

 **[focus_on_me]** : poor fellows

 **[open_book]** : well, to be fair, it’s hard to imagine it before you tried it

 **[back_to_basics]** : no turning back from it, though

 **[concerned]** : I guess that’s a place to start…

 **[concerned]** : god, it’s still so uncomfortable for me to talk about it

 **[focus_on_me]** : oh please, as long as the both of you are committed, you’ll be fine

 **[focus_on_me]** : just imagine how awkward it is when you’re kind of with someone but

 **[focus_on_me]** : then you think about someone else?

 **[open_book]** : I don’t feel like I have to _imagine_ that…

 **[back_to_basics]** : me too, I have to admit it

 **[flipside]** : me three!

 **[fresh_air]** : it might have crossed my mind once or twice…

 **[isolated]** : does it count when you think about someone else while you’re masturbating

 **[breathing]** : ahh, you poor soul

 **[breathing]** : … but same, at least for now

 **[concerned]** : okay, yeah, I guess I’m in a privileged position here

 **[concerned]** : why are you guys so bad at being monogamous?

 **[focus_on_me]** : hey, that’s not it at all… is it?

 **[flipside]** : what’s wrong with being non-monogamous ;)

 **[back_to_basics]** : you’re my kind of guy, @ **flipside**

 **[focus_on_me]** : I thought about kissing my ex, but I didn’t actually _do it_ so

 **[focus_on_me]** : that doesn’t count as cheating, right?

 **[open_book]** : I’d need some details to decide…

 **[concerned]** : honestly, still feels like infidelity to me

 **[isolated]** : infe – what now?

 **[focus_on_me]** : isn’t that the thing when you can’t have children?

 **[flipside]** : that’s infertility, you morons

 **[flipside]** : stick your nose in a dictionary, would you

 **[back_to_basics]** : HAHAHA

 **[breathing]** : uhm, well cheating is not cool

 **[fresh_air]** : I agree

 **[fresh_air]** : even though the guy he’s with is kind of my rival, I chose to resist my ex

 **[fresh_air]** : I don’t want to be a part of this _infidelity thing_ , you know?

 **[concerned]** : that sounds very mature, @ **fresh_air**

 **[concerned]** : I’m proud of you

 **[flipside]** : it also sounds mighty boring to me

 **[flipside]** : but hey, respecting other’s feelings is important too

 **[flipside]** : … I guess

 **[focus_on_me]** : so, wait

 **[focus_on_me]** : your ex is with one of your rivals?

 **[fresh_air]** : rivals in love, rivals in the rift

 **[fresh_air]** : yeah, I guess that’s accurate

 **[flipside]** : hot

\- **[romantic]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[romantic]** : HELLO

 **[open_book]** : great, another one…

 **[concerned]** : hi there, new voice

 **[focus_on_me]** : how many more until this place collapses…

 **[flipside]** : right now, we are at a comfortable orgy size

 **[back_to_basics]** : Ima start taking off my clothes

 **[isolated]** : LOL what

 **[fresh_air]** : you guys are silly, aren’t we here to play League of Legends?

 **[concerned]** : I think we’ve had enough of that for a day…

 **[breathing]** : I think I’m starting to understand what you meant with it being “crowded” here…

 **[romantic]** : I have NO IDEA what’s going on

 **[romantic]** : But I’d be up for some more LEAGUE

 **[romantic]** : I kicked ASS today, when it mattered most!

 **[open_book]** : could we just, like, talk about something else…

 **[isolated]** : wait a second…

 **[isolated]** : I also had a very important game I think

 **[isolated]** : did anyone else happen to face off against their rivals in the rift today?

 **[romantic]** : YES

 **[focus_on_me]** : yes

 **[flipside]** : yes

 **[fresh_air]** : yes

 **[concerned]** : yes

 **[breathing]** : yes

 **[open_book]** : yes

 **[back_to_basics]** : yes

 **[isolated]** : huh, what a weird coincidence

 **[concerned]** : well no

 **[concerned]** : that’s a naïve thing to say

 **[romantic]** : what is it THEN, if not coincidence??

 **[romantic]** : I feel like you guys know way more than me?

 **[open_book]** : I feel like that’s not a hard thing to do

 **[focus_on_me]** : well, uhm, if there’s 9/10 rivals here, it’s hard to think that it was not planned

 **[flipside]** : this is turning into a kinky “I slept with the enemy” kind of game

 **[romantic]** : ugh, please

 **[romantic]** : one of my teammates has been playing that game TOO DAMN MUCH

 **[back_to_basics]** : chatting up the rivals… this is pure insanity

 **[breathing]** : but have you considered that it could be a _beautiful thing_?

 **[breathing]** : brought together here, even in rivalry…

 **[fresh_air]** : I do admit, it’s tempting

 **[isolated]** : wait, are you saying I’ve been _befriending the enemy_ this whole time??

 **[open_book]** : oh don’t worry, you’re not making any friends

 **[breathing]** : haha, oh you

 **[breathing]** : anyway, making friends is nice but

 **[breathing]** : I was more so thinking about asking a rival out

 **[focus_on_me]** : on a date?

 **[concerned]** : oh my!

 **[flipside]** : sigh…

 **[romantic]** : oh god no…!

 **[isolated]** : I agree, if one of my teammates even considered that…

 **[isolated]** : wait a SECOND

 **[open_book]** : you’re way too slow, man

 **[fresh_air]** : aww, that’s funny

 **[breathing]** : why that?

 **[fresh_air]** : ah well, I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing

 **[breathing]** : really?

 **[concerned]** : you GUYS

 **[concerned]** : do you realize what this means??

 **[back_to_basics]** : what?

 **[back_to_basics]** : Sorry, my thoughts were somewhere else right now

 **[flipside]** : bet they were as steamy as mine…

 **[back_to_basics]** : oh, you called it

 **[open_book]** : think what @ **concerned** was trying to say was

 **[open_book]** : that @ **breathing** & @ **fresh_air** are about to ask each other out

 **[concerned]** : and we’re all here to witness it!!

 **[concerned]** : oh boy, after all of this solemn sex talk, I need this in my life right now

 **[romantic]** : I’m all for ROMANCE, but guys!!

 **[romantic]** : please consider your old teammate’s poor HEART

 **[romantic]** : I don’t think it can take this

 **[flipside]** : out of the way, old man…

 **[focus_on_me]** : age-shaming in eSports, simply not talked about enough :(

 **[open_book]** : you want a handkerchief, grandpa?

 **[breathing]** : wait guys, don’t you think this could be a _coincidence_?

 **[breathing]** : I haven’t even talked about that with the guy

 **[fresh_air]** : me neither!

 **[fresh_air]** : plus, I’m also kind of considering it to make this other guy jealous…

 **[breathing]** : wait, me too

 **[fresh_air]** : huh

 **[breathing]** : huh

 **[concerned]** : NOW KISS

 **[isolated]** : this is depressing

 **[isolated]** : everyone’s got dates nowadays, even these clowns…

 **[open_book]** : well, I at least _hope_ to go on a nice date soon too…

 **[open_book]** : god knows it’s about god damn time

 **[focus_on_me]** : oh, yes, me too

 **[focus_on_me]** : well, I kind of have to plan it first?

 **[romantic]** : oh, if you need any advice on that…

 **[romantic]** : I have planned the GREATEST DATE OF ALL TIMES

 **[romantic]** : I will swoop her right off her feet

 **[romantic]** : and out of my ugly teammate’s bed

 **[isolated]** : LOL

 **[isolated]** : guys, it’s _him_ …!

 **[open_book]** : and the other guy is not even here to sulk about this…

 **[back_to_basics]** : >:)

 **[concerned]** : while that is fascinating

 **[concerned]** : manners, @ **romantic** … no need to be rude to your teammate

 **[romantic]** : oh PLEASE

 **[romantic]** : sometimes, it’s just too satisfying to call someone UGLY

 **[romantic]** : and it’s not rude if it’s the truth, right??

 **[flipside]** : he’s got a point…

 **[breathing]** : as long as you don’t say it to his face, I guess?

 **[back_to_basics]** : oh well, whatever...

 **[open_book]** : you guys are just too superficial, honestly…

 **[open_book]** : there is more to a person than just looks

 **[isolated]** : okay, not to be rude or whatever

 **[isolated]** : but that 100% sounds like something an ugly person would say

 **[concerned]** : guys >:(

 **[flipside]** : yeah yeah, what counts is the heart and what not

 **[flipside]** : let’s just move past this

 **[romantic]** : but I haven’t even told you about the great DATE I –

 **[focus_on_me]** : please, dude, you’ll make us all look bad ;)

 **[romantic]** : ha, you’re RIGHT

 **[romantic]** : I’ll save it for my LADY

 **[isolated]** : is it just me or is this guy kind of annoying

 **[open_book]** : first and only time I’ll ever agree with you…

 **[back_to_basics]** : okay well

 **[back_to_basics]** : the way things are looking right now, there’s only one person I could go out with

 **[back_to_basics]** : it wouldn’t be much of a _date_ though, if you know what I mean… ;)

 **[flipside]** : the only kind of date in my books

 **[flipside]** : sign me up, would you?

 **[concerned]** : weird, but also nice…!

 **[concerned]** : ah, somehow, everything is coming together

 **[isolated]** : hey, what about me

 **[isolated]** : I’m still all by myself :(

 **[concerned]** : well _Superman_

 **[concerned]** : what do you expect us to do here?

 **[romantic]** : just SURPRISE your special someone with ROSES

 **[romantic]** : WORKS every time

 **[isolated]** : don’t you think that’s a little outdated, Romeo?

 **[flipside]** : well, there is such a thing as “dating apps”, you know

 **[flipside]** : you should have great chances next Friday

 **[breathing]** : oh, were you also considering going on Friday?

 **[fresh_air]** : it’s convenient, right?

 **[fresh_air]** : first gameday, probably with something to celebrate…

 **[focus_on_me]** : yeah, plus you are already in the studio together

 **[open_book]** : well, teammates might see you leave together, but despite that…

 **[back_to_basics]** : sounds like a good fit

 **[flipside]** : are you guys serious right now

 **[flipside]** : _none of you_ know that Friday is Valentine’s day?

 **[breathing]** : huh?

 **[fresh_air]** : huh?

 **[focus_on_me]** : huh?

 **[open_book]** : huh?

 **[back_to_basics]** : huh?

 **[isolated]** : AHAHAHA you morons

 **[romantic]** : AMETEURS

 **[concerned]** : I take everything back, you guys are hopeless…

 **[concerned]** : and romance is dead :(

 **[breathing]** : ayy, calm down, would you

 **[breathing]** : I’m sure things will be okay

 **[back_to_basics]** : oh yeah, we’ll work it out

 **[focus_on_me]** : might have to bring some roses, after all…

 **[open_book]** : gross

 **[romantic]** : YES

 **[romantic]** : ROSES are key here!

 **[romantic]** : Maybe some POETRY

 **[romantic]** : and a nice DANCE

 **[concerned]** : okay, how could I forget about this guy

 **[flipside]** : honestly, he sounds more like a muppet than a real person

 **[back_to_basics]** : but don’t you feel like you know someone like that?

 **[isolated]** : now that you say it…

 **[fresh_air]** : ah, well, isn’t this delightful

 **[fresh_air]** : but for real, Valentine’s day sounds kind of nice to me

 **[breathing]** : for a first date?

 **[breathing]** : it is kind of iconic

 **[concerned]** : hmm :)

 **[concerned]** : okay, fine, I’ll put my hopes on these two

 **[romantic]** : I’m OFFENDED

 **[concerned]** : fine, fine, I’m sure your date will be the greatest…

 **[concerned]** : now, on to the next thing

 **[isolated]** : tbh I think this is it

 **[isolated]** : I feel like we’ve talked forever at this point

 **[romantic]** : forever? I just GOT here!

 **[focus_on_me]** : uff, really? Doesn’t feel like it…

 **[flipside]** : that’s normal when dealing with annoying people

 **[fresh_air]** : and you’re an expert when it comes to that?

 **[flipside]** : oh, you have no idea…

 **[breathing]** : well, I wouldn’t mind staying a bit longer, but I guess I’ve said what I wanted to say?

 **[open_book]** : now that you mention it…

 **[open_book]** : since no one seems to be leaving, when is this going to end?

 **[back_to_basics]** : well, if there’s some sort of a “god” or whatever behind this...

 **[flipside]** : or maybe a sadistic demon?

 **[concerned]** : oh my god guys, I really don't think you should say these things...!

 **[focus_on_me]** : okay, things just got scary again...

 **[isolated]** : well, who cares who's got a handle on us

 **[isolated]** : I want to ff

 **[fresh_air]** : I don't think it works that way... or does it?

 **[romantic]** : you can't just SURRENDER in a match between RIVALS 

**[romantic]** : you COWARD

 **[breathing]** : phew, this guy, huh...

 **[flipside]** : it's getting stale, really...

 **[back_to_basics]** : well, whoever is in charge...

 **[back_to_basics]** : I’d assume this whole thing would end if he or she got bored with us or –

\- **[open_book]** , **[isolated]** , **[flipside]** , **[breathing], [romantic]** , **[fresh_air]** , **[focus_on_me]** and **[back_to_basics]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[concerned]** : oh god, what was that??

 **[concerned]** : am I alone?

 **[concerned]** : … It seems so…

 **[concerned]** : But why did everyone leave or

 **[concerned]** : or maybe they didn’t “leave”…

 **[concerned]** : I don’t understand… why am I still here?

 **[concerned]** : Have I been asking too many questions?

 **[concerned]** : Or have I not been honest enough or –

\- **[over_the_moon]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[over_the_moon]** : hello!

 **[concerned]** : oh, uhm, hi there

 **[concerned]** : I didn’t really expect anyone to join at this point but…

 **[concerned]** : beats being alone!

 **[over_the_moon]** : alone?

 **[over_the_moon]** : What do you mean? Is there no one else around?

 **[concerned]** : oh, there were plenty of people

 **[concerned]** : but they all vanished at the same time a second ago…

 **[over_the_moon]** : oh my, that sounds spooky

 **[over_the_moon]** : too bad I arrived so late then

 **[concerned]** : yeah, I guess it was quite the party tonight…

 **[concerned]** : probably because of the whole derby thing

 **[over_the_moon]** : a derby?

 **[over_the_moon]** : That’s funny, I played against our rivals with my team today as well

 **[concerned]** : uhm…

 **[over_the_moon]** : what is it?

 **[concerned]** : well, I have to be a bit _careful_ with my words here but

 **[concerned]** : you see, that’s not a coincidence

 **[over_the_moon]** : haha, what do you mean?

 **[concerned]** : we were nine people

 **[concerned]** : and now there’s you…

 **[concerned]** : rivals brought together, you understand…?

 **[over_the_moon]** : okay this is getting really freaky

 **[over_the_moon]** : is there, like, someone planning this??

 **[over_the_moon]** : were we all trapped in the studio this whole time

 **[over_the_moon]** : where are the cameras?

 **[concerned]** : haha, I don’t know…

 **[concerned]** : but, somehow, I feel a bit more at ease now that you’re here

 **[over_the_moon]** : well, you’re also quite easy to talk to ;)

 **[concerned]** : haha, thanks well –

 **[concerned]** : wait

 **[concerned]** : uhm, this might be a weird question, but

 **[concerned]** : did you lose today?

 **[over_the_moon]** : lose? Me?

 **[over_the_moon]** : … in the rift, maybe

 **[over_the_moon]** : in life, not even close ;)

 **[concerned]** : ah, I just had this feeling and now

 **[concerned]** : I think I understand

 **[over_the_moon]** : this is feeling more and more like an episode of Black Mirror but

 **[over_the_moon]** : I’m listening?

 **[concerned]** : everyone left, and I was the only one here and then you came

 **[concerned]** : I think you were brought here for _me_ , you know?

 **[concerned]** : because I was scared before about… stuff

 **[over_the_moon]** : aww, that’s sweet, but I have a boyfriend, you know

 **[concerned]** : you big dummy!

 **[concerned]** : That’s what I was trying to say, Ga-

\- **[concerned]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[over_the_moon]** : woah

 **[over_the_moon]** : what was that?

 **[over_the_moon]** : for a second, I thought he was going to say my –

\- **[over_the_moon]** has left the DreamServer –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on part 7! What are your thoughts on this episode of the DreamServer? It was the longest one yet..!
> 
> Hope I managed to keep it entertaining! Also, did you catch the theme for part 8...? 
> 
> As always, thanks for tuning in!


	30. Part 8: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks, welcome to Part 8! 
> 
> Valentine's day is upon us, and things are bound to get even more romantic, fluffy, dramatic, angsty - you name it, we got it ;) 
> 
> This part is by far the one I enjoyed writing the most, I hope you enjoy reading it just as much!

Even though it was still early in the morning, G2’s apartment was already filled with the lively sounds of its inhabitants. Loud stomping in the hallway, probably caused by the big feet of the team’s toplaner strutting to the gym. Continuous clinking of silverware, probably caused by the team’s jungler’s early-breakfast-preparations in the kitchen – or maybe it was just the team’s support, doing _god-knows-what_ in his room. Then there was also this soft giggling that could only belong to a woman, hence it must have come from the room of the team’s midlaner. Yes, combined, the early morning sounds of the apartment formed an odd symphony that suited the odd team perfectly well. _Weird thing to think when you are woken up at 9 am_ , Rasmus thought with a smile as he rubbed his eyes. But, in the end, the odd team suited _him_ perfectly well, too.

As the ADC jumped out of bed, carefully arranging his raccoon pillow in a way that made it able to look out of the window, Rasmus wondered why he was in such a particularly good mood today. Normally, being forced to end his slumber at this hour would have made him grumpy at least – especially during these last couple of weeks. But, somehow, things felt different today. Maybe it was because he had finally gotten some sort of closure with Martin the week before – or maybe it was the rush of being 6-0 in the LEC, with seemingly no worthy opponents to pull them down? _Maybe it’s Oskar_ , Rasmus considered as he pulled up his sweatpants with another goofy grin. There were certainly a lot more things going his way than just a week prior to this day.

Rasmus made his way through the hallway, aiming to go to the toilet. He poked his head into the kitchen, expecting to find at least one of his teammates there – but, to his surprise, he found the room completely deserted. Instead, there were steps on the other end of the hallway. When the ADC finally tapped onwards to reach the bathroom, he couldn’t help but notice the team’s jungler awkwardly skipping from one foot to the other in front of Perkz’ room. He was wearing weirdly formal attire, including a buttoned down shirt and a little bowtie. And, on top of that, there was a red rose stuck between his gritted teeth. Rasmus just stood there, blinking a couple of times, before he finally decided to rub his eyes again. _I must still be dreaming or something_ , he figured with a shrug as he turned to enter the bathroom.

Even though he had made sure to close the door behind him, Rasmus could still hear the obnoxiously loud voice of his jungler echoing through the hallway a second later, almost causing him to completely miss the toilet.

“GOOD MORNING, I’m coming IN!” Jankos yelled as he knocked on the door a couple of times before clawing it open.

 _Can’t make that stuff up,_ Rasmus thought as he shook his head in disbelief. As weird as the jungler’s way of entering a room was, at least he was consistent. Now, a part of the ADC was wondering exactly what Jankos was trying to do in Perkz’ room, dressed like he was going somewhere fancy. _I’ve been in Luka’s room before, it’s certainly not fancy_ , Rasmus smirked as he leaned down to wash his hands after finishing his business. Then again, maybe _that rose_ had something to do with his objective? Almost as if his brain was still waking up, it suddenly dawned on Rasmus. Today was not just any day, after all.

 _Valentine’s day,_ Rasmus thought with a big smile as he let himself fall back onto his comfortable bed _, I can’t believe I almost forgot AGAIN!_ After he had completely blocked out the existence of the romantic holiday during the last couple of weeks, similarly to most of his teammates, he had suddenly remembered that it was coming up last Sunday morning, almost as if it had come to him in his dreams. Since he had sort of boasted about going out with Oskar in front of Martin, he had figured that Valentine’s day would be a perfect opportunity – but, before he could even think of a proper way to make a move, Fnatic’s jungler had already asked him out. It was delightful to say the least, even though Rasmus started to feel a little nervous about it now that the day of their date had arrived.

After shuffling around in his bed for a while, the ADC figured that there was no way to go back to sleep. Instead, he grabbed his phone from the nightstand and scrolled through his notifications. To ease his mind a bit, Rasmus decided to send Oskar a text to confirm their _rendezvous_.

Rasmus: Hey there, just wanted to check if we’re still on for tonight? ;)

Oskar: Hi, sure we are

I made sure to get us a reservation at a nice place

But didn’t I tell you that yesterday when we played DuoQ?

Rasmus: ah, true, you did

Silly me!

Anyway, I’m excited :)

And, as he closed the app to move on to the next, he nodded his head slightly and repeated the words in his head, _I’m excited_. He truly was, even though the whole idea to go on a date had arisen in a desperate attempt to make Martin jealous. Yes, he had to admit that, when he noticed how sensitive the other ADC seemed to be when it came to Oskar, he couldn’t resist the temptation to use that to his advantage. But could anyone really blame him for that? When Rasmus remembered their conversation in Martin’s hotel room, it was by far not the only ugly thing said or done. And, in the end, it had given him the confidence to _leave_ instead of melting in the Swede’s hands again, which clearly had been the right decision.

After rolling around with his phone for quite a while, watching videos and chatting with Oskar simultaneously, Rasmus noticed that time had gone by quite quickly _. I should probably get up soon_ , he thought with a sigh. But then, just as he was about to open one of his many mobile games, there was a knock on the ADC’s door that caught his attention. At first, he didn’t know how to react – the only sort of knocking he was used to always ended with people coming in without waiting for a reply anyway, after all. But, after the second knock, Rasmus finally realized that he had to _answer_.

“Oh, uhm, come in!”

“Thanks,” Miky mumbled as he pushed the door open, slowly slouching into the room.

“Oh, morning Miky,” Rasmus smiled, still _fascinated_ by his own mood.

“Morning to you to,” Mihael smiled back, raising a brow at the ADC's huge grin, “mind if I borrow a micro USB cable? Mine seems to have died…”

“Hmm, I should still have some spare ones,” Rasmus mumbled as he climbed out of his bed to check the drawers of his desk.

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver…”

“Ohh, not for this, but feel free to _keep that in mind_ in the rift,” Rasmus grinned as he proudly presented one of his spare loading cables to his support.

“Haven’t I proven to you that I can keep you alive by now or what?” Mihael laughed wholeheartedly, grabbing the goods.

“Ah, I guess you’re not too shabby, yeah,” Rasmus nodded in approval as he sat down in his gaming chair, “on another note... do you happen to know what Jankos could have been up to with a rose and a bowtie in Perkz’ room this morning?”

“A what?” Miky wheezed, grabbing the desk for support, “he was wearing a _bowtie_? God, I would have loved to see that…”

“Yeah, I guess it looked kind of funny, I mean he could have easily waited tables at a fancy restaurant like that,” Rasmus grinned, the visual of Jankos dropping plates with fancy food on an expensive carpet replaying over and over in his head.

“Right,” Miky chuckled as he wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye, “anyway, that was probably when he asked Sam out.”

“He did _what_? While she was laying in _Luka’s bed_?” Rasmus exclaimed, clapping his hands together in shock.

“Yeah, I didn’t think he had the balls either, but here we are,” Mihael shrugged, “she even said _yes_ , can you imagine?”

“Crazy,” Rasmus mumbled as he nervously shuffled in his seat, “I thought she was Luka’s girlfriend? I mean she sleeps in his bed every night at least…”

“He thought the same thing,” Miky whispered, leaning in a bit closer as if he had just shared top secret information.

“Uff, I didn’t expect _these_ kinds of twists on the day of love,” the ADC sighed.

He let his head fall back against the backrest and took a moment to look at his support, who was casually leaning against his desk. He was wearing his usual morning attire, a huge T-shirt and some boxers. But, still, something seemed _off_ with him. Suddenly, a question popped into the ADC’s mind.

“Say, Miky, how do you _know_ all these things about Luka and Sam?” He asked cautiously.

“Ah, well, let’s just say Perkz came to me for _comfort_ or whatever. He probably wouldn’t admit that though… anyway, seems like we can still pull off the whole thing in 10 minutes,” Miky proudly grinned, pretending to dust off his shoulder.

“What, you guys _had sex_?” Rasmus squinted at him, not fully understanding the meaning of his words just yet.

Even though it probably shouldn’t have, the image of Miky and Perkz shagging while Rasmus was lying in his bed in the next room, innocently watching videos on his phone, somehow made him feel _… jealous_. This was beyond bizarre, considering that it was what the ADC had suggested from the very beginning, when Miky had first proposed this special “arrangement” to Rasmus. _Sure, why wouldn’t you sleep with Perkz_ , Rasmus thought as he stared at his doe-eyed support, who was now tilting his head in confusion.

“It’s what we do best, yeah… I’m confused, is that a problem for you?”

“I mean, it’s a little unexpected, considering this _thing_ we’ve got going on,” the ADC mumbled with a nervous half-smile.

“I’m sorry, Rasmus,” Mihael replied with a weirdly concerned look on his face, “I thought the terms and conditions were clear. I mean, we talked about it so much and –“

“No, Miky, it’s fine, really,” Rasmus chimed in, cutting his support off.

Suddenly, he realized that this additional weird twist of the day had provided him with the perfect opportunity to do what he had planned on doing for almost a week now.

“You see, I’m kind of glad that your door to Perkz seems to have opened again..." He started. 

"I mean, I don't think we'll do it with the door open again out of respect for you guys but..." Mihael replied, tapping his lower lip pensively.

"What? Uhm..." Rasmus shuddered before continuing, "I meant because… I kind of want to end our... _syngergy training_.”

“Oh, okay…” Mihael mumbled, suddenly looking slightly beat down, “I mean, I figured it would happen sooner or later. You’re not the type for this, after all.”

“Well, it was definitely a lot of fun,” Rasmus beamed at his support, “and boy, did it do wonders for our performance as a Duo. But, I feel like I have a chance to win Martin back in the long run, and there’s also this thing with Oskar…”

“Oh yeah, _please_ bring us that hot jungler,” Miky smirked as he crossed his arms, “maybe we can give Fnatic ours instead?”

“Poor Jankos,” Rasmus grinned, pushing himself up onto his feet, “but, yeah, Oskar is a great guy too… I just want to be free to explore these things.”

“Well, I’m not exactly _happy_ about this, but I understand. I think we’ll be fine, Rasmus,” Mihael smiled as he pulled his ADC in for a brief hug.

“Thanks, uhm, I think so too! We’ve been kicking ass on the botlane so far, why wouldn’t we continue to do so?” Rasmus raised his clenched fist in triumph, causing his support to start laughing again.

“Sure, sure… anyway, I promised Luka that we would stream together after his shower. You got any plans before our match?” The support asked casually.

“Gosh, beats me,” Rasmus said, thinking about what he could do with his time, “I guess I could stream as well? I’ll have to wait until after our game to go out with Oskar, after all…”

“Ah right, remember to take him home though, will you?” Miky grinned as he pushed up his glasses with one finger.

“We’ve been over this!” Rasmus exclaimed, playfully punching his support’s arm, “even if I did, I don’t want your ears glued to the wall, okay?”

“It was a joke,” Miky shrugged with a smile, “I probably won’t be around to do that anyway, Luka promised me to let me drag him to Karaoke tonight…”

“Ohh, really? Doesn’t that sound _romantic?_ ” Rasmus chirped, mockingly forming a heart with his hands.

“Oh, shut up, would you?” Miky replied, rolling his eyes playfully, “there'll be nothing _romantic_ about it... ah, think I just heard someone come out of the shower, guess I’ll set up my stream.”

“What, I didn’t hear anything…” Rasmus tapped his chin, “do I want to know why you recognize the sound of someone exiting the shower so well or…”

“Think I’d rather keep my secrets,” Mihael winked slyly as he excited his ADC’s room.

“But now I want to know!” Rasmus shouted after him, trying to come up with possible explanations in his head – but the support was already gone. 

Even though he still had trouble with wrapping his head around what had just happened, Rasmus decided to look on the Brightside. He was able to end things with Miky peacefully, and he had a date with a great guy to look forward to in the evening – it was a good day, right?

Then _why in the hell_ did he have one of the worst games in his professional League of Legends career that day? After beating Fnatic the week before, G2’s squad felt as if nothing could pull them down. Maybe it was, yet again, a moment where they had gotten _too cocky_. Rasmus didn’t feel like himself on stage, which was weird since he had woken up with such an exceptionally good mood that day. Was it the synergy with Miky that felt off? Maybe the fact that he had simply gone back to bed with Luka without even _batting an eye_ bothered the ADC more than he’d like to admit. But synergy alone didn’t explain why Rasmus kept getting picked up by the enemy, dying a total of 9 times in a single game… No, judging from his performance, he must have had the _worst day_ of all times.

It was no surprise that he felt completely crushed after leaving the stage. His teammates were trying to cheer him up, not used to seeing the ADC in such a bad shape after a loss. Normally, he would try to make jokes to lighten the mood for _everyone else_ – but, today, he felt as if he was the one to blame for the team’s first loss of the split. Rasmus was still sitting in G2’s lounge, wondering about what could have possibly led to his tragic death-streak, when he suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Oskar: Are you okay? Sorry about that game, it looked rough

Think I’ll find a way to cheer you up if you still want to go out tonight

Meet me at the exit in the back?

And, just like that, Rasmus found himself smiling at the screen, and the world felt slightly less shitty. Bathing in self-pity never solved anyone’s problems, and he certainly didn’t want to miss out on his special Valentine’s day date because of some stupid loss. It was just like Grabbz had pointed out after their loss at the World’s finals _: just because you int it once, that doesn’t mean that you guys are not the best team in the world_. Rasmus jumped up, causing the rest of his teammates to look at him in confusion.

“I’m going out now,” he announced, “we’re still the best team in Europe, if not in the world, and I think we deserve to celebrate ourselves for it.”

“Big words, Rasmus,” Luka smiled from across the couch, “but I agree… think it’s about time we hit the road.”

“Who wants one of those boring 18-0 Splits anyway?” Wunder smirked in the corner, his face lit up only by the light of his phone screen.

“YES, today is about BIGGER THINGS!” Jankos exclaimed, and it looked as if he was scribbling something on a card.

“And we’ll be stronger tomorrow,” Miky shrugged with a smile, “let’s make Valentine’s day our bitch.”

Yet again, Rasmus was amazed by his teammates. What had started as a cheesy pep-talk in his head had suddenly turned into a heart-warming interaction that _actually_ made him feel a lot better. As he looked across the room, he couldn’t help but feel love for every single one of these clowns.

"Today's Valentine's day?" Grabbz sighed as he flipped through his notebook, "you guys have fun then, glad to hear that your spirits are in tact."

"GRABBZ, why are you not more EXCITED?" Jankos grunted, throwing some heart-shaped stickers at the coach.

"Not everyone can be as _romantic_ as you, Jankos... some of us actually have _self-respect_." Wunder mumbled, not lifting his gaze from his phone still.

"Woah, wait, _who?_ " Miky gasped, pretending to search the room in a mocking manner.

"Woah, guys, be civl!" Rasmus chuckled, checking his phone for the time briefly, "shoot - I gotta run, see you guys!"

As his teammates stopped their quarrel to wish their ADC the best for his date, he wanted nothing more than to just give each of them a big hug – but, in order to save time, he threw a smooch in air for all of them before exiting the lounge.

In a hurry, he hit the restrooms to put on his change of clothes. Now that he had embarrassed himself on stage, he felt even less like wearing his G2 jersey in public than usual, and he was more than thankful to his past-self for remembering to bring something else to put on. It was nothing too fancy – a pair of jeans and an olive green sweater that felt somewhat loose on his frail body. But, as he let the restroom door close behind him to head towards the exit in the back of the studio, he felt a whole lot more confident.

He took a moment to think about what Oskar might be wearing as he swung his backpack across his shoulder. In the next moment, he wondered whether it was even _appropriate_ to bring a backpack to a date. Suddenly, he realized that he had never really _been_ on a date before. Sure, Martin and he had gone out to eat somewhere else a couple of times in the past – but it never really felt much different from when they did it as a team, mostly because there was not a lot of planning, and much less a dress code, involved. Yes, now that he thought about it, Oskar was about to take him out on the first real date of his life.

When Rasmus finally spotted the jungler waiting on him near the exit, a smile formed on his lips. Oskar was waving at him, carrying his jacket with the other arm. The tall Pole was wearing a rather tight fitting, light grey sweater that perfectly showed off his body, paired with some black jeans. As he had never really seen the jungler in form fitting clothes, Rasmus found himself slightly flustered as he leaned in for a hug. The strong scent of Oskar’s cologne still lingered on his nostrils as he pulled away to greet his date properly.

“Hey, thanks for waiting,” he smiled brightly.

“So glad you made it,” Oskar replied with a happy nod, “it was not much of a wait, really. I even had time to get you something.”

“What, a gift? You shouldn’t have,” Rasmus nervously mumbled, scratching the back of his head, “I don’t have anything for you…”

“Ah, well I didn’t plan to do that before today, but then I saw the game and…” Oskar rummaged through his backpack, “I just know how much it sucks to choke on stage. So I wanted to give you… ah, here it is.”

In a swift motion, he pulled out a big, fluffy Poro-plushie. Rasmus was baffled, and it took him a moment before he could reach out to take the soft, squishy companion out of the jungler’s hands. He stroked the light blue fur with his thumb, looking back and forth between his gift and Oskar’s piercing blue eyes. _I wonder whether he chose a gift that would compliment his eyes,_ Rasmus thought with a crooked smile.

“Ah, you see, I just got it from our souvenir shop because I would have told you you lost because you didn’t _feed the Poro_ if it was an ARAM,” Oskar laughed nervously, scratching his cheek with one finger, “I’m sorry, it’s stupid, isn’t it?”

“No, I love it,” Rasmus beamed as he gave his plushie a tight hug, “I feel like it’s working already, I’m sure I’ll play like a boss tomorrow!”

Finally, Rasmus was able to leave the game behind as him and Oskar exited the studio to travel to the place where Oskar had made reservations. During the whole train ride, the jungler and the ADC chatted and joked, talking about things like sly junglers with roses between their teeth and a bowtie around their neck, or what the name of Rasmus’ plushie could be. And, as time passes fast when you’re having fun, they arrived at their designated date location in no time. It seemed to be a restaurant – or was it a bar? The outside décor didn’t exactly give it away, and so, Rasmus decided to ask.

“So, uhm, what kind of place is this?”

“Oh, it’s the best,” Oskar said with a bright smile, “it has food, drinks, music… but there are also all sorts of games, and even karaoke in the back.”

 _Huh, karaoke_ , Rasmus thought with a smirk, wondering whether he had heard that somewhere before today.

“Sounds amazing! I’m kind of thirsty, I think,” Rasmus said as they walked in.

“Okay, how about I get us something to drink at the bar while you and Edgar Allan Poro sit down over there?” Oskar explained while he pointed to an empty table in the corner of the crowded room.

“Man, you have to admit, that’s an amazing name…” Rasmus laughed as he gave Oskar a nod and started to make his way through the room.

The interior design of the joint was fascinating to the ADC; it was seemingly a mixture of a modern factory style with a classic arcade theme. There were several slot machines and old-school gaming machines lined up on the wall behind the bar, from what Rasmus could tell as he walked past it. Of course, the little kid in him wanted to check those out immediately, but he chose to postpone his curiosity for now as he had already arrived at the table. In the cupboard next to his chair, a huge pile of boardgames caught the ADC’s attention. _What is this marvellous place_? he thought in astonishment as his eyes wandered over to a small dancefloor on the other side of the room. It almost felt as if someone had created this place specifically to fit his desires for a perfect first date.

“Sorry for the wait, our drinks will be right over,” Oskar sighed as he sat down in the empty chair on the other side of the table.

“Thanks, I was just looking at this place and man, it’s amazing!” Rasmus exclaimed, his eyes twinkling in excitement.

“I’m glad you like it,” the jungler replied, looking a bit calmer now, “it’s never boring here, you know?”

“Yeah, to be honest, I was kind of scared you would drag me to a night club or something,” Rasmus mumbled nervously, “oh, I probably should have mentioned that I don’t drink?”

He looked over to the bar, now wondering what kind of beverage might be prepared for him at this moment. Rasmus was _very aware_ of the fact that the jungler liked to drink, and not exactly in moderation from what he had gathered from his stories. But, even for the sake of a first date, Rasmus didn’t want to do that. Silently, he hoped that Oskar would understand.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Oskar smirked as he waved over the waitress, “there they are.”

And, to his surprise, Rasmus was presented with a tall cocktail glass full of different exotic fruits and a liquid that transitioned in colour from red to orange. The colourful straw, as well as the decorative little umbrella, rounded off the extravagant look of the beverage.

“Two Virgin Tropical Explosions,” the waitress said as she placed the second glass in front of Oskar.

“Yes, thank you,” he smiled at her before turning back to Rasmus, “you see, I was wondering what would be fancier than KiBa or whatever that juice was called, and this is what came up. Do you like it?”

“Like it? I LOVE it!” Rasmus exclaimed, hastily grabbing for the tiny umbrella to play with it, “how did you even _know_ about the KiBa thing?”

“I don’t think you realize how much you’ve told me already,” Oskar chuckled as he stirred his drink with the straw, “I just listen.”

 _You make that sound so easy_ , Rasmus thought with a wide smile. It was true, during these two last weeks, they had talked a lot – about League of Legends, most of all, but other stuff came up as well. In this very moment, presented with a fabulous, non-alcoholic drink and with a wonderfully fluffy Poro on his lap, Rasmus truly felt as if they had known each other for much longer. Across the table, Oskar adjusted his cap before finally raising his glass.

“To a lovely evening, yes?” He suggested as a toast.

“And to us!” Rasmus eagerly clinked his glass against the jungler’s, making sure to find eye contact as he did.

It might have been considered superstitious of the ADC – _but you never know_ , he thought as he took the first sip of the night. He let out a satisfied sigh as the tropical juices charmed his taste buds.

“It’s good, no?” Oskar remarked, looking almost surprised.

“Sure is,” Rasmus smiled, licking his lips demonstratively, “now, what’s next in your _masterplan_?”

“Hmm, well, I feel like you’ve been eyeing these games over there?” The jungler pointed towards the cupboard next to their table, which was practically overflowing with board and card games.

“Well, your feeling was spot on! You really wouldn’t mind playing something...?” Rasmus asked hesitantly.

“Oh, it’s fine, you can pick one if you like. I’m always open to new experiences,” the jungler smirked, leaning back in his chair, and Rasmus felt weirdly charmed by it.

After carefully putting Edgar Allan Poro down to watch from the top of his backpack, Rasmus scanned the cupboard for a potential candidate, trying to find something light and fun. The ADC’s eyes lit up as he spotted the colourful box of one of his favourite card games.

“This is it, oh, I used to play it all the time back in Denmark,” he exclaimed happily as he slammed the box onto the table. Oskar eyed it curiously.

“Hmm, Skip-Bo? Is that how you say it? Never heard of it. Hope it’s not too hard?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it in no time,” Rasmus reassured him as he shuffled the cards, “I’ll explain the rules in a second, but basically, you just have to get rid of your stack of cards first.”

“I see,” The jungler mumbled as he picked up his hand cards and inspected them carefully, “well, go easy on me, would you?”

“No promises,” Rasmus grinned, covering half of his face with the cards in his hands, “the battle is on!”

After a short explanation of the game’s mechanics, which the jungler picked up on rather quickly, the guys were immersed in their match. They piled the cards up rapidly, and neither of the guys missed a chance to spoil opportunities for their opponent to make them _suffer_. Only interrupted through the sips on their Virgin cocktails and occasional chatter, the tensions surrounding their game ran high. After especially cocky plays, Rasmus would occasionally feel Oskar’s knee press up against his, making his heart jump slightly – but, somehow, he couldn’t decide whether that was a coincidence or an _insinuation_. Either way, he was having the time of his life. They were each down to their last few cards when Oskar started laughing.

“What is it? Are you getting _scared_ now?” Rasmus smirked, carefully inspecting the piles in front of him.

“Not even close,” Oskar replied with a cocky grin, “I just thought, maybe we could make this a bit more _interesting_. A wager, if you know what I mean…”

“Hmm, that’s an interesting proposal… but isn’t that something you usually decide _before_ you start playing?” Rasmus asked playfully as he laid down another card.

“Sure, but we can make an exception, no? I thought that, maybe, whoever wins gets to decide what we do next,” Oskar suggested, calmly playing out all of his hand cards to draw five new ones.

“Shoot, how are you so _good_ at this game already?” Rasmus laughed, “sure, okay, I’m in. There’s another game I have in mind, and there are these slot machines – wait, what do you want to do?”

“I want to dance with you,” Oskar grinned, and, even though the ADC couldn’t contain his laughter, he remained looking quite serious about it.

“Oh you… wait, you’re serious?” Rasmus chuckled nervously, “I better win then, I really can’t dance…”

“Now I want to see that even more!” Oskar exclaimed with a smile, raising one of his eyebrows playfully.

“You should step up your game then, because I’m almost done…” Rasmus announced after playing another card, crossing his arms confidently.

“Ahh, have mercy… wait, looks like I’m down to my last card as well,” Oskar shrugged, signalling Rasmus that it was his turn with his hand.

But, almost instantly, something else had caught the ADC’s attention. That guy that just passed their table really looked like…

“Martin…” Rasmus whispered, not even realizing that he was thinking out loud.

“What? Martin?” Oskar repeated the name slowly, and the expression on his face immediately switched from cheerful to concerned.

“I – I just felt like I saw Martin? But there’s no way, I was probably just imagining things, sorry…” Rasmus mumbled, nervously smiling at the jungler.

Silently, Oskar turned in his chair and started scanning the room. He winced when he found what he had been looking for – or, rather, _who_ he had hoped _not_ to find.

“You saw correctly… Tim is sitting over there, I assume they're here together.” The jungler looked awfully agitated at this point.

“But that doesn’t make any sense, this is such a big city,” Rasmus pouted, “you don’t think they followed us, right?”

“No, they couldn’t… I mean, I didn’t tell Tim where I was taking you, and I don’t talk to Martin at all these days.”

“Same,” Rasmus sighed, “but isn’t it a cruel coincidence, then…”

“It sure feels like it,” Oskar mumbled, the pain written all over his face, “but we don’t have to let that pull us down, right?”

“Right, they might as well see how much _fun_ we’re having,” Rasmus replied with a soft smile, “this is really the best date I’ve ever had.”

 _Also the only one, but he doesn’t have to know that_ , Rasmus thought.

“I’m having a great time too,” Oskar nodded, picking his cards back up.

As Rasmus looked at the colourful Skip-Bo cards in the jungler’s hand, he couldn’t help but start laughing again. “It’s probably your most _unusual_ date, right?”

“It’s certainly not boring, I can tell you that much!” Oskar laughed, drawing another card, “you’re just special... in the best way, you know?”

“Right back at you,” Rasmus beamed with a bright smile, his cheeks feeling slightly flushed.

The jungler’s sweet words echoed through the ADC’s mind, making it hard for him to think straight. Under the table, their knees were touching again – and, for some reason, neither of the guys pulled away this time. Rasmus’ mind was spinning when he looked down at the table, realizing that he could win the game with one final move. But, somehow, his body wouldn’t move accordingly – had Oskar really charmed him _this hard_? He put down his card, ending his turn, just to watch Oskar play his final card triumphantly.

“That’s it, right? I won?” The jungler grinned, raising his fist proudly.

“Oh boy, sure looks like it,” Rasmus chuckled, shaking his head theatrically, “how could I go so _wrong_?”

“Well, I think you know what that means…” Oskar smirked as he got up, offering the ADC his hand.

“Uff, a bet is a bet, right?” Rasmus mumbled shyly, hesitantly grabbing the jungler’s hand.

As he was being pulled to the barely populated dancefloor, Rasmus couldn’t help but turn his head to look for Martin. When he found him, sitting at a table near the gaming machines, drink in hand, their eyes suddenly met. _Was he watching me this whole time?_ Rasmus wondered, unsure of how that would make him feel. He tried to figure out whether the ADC and the midlaner were having a good time, but the loud music, combined with the flashy lights of the dancefloor, made it quite hard to tell. As he felt Oskar squeeze his hand, still pulling him into the right direction, Rasmus decided to shake it off. After all, he was _not_ here with Martin.

“This seems to be a good spot,” Oskar said loudly, trying to get through to Rasmus over the sound of the music.

“Right!” Rasmus exclaimed, hesitantly nodding his head to the beat, “is this your kind of music or…?”

“ _Britney Spears_? Well, not necessarily, but we can make it work,” the jungler grinned as he playfully wiggled his hips.

“Oh Wow! Okay, I’ll show you _my moves_ then,” Rasmus replied before starting to do the robot.

“Oh, that’s tragic!” Oskar laughed as he pointed down his body, “maybe try moving your legs a little, like this?”

“I mean, I can try, but what do you think about this?” Rasmus grinned, leaning back to do the bus driver.

“Looks like you’re about to do the diver next,” Oskar wheezed, “just, let me help you okay…”

Suddenly, the jungler came closer, so close that Rasmus swore that he could feel his breath on his cheeks. Oskar’s hands grabbed onto the smaller guy’s waist, carefully guiding him side to side to the beat of the music. Unsure of what to do with his own hands, Rasmus settled on putting them around the jungler’s neck awkwardly. As he lifted his head, their eyes met – and, even though they were both still chuckling, Rasmus suddenly felt his heart pump faster and faster. The next song started playing, but Oskar made no attempt to leave his _supporting_ position. Instead, he leaned in a bit closer, his eyes flashing back and forth between Rasmus’ eyes and his lips. It didn’t take the ADC long to figure out what went through the jungler’s mind – it didn’t take longer to figure out what he wanted to do about it, either.

Rasmus pushed himself up on his tiptoes, cautiously making their lips meet. Even though he was certain about reading the signals correctly, some part of him was still nervous that the jungler would pull away – instead, he felt his strong arms tighten around his waist, and Oskar’s lips tenderly kissing his. As they were getting lost in the kiss, the world seemed to disappear around them, including the music. They were just standing there, in the middle of the dancefloor, surrounded by a handful of dancing party-goers, sharing one of the purest kisses Rasmus had ever had. In fact, besides Martin, he had never really kissed anyone, which made this moment so much more special. When they finally pulled away from each other, after just a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Rasmus still felt dizzy.

“Wow.” He said, not being able to think of anything more elaborate to say.

“Yeah, that was quite a kiss,” Oskar smiled, his cheeks looking more rosy than usual.

“A great way to distract from my terrible dance moves,” Rasmus laughed, his hands still grabbing onto the other guy’s neck.

“Ah well, you want to dance some more? I haven’t showed you my twerking skills yet,” the jungler joked, but the curiosity his statement awakened in Rasmus was real.

“Okay, I REALLY want to see that,” the ADC replied, looking dead serious.

“You pervert,” Oskar smirked, “I’d suggest we get back to our table to finish our drinks, no?”

“Ah right, I do feel kind of thirsty,” Rasmus admitted.

Even though they probably could have managed without it, Oskar decided to take Rasmus’ hand to guide him back to their table at the other end of the joint. For some reason, the ADC felt as if he was walking on air. The feeling soon dropped when he laid eyes on Martin, who was still sitting at the table, but suddenly on his own. For a second, Rasmus wondered what could have happened – and then, he felt the strange urge to go over there to talk to the other ADC, even if just for a moment. _God, can’t you just enjoy this amazing date without thinking about him? Snap out of it!_ Rasmus scolded himself in his mind, squeezing Oskar’s hand.

With a satisfied sigh, both of the guys sat back down at their table. Rasmus reached out to grab his glass, sucking on the straw to get the last few sweet drops of his drink out. Across the table, Oskar had also emptied his drink already – both of them had worked up a sweat on the dancefloor, but in a rather unexpected way. Now, the last decision of the evening seemed to hung above their heads.

“So, uhm, you wanna order another drink? Play another game?” Oskar smiled, nervously scratching his head.

“Actually, I think it would be nicer if we got out of here?” Rasmus mumbled, shyly looking down at his hands,

"Oh, uhm, I'm sorry, I thought we were having a good time...?" The jungler mumbled, suddenly looking sad.

“Ah no, sorry, that's not what I meant!" Rasmus quickly added, "I just meant that we could go to my place or something, if you want? I know we said we wouldn’t let _them_ bother us, but…”

“… but you’d prefer to be far away from Martin right now? I get it, I feel the same way,” Oskar sighed with a sad smile, “so why not? Let’s do it!”

“Okay, great, I’ll look for a train connection,” Rasmus replied, his hands slightly shaking as he grabbed his phone.

“Hope this is not some trick to get me into bed, Rasmus,” Oskar smirked as he got up to grab his jacket.

“What? Me? I’d never do such a thing,” the ADC remarked playfully, not really sure whether he was joking or not.

 _What am I actually trying to do?_ Rasmus considered as he packed up. Even though this was by far the best date he had ever had, he wasn’t completely sure about how he felt about Oskar, and much less about whether he wanted to sleep with him. But there was no harm in hanging out some more, was there? And, in the end, if the both of them decided to go further than that, then that would be fine as well, right? _We’re two responsible adults_ , Rasmus thought in an attempt to calm himself down as they walked out of the establishment towards the train station nearby, _we can do whatever we want_.

When Rasmus and Oskar entered G2's gaming apartment, they found the place completely dark and deserted.

"Huh, I guess we're the first ones back?" Rasmus wondered, searching for the light switch with his hand.

"You've got some adventurous teammates it seems," Oskar laughed, looking at the samurai paintings in the hallway as the lamps illuminated the place, "at least two of mine are probably in bed already by now..."

"Bwipo and Hyli don't count, they are basically an elderly couple by now," the ADC laughed as he took off his shoes, "so, uhm, you wanna watch a movie in the living room?"

"Movie sounds good," Oskar shrugged as he carefully put his shoes on the rack near the door, "but I think I'd like a tour of the place first? I'm kind of curious."

"What, you're not subscribed to G2's YouTube channel? Shame on you!" Rasmus scoffed, laughing at his own joke soon after.

"Ah, yes, how _could_ I?" The jungler chimed in, pointing towards one of the doors close by, "is this the bathroom, by any chance? I forgot to hit the restrooms before we left..."

"Why, yes it is," Rasmus cocked a brow, surprised by the lucky guess, "if only every first-time-visitor could find it that easily..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Oskar mumbled, looking confused by the ADC's odd statement.

"Ah, sorry, nothing..." Rasmus awkwardly scratched his head as he tried to push the flashback of Martin in his tight pink underwear aside, "go right ahead, I'll look for something to drink in the kitchen!"

"Thanks - but _no alcohol_ , please," Oskar snickered as if he had just told the funniest joke of all times.

"Uff, that's gonna be tough, our pipes are filled with _vodka_ instead of water," the ADC shook his head, not able to hide his ridiculously wide grin, "it's a blast when you shower in the morning, but really disturbing when you try to put out one of the fires Jankos' terrible cooking skills keep causing in the kitchen."

The sounds of Oskar's full laughter echoed through the hallway, somehow lighting up the whole place even more.

"You sure are _something_ , Rasmus," the jungler chuckled, trying to catch his breath as he approached the bathroom, "see you in a minute!"

After the Pole had closed the door behind him, the Dane was left wondering what to do next. He slowly walked towards the kitchen, considering what kind of beverages the fridge should hold at the moment. Hesitantly, Rasmus got out two glasses and a bottle of Coke, figuring that he couldn't go wrong with that. Still, he found himself torn. _Do I take the drinks to the living room? Or maybe to... my room?_ Rasmus pondered, suddenly feeling his heart pump faster in his chest.

Sure, watching a movie sounded nice enough, sitting close to each other on the couch and joking around - but somehow, it felt as if he wanted to be _even closer_ to Oskar. But he couldn't shake the feeling that his bed was a haunted place, infused with memories of Martin, above all, but there were also images of him and Miky flashing through the ADC's mind. Rasmus hated that he was, yet again, thinking about Martin even though he should be enjoying his time with Oskar. He also wondered why Mihael popped up in the chaos - was he really _this_ bothered? Rasmus shook his head, attempting to clear his mind. He was still standing in the hallway, with the glasses in one hand and the bottle of Coke in the other. _It's not just up to me,_ he thought as he stared down the hallway into the direction of the bathroom, _maybe that is something that we should decide together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Rasmus' and Oskar's date - what are your thoughts on the first rendezvous?
> 
> I'm excited to hear your thoughts - and, as always, thanks for tuning in!
> 
> Martin's POV is up next, in case you were wondering ;)


	31. Part 8: Martin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks, welcome back! Another day, another date - I wonder whether this one will be just as fluffy as the last one?
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

As the first dashes of sunlight streamed into the room, Martin began to open his eyes. He had been half-awake for a while now, listening to the soothing sounds of his softly snoring midlaner beside him. It still felt weird to him to wake up besides someone else – but, now that it had happened a couple of times during the last week, he felt as if he could get used to it. The ADC leant forward, placing a kiss on the other guy’s shoulder, before finally getting up. The impact of his lips seemed to have been enough to end the midlaner's slumber, even though Martin had tried to be as careful as possible.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up,” he whispered, tip-toeing into the direction of the bathroom.

“Hmm, it’s fine…” Tim mumbled, his eyes still closed, “are you going somewhere?”

“I wanted to hit the gym,” the ADC explained as he entered the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him, “you wanna join me, maybe?”

“Yeah right,” Tim grunted, and Martin could practically see him rolling his eyes in his mind.

 _Not exactly a surprise_ , Martin thought as he tried to tame his hair somehow, fixing it up with some hairspray so that it wouldn’t get into his eyes. His need for a trim was ridiculous at this point, and the fact that Tim wasn’t exactly fond of his beard served as additional motivation to go through with it _. Maybe next week_ , he considered as he grabbed his toothbrush.

“Why is it so cold in here? I thought this was a hotel…” Tim wailed from the bed.

“Sorry, uhm, I’ll crank up the heater in a second – maybe you could get yourself a T-shirt from my closet until then?” Martin suggested, his toothbrush already set up for the task.

“Fine, fine… but I’ll put this into my review of this place,” the midlaner replied, probably with a slight smirk.

As Martin went through the content of his gym bag in his mind, trying to think of what else he needed to pack, he could hear Tim rummaging through his closet, on the hunt for some clothes to wear.

“Do you like, keep all the jerseys other players give you? This is quite the collection…” Tim mumbled in astonishment.

“Uhm, yeah, you can pick whatever you like,” Martin remarked before gargling with some water.

“Might be feeling a little H2K today…” the midlaner seemingly thought out loud.

“I’m scared for our game later on then,” the ADC chuckled as he reached for his deodorant, “ah, maybe you could put my sneakers into my gym bag? The Nike ones?”

“Sure…”

Martin started to apply some moisturizer, taking his sweet time. It took him a moment to realize that the midlaner had stopped talking _– the sneakers should be in plain sight_ , Martin thought, suddenly growing nervous, _why is it taking so long…_

“Uhm, did you find them?” Martin asked, the uneasiness showing in his voice.

When there was no answer, the ADC swallowed hard, preparing himself for the worst. _What if he found it?_ He thought, slowly poking his head out of the bathroom, _if he found the box, I might seriously be in trouble…!_

“Are these the right ones?” Tim asked monotonously, holding a pair of black sneakers in his hands. He was, in fact, wearing one of Forg1ven’s old H2K jerseys.

“Yeah, thanks,” Martin chuckled in relief, “you look _so_ much better in this than Forgiven.”

“Not a hard thing to do, but thanks,” Tim replied with a shrug, stuffing the shoes into the ADC’s gym bag, “well, don’t die in the gym, okay? I won’t be there to save your ass.”

“Sure, well, I’ll try?” Martin grinned, leaning down to give Tim a peck on the cheek before the midlaner slouched back to the bed.

And, as Tim’s face disappeared behind his OnePlus, Martin let the room’s door close behind him. With a satisfied sigh, he made his way to the hotel’s gym. He was more than glad about the fact that Tim hadn’t stumbled across his _secret stash_ – then again, now that he had someone over regularly, he should probably find a better spot to hide things. Martin was sure to make a mental note of that before putting his towel down on the bench press, preparing himself for the workout with some lazy stretches. Even though he didn’t hit the gym as regularly as he used to, Martin felt as if he really needed to sweat a little today, to centre himself, mostly. It wasn’t just any day, after all.

 _Valentine’s day,_ he thought with a grunt as he tried to touch his toes, _I can’t believe I’m actually going to celebrate it this year._ Now that he thought about it, he had probably _never_ been out on a proper Valentine’s day date before – mostly because he had always been too busy, too conflicted about his feelings towards whoever he was with at the time – yes, in a way, he might have missed out when it came to actual _dating_. It was, therefore, no wonder that he had had a hard time coming up with any ideas for taking Tim out.

As he started to stack weights on each side of the bar, Martin shamefully remembered asking Pete to make reservations for him in the office, pretending to be “too busy” to do it himself. He had to admit that, most of the time, he relied _way too much_ on Fnatic’s maid-of-all-work – but he at least proclaimed his gratitude on a regular basis. In the end, when Pete explained that Oskar had asked him to do the same thing, with a special place in mind, Martin turned sulky immediately, saying that _wherever_ is fine with him. _Oskar, Oskar, always Oskar_ , the ADC thought angrily as he lifted the bar with a grunt, _how does he even have someone to go out with?_

After he had finished his repetitions, Martin slowly returned the weights, pearls of sweat forming on his forehead. _Why can’t I just let it go?_ He thought as he stared at his reflection in the huge mirror, _I won, right?_ As the person in the mirror was not about to give him an answer, Martin turned to hit the leg press. His continued pettiness when it came to Oskar bothered the ADC tremendously, and he knew that that affected Tim as well. For some reason, the midlaner and the jungler were keeping their distance from each other lately, which clearly took a toll on Tim already. The last thing he needed was Martin adding to the trouble – _just stop and focus on what’s ahead_ , the Swede told himself as he pushed himself up against the weight of the leg press, exhaling sharply.

After a good hour of pumping iron, Martin felt at least _somewhat_ more ready for the day, but there was no way to completely calm the storm in his mind. Besides his nerves regarding the date scheduled for the late evening, he _also_ had to play on stage today again, after all – after Fnatic’s defiant loss against G2 the week before, everyone was expecting them to turn things around today. The pressure was crushing, to say the least, even though their opponent of the day, Team Vitality, was not exactly considered to be at the top of their game at the moment. But, for both of his challenges of the day, a positive mindset would be crucial – so that’s what Martin tried to maintain for now.

It suddenly felt a lot less difficult when Martin was presented with the sight of his naked midlaner, sprawled out on the bed in his room, casually playing with his OnePlus.

“Oh, hey, the heater really kicked in,” Tim mumbled as a greeting, not even budging a little as he watched his ADC walk through the room.

“I can see that,” Martin smirked as he put his gym bag down, “Forgiven’s jersey didn’t make it long, huh?”

Not that Martin minded that – in a way, looking at the midlaner’s naked body made the ADC realize what was really important today. Not just in a sexual way, of course…

“It’s just like with his time on Schalke,” Tim shrugged as he put his phone on the nightstand, “so, gym was okay, I assume?”

“You’re ruthless,” Martin chuckled, “yeah, gym was fine… any reason you’re already wearing your outfit for our date tonight?”

“Very funny…” Tim mumbled as he shuffled over to the edge of the bed to get up, “If you don’t expect me to wear a suit or something, I think I can find something suitable to wear.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the look of _this_ on you,” Martin smiled as he put his arms around the midlaner’s thin waist.

“Sure, sure… uff, you smell,” Tim sniffed at the ADC, trying to free himself from the sweaty guy’s grasp.

“Oh, don’t be like that, just join me in the shower?” Martin mumbled into the midlaner’s ear.

“Fine…” Tim whispered, swinging his arms around the other guy’s neck.

Effortlessly, the ADC lifted the midlaner up and carried him to the bathroom. Even though they didn’t have a lot of time before they had to head to the office, the both of them made sure to thoroughly enjoy their shower, and everything else that might have ensued in the bubbly, steamy glass enclosure. With all the madness that awaited them this Valentine’s day, they would need every last drop of happiness to pull through – but, in the end, there was no way for them to know just how hard things would get yet. Instead, Martin and Tim left the hotel to head to the office in a rather good mood, feeling as if they had started the day off properly. 

When Martin walked through the hallway of Fnatic’s office, he noticed that one specific voice was _not_ echoing through the apartment today. It was certainly a surprise when he noticed that the team’s coach had, in fact, not arrived in time for the meeting – but, before he could really wonder about possible causes for this unusual occurrence, he already found himself wrapped up in a chat with his teammates, who were spread on the big couch of the office’s viewing area.

“So, basically, at every stop, Zdravets would get another rose, until he finally had the full bouquet at the end!” Bwipo explained proudly, the team’s blushing support cuddling up to his arm.

“I’ve lived here for a while now, but I’ve never seen this much of the city… it was amazing,” Hylissang smiled, lovingly caressing the toplaner’s hand.

“You guys are too sweet, you make all of us look bad,” Oskar grinned beside them, “good to see that romance is still alive and well, though.”

“Yeah, sounds quite amazing,” Martin nodded, _hating_ that he had to agree with the jungler, who was back to smiling at the screen of his phone.

“Ah, well, from the looks of it, Oskar is doing his part to keep romance alive as well,” Bwipo smirked, playfully nudging the jungler’s arm.

“Oh stop it, this thing with Rasmus is casual…we just want to have a fun evening, you know?” Oskar mumbled, much quieter than he usually spoke.

Sadly, not quiet enough for Martin not to hear. Oh, he _heard_ him. The lightbulbs in his head exploded, one after the other, leaving his mind in total darkness. It was the last thing he wanted to hear right now – the _one thing_ he had tried to push aside and label as a joke all week long had, at last, caught up to him. Images of not just Oskar, but now also Rasmus, started to flash in front of his inner eye. The thought of the two of them, laughing together on their Valentine’s day date, made Martin feel sick to his stomach. Without as much as a word of explanation, the ADC stormed out off the room. Leaning against one of the walls in the hallway, he tried to control his breathing – one of the many techniques he had picked up from practicing meditation. As he tried his best to concentrate on the air in his lungs, he shrieked as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Woah, sorry, Martin, I just thought I’d check if you’re okay…?” Hylissang mumbled, his motherly gaze lasting on his ADC’s chalk-white face.

“What? Uhm, sure, of course…” Martin replied – but he realized as soon as the words left his lips that he wasn’t fooling anyone, and especially not his support who happened to double as a detective.

“Right…” Zdravets sighed, crossing his arms, “I understand that it must be a bit weird, but I thought you said you were over Caps…?”

“Uhm, yeah, I am,” Martin stumbled, nervously biting his lower lip, “it just makes me so uncomfortable to think about Rasmus and… _him_.”

“ _Him?_ Oh god, is there bad blood between you and Oskar?” Hylissang whispered, his eyes widened in shock, “it’s because of Tim, isn’t it?”

“What? No…” Martin straight up lied, “I don’t know I’m just… overwhelmed, okay?”

“I get that,” Zdravets sighed, putting his hand back on the ADC’s shoulder, “but this is a part of moving on… hey, just try not to think about it too much. At least you won’t have to _see it happen_ , right? I’ll ask Oskar to stop mentioning it in front of you in the future.”

“Thanks, Zdravets… that sounds good.” Martin mumbled, but he knew that he must still look beyond defeated in this moment.

“That’s what a support is for, right?” Hyli smiled, throwing his arm around the ADC’s shoulder, “think I just heard the door, we should better get back to the meeting, no?”

“Hmm, right – what’s up with Mithy being late, anyway?” Martin wondered as the guys made their way back to the viewing area.

“I’d like to know that as well…” the support mumbled in a serious tone, and the ADC assumed that further investigations would follow eventually.

Martin’s gaze was immediately drawn to Tim when he and Hyli walked back into the room. The midlaner was sitting on the edge of the couch, seemingly lost in his OnePlus again. Martin couldn’t help but wonder whether the news of Oskar and Rasmus going out had shaken the Slovenian as much as him – of course, he hoped for that _not_ to be the case. If anything, it shouldn’t be a big deal to him, right? _And I don’t want it to be a big deal for me either_ , Martin thought as he shook his head to shake it off, _we have a freaking game to win_.

Luckily, the tension surrounding the team’s jungler didn’t keep Fnatic down this day. Mostly effortlessly, they beat Vitality in the rift, feeling back to their old self as a top contender afterwards. Even though the win itself didn’t mean too much, it boosted the player’s confidence quite a bit. Martin found himself smiling brightly as he packed up before leaving the stage, suddenly feeling this huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. To be fair, he had been the one to _put it there_ to begin with when he blamed himself for the loss against G2 the week before – but who cares about the details, right? The rush of the victory numbed his sense of pain and left him wondering why he had even been bothered to begin with on such a wonderful day.

“You guys can go ahead, I have to wait until G2’s game is over,” Oskar explained as they headed down to Fnatic’s lounge.

 _Ah, there it is_ , Martin thought with a flinch. Of course, the idea of forgetting about Rasmus for the rest of the night was simply too good to be true. Next to the ADC, the team’s coach was staring at his phone while walking, which was a rather unusual sight. In general, Mithy seemed to be all over the place on this day – something that, luckily, hadn’t shown in the draft. As the coach apparantly just registered what the jungler had said, he lifted his head.

“Ah, yes, I’ll stay behind as well – but the rest of you can go. You all got dates or whatever, right?” Alfonso mumbled, giving his team a half smile before waving hesitantly.

 _Dates with each other, yes_ , Martin thought, not feeling the need to correct the stressed out coach. For a moment, he wondered what the reason for the Spaniard’s sudden distress might be – but, then again, he had other things to worry about now. Aside from his obviously conflicted feelings about a certain other date that would take placer later on, Martin found himself growing more and more nervous about his own upcoming rendezvous. After parting ways with the rest of the team, he found himself walking next to Tim, who’s attention was solely focused on his OnePlus. Martin took a deep breath – it was time for him to call the shots now.

“Let’s get changed first, right?” The ADC suggested, pointing towards the studio’s restrooms.

“Oh, you were serious about that?” Tim mumbled, lifting his head to meet Martin’s eyes, “I didn’t bring any change of clothes… aren’t our jerseys fine?”

“Uhm, well, I think it would feel a bit… weird.” Martin stuttered, trying to come up with an alternative plan in his head, “I might have a spare hoodie in the lounge… would you mind putting that on?”

“Sure, whatever,” Tim shrugged.

"You really don't mind...?" The Swede asked carefully, somehow feeling like his request annoyed the midlaner.

“No, it's fine... if you want to change here, we can meet at the back exit?” Tim suggested calmly.

“Sounds good, see ya in a minute,” Martin smiled before disappearing in the restrooms.

Carefully, the ADC proceeded to get changed without letting any piece of clothing touch the floor, which he considered to be incredibly dirty, mostly due to past experiences in these specific four walls. The outfit itself was nothing too special – a simple, light grey shirt and a black pair of pants, accessorized with one of Martin’s favourite belts. As he looked at himself in the mirror, cursing his long hair and the lazy beard out, the Swede still felt somewhat comfortable with the way he looked. Since they really hadn’t discussed something like a dress code, Tim surely wouldn’t mind his outfit – well, part of him secretly hoped that he would even _like_ to see his ADC dressed up a bit. After all, he really wanted Tim to feel special today.

When Martin spotted his midlaner near the exit, now wearing his black Gymshark hoodie that looked incredibly oversized on his frail body, he couldn’t help but smile. Even though he would have liked to see Tim in more formfitting clothes for a change, the _I’m-wearing-my-boyfriend’s-hoodie_ -look certainly suited the Slovenian.

“Well, you like this better?” Tim asked as he noticed the ADC approaching, letting his OnePlus slide into the hoodie’s front pocket.

“Yeah, you look great,” Martin smirked, carefully pulling the other guy’s hood down to let his wild, dark blonde hair roam free.

“The colour brings out my eyes, no?” Tim remarked monotonously with a dead-serious expression on his face, and Martin couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sure, sure… I’m kind of hungry, you wanna go grab some Pizza?” The ADC asked as they started heading outside.

“I thought you got us reservations at some _great place_?” Tim asked, and Martin couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic.

“Well, the reservation isn’t until 10, I guess I didn’t think Mithy would let us go already,” Martin replied, waving over the cab he had pre-ordered in the restrooms.

“Hmm, true, he was in a weird mood today,” Tim shrugged, “pizza sounds fine to me. You want to go to Vesuvio?”

“Sounds perfect to me…” Martin mumbled with a smile as he opened the door for his midlaner, waving him inside chivalrously.

“Geez, what a gentleman,” Tim smirked, climbing inside.

As the door fell shut behind him, Martin felt as if everything was going well enough so far. He gave the driver the directions, and the water in his mouth started gathering as he thought about his favourite pizza awaiting him in one of his favourite restaurants. Next to him, Tim was looking out of the window, seemingly lost in thoughts. In moments like these, the ADC would always wonder what was going on in the Slovenian’s mind. Even though he acted like it most of the time, Martin refused to believe that the midlaner _really_ didn’t care about anything else than League and his OnePlus. He was convinced that there was a wild world of imagination, or even complex thoughts and desires hidden away in Tim's head. But, without much to go off of, it was hard to find something to talk about to let it show. The ADC wrapped his brain around finding a topic for a couple of minutes before finally falling back onto an old classic.

“So, today’s match was something else, huh?” He said with a crooked smile, hoping that the midlaner would respond to his attempt to reach out.

“Yeah,” Tim mumbled, turning his head to face Martin, “but it was pretty much won already when they left Cassio open for me…”

“Sure, but don’t you think Bwipo’s _Singed_ kind of made the difference in the end?” The ADC chuckled.

“Can’t argue with that… this dude never fails to amaze me with his wonky picks…”

And so, Martin found himself immersed in a conversation about daring drafts, outrageous outplays and mismatched match-ups. It felt good to fill the silence with meaningful chatter, since it had started to feel uncomfortable to the ADC. _But isn’t this work-talk?_ Martin wondered as they marvelled on about the current meta – yes, for someone who had literally made his hobby his career, the lines between work- and free time-talk were blurry. When Martin and Tim finally arrived at the restaurant, their conversation was still on-going, until the pizza set down in front of them interrupted their chitchat. The Vesuvio-pizza certainly didn't disappoint in terms of flavour, but since Martin still felt as if this was a normal evening out with the squad, just minus the other guys, he started to grow uneasy as he kept munching on. Maybe a change of topic would ignite the spark?

“So, uhm, did you watch any good movies lately?” Martin asked, picking up another slice of pizza.

“Not really…” Tim replied, taking a lazy bite out of his own slice.

“Huh, okay, maybe some series, then? I recently started watching _Sex Education_ on Netflix, that show’s quite something…” The ADC explained, giving the Slovenian a nervous smile.

“I don’t know that one,” the midlaner replied, suddenly avoiding eye contact completely.

 _Did I say something wrong? Why is this so hard?_ Martin asked himself, sighing as he stuffed the last piece of crust into his mouth. Maybe they should have ordered some alcoholic beverages, after all? In the end, everyone knows that drinking lightens the mood. _But we shouldn’t have to rely on that,_ Martin thought, scratching his head. As Tim had also somehow managed to finish the pizza that looked way too big for his tiny body, it seemed as if the time for a change of scenery had arrived – maybe _that_ was what they needed to finally loosen up a bit. Martin signalled that he wanted to pay to the waiter, preparing himself to take Tim to the ominous place Pete had made reservations for.

“Sooo… this is it?” Tim asked hesitantly, and Martin couldn’t exactly blame the midlaner for sounding hesitant.

As viewed from the outside, the joint looked non-descript, not really revealing what kind of place it was. _A Sport’s bar? A restaurant? A weird gaming centre?_ There was no way to know, and, since Martin had basically blind-picked this location, he started to feel a bit nervous about what might await them inside. The flair of the décor did, however, positively surprise the ADC when they walked through the massive wooden doors of the establishment. The whole place offered several date-friendly activities, and, instantly, Martin went back to silently thanking Pete for his ongoing support. For a moment, the ADC felt as if he saw Tim’s eyes light up, even if just a little, reassuring him even further.

“How about you go sit down over there while I get us some drinks at the bar?” Martin smiled, pointing towards an empty table near the arcade machines.

“Sure.” Tim mumbled, making his way to the designated table.

In dire need of energy and fun, Martin decided to order them two vodka bombs and some extra Red Bull to go with it. Tim liked to drink that – that was _one thing_ he knew for sure about the midlaner. As he started to feel as if he didn’t really know that much about the guy he was on a date with, he tried to hold onto the things he was certain of. As he tried to get the bartender’s attention, he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, Rekkles, long time no see,” Perkz smirked, casually leaning against the bar.

 _Oh god, what the hell is he doing here_ , Martin thought as he turned away to roll his eyes before responding, “I guess….”

“Aww, you’re still _mad_ at me for outing your drama in front of Hylissang and Mithy, huh? I’m truly sorry for that, I just didn’t know how little you talk to your teammates.” Perkz explained, but he didn’t look sorry at all.

“Let’s just forget about that,” Martin mumbled angrily, “look, I’m kind of here on a date, so I don’t have time to chat.”

“Oh, I know, you’re out here with your little midlaner, huh?” Perkz shook his head mockingly, “that’s cute, but a serious downgrade if you ask me…”

“Well, no one asked you,” Martin grunted, now finally getting a chance to place his order with the bartender who explained that he would bring the drinks to their table.

“You’re quite on edge, huh… I’m sure it has _nothing_ to do with the fact that Rasmus is out on a date with an actually decent guy, right?” The midlaner provocatively raised an eyebrow, seemingly enjoying to taunt the ADC.

“Oh, shut up, Perkz!” Martin hissed before stomping past the other guy, back to the table and far away from this nosy intruder.

“Make sure to tell your date that **Nemesisfan_69** really enjoyed the way he played Cassio today, will you?” Perkz yelled after him, still laughing as judged by the sound of his voice.

“What the hell is that even supposed to mean?” Martin turned back, still furious.

“Oh, he knows,” the other guy shrugged with a sly smile.

Without acknowledging that last comment, Martin stormed off. The sudden encounter with one of his arch enemies had seriously thrown him off his game – and then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, he saw him. _Pete, I take everything back, this place is the worst_ , Martin thought as he stared at Rasmus and Oskar, innocently chatting at a table near the bar. _Of course_ he had to be here – the whole evening just felt cursed at this point. It was as if the universe was telling him that he didn’t deserve to have a nice Valentine’s day – or maybe it was a punishment for all of his sins? Part of the ADC just wanted to go home. But, in the end, that wouldn’t have been fair to his date waiting on him at the other side of the room, right?

“There you are,” Tim mumbled as the ADC sat down beside him, “what took you so long?”

“I ran into Perkz at the bar, of all people…” Martin sighed, still feeling extremely irritated, “and then, on my way back, I saw…”

“… Caps and Oskar, I know,” the midlaner ended the ADC’s sentence casually, looking over to the table where the other guys were sitting.

“R-right,” Martin stuttered, surprised by how calm the Slovenian was, “I have no idea why we ended up in the same place, I haven’t even talked to Rasmus since last week.”

“And I didn’t even know you were taking me here,” Tim shrugged, “they must have figured it out somehow.”

“You don’t think this could just be a coincidence?” Martin scratched his head nervously, trying not to think about the fact that this was probably Pete's doing.

“Doesn’t sound like one to me…” the midlaner mumbled, now eyeing the drinks the waiter presented them with.

“Two Vodka bombs with extra Red bull?”

“Yes, thanks,” Martin smiled at him, raising one of the tall cocktail glasses.

“Well, this looks good,” Tim did the same, the hint of a smile on his lips.

“To us, no? Let’s not let them pull us down…” Martin shyly proposed as a toast.

“Yeah,” Tim replied, making their glasses clink.

As he looked into his midlaner’s big, blue eyes, Martin wondered whether he could just leave the events of the past ten minutes behind like that to enjoy the evening. He _wanted to_ , that much was for sure – but, immediately, his eyes were drawn back to his team’s jungler and his once beloved, who were now making their way to the dancefloor, hand in hand, laughing brightly. The sight made the blood freeze in his veins. Did Rasmus have this much fun back when _they_ were together? Did he ever even take him out on a date like this? The regrets kept coming, completely raining on Martin’s parade. Next to him, Tim seemed to be just as captivated by Oskar’s and Rasmus’ awkward looking dance.

“I have to go to the toilet,” the midlaner mumbled, slowly getting up and slouching away before Martin could even tell whether he looked sad or not.

Martin nervously stirred the ice in his glass with the straw as his gaze followed the midlaner in the first, and then flashed back to the other ADC on the dancefloor in the second moment. He was no expert when it came to dancing either, but Rasmus’ moves looked straight up tragic. If it had been him up there, trying to get the Dane to move rhythmically, he probably would have laughed in amusement – but, as he was sitting here, all alone, watching Oskar play that role instead, he didn’t feel like laughing at all.

Even though he wanted to so desperately, he couldn’t look away. Every second he spent watching the Dane and the Pole move in closer felt like a stab in the chest – and still, he couldn’t look away. When he saw them kiss, Martin wanted to scream – to run over there, pull the jungler away from Rasmus’ face and finally deliver that punch that had been so long overdue. But his body wouldn’t move – how could he do such an impulsive and childish thing when he was here with Tim?

 _Speaking of Tim_ , Martin thought as he took a deep breath, finally turning away to look into the direction of the restrooms _, what’s taking him so long?_ Even though a part of him was glad that the midlaner had not witnessed the unfortunate kiss on the dancefloor, another part started to get worried about something else. He had never experienced it himself, of course, but Martin had heard more than enough stories about people being deserted in the middle of a date. _But there’s no way that would happen in real life, right?_ Martin thought, nervously sipping on his drink, _he wouldn’t do this to me, would he?_

At this point, the alcohol was certainly kicking in. Due to his nerves, Martin had pretty much emptied his drink at record speed, already thinking about ordering the next – even though he knew that probably wasn’t the best idea. But the outside factors pulling him down this evening didn’t exactly encourage smart decisions. As he watched Oskar and Rasmus leave the establishment, carrying their jackets and backpacks, his mind couldn’t help but wonder where they might be going – or, rather, what they were planning on _doing_. Feeling almost resigned, Martin was about to wave over the waiter to finally kill his soberness when he suddenly spotted Tim coming back from the restrooms. _Oh, thank god, he didn’t leave_ , Martin thought with a relieved sigh. The questioned that remained is whether he should fill the midlaner in on what he’s missed or not.

“Hey, you were gone for quite a while… are you okay?” Martin asked nervously, shuffling in his seat.

“Hi… yeah, I’m okay,” Tim mumbled as he sat back down, immediately reaching for his drink.

As Martin watched his midlaner take one big sip after the other, he couldn’t help but notice just how sad he looked. _Maybe something weird happened in the restrooms?_ He wondered for a second, trying to suck the last drops of vodka out of his glass, _or maybe it really is about Oskar?_ As things were looking, he didn’t want to risk telling Tim about the kiss, after all. He didn’t have to point out that the other guys had since left the building either – it would only draw unnecessary attention to them, right? Still, Martin hoped that there was a different explanation for Tim’s solemn expression.

“You kind of look like you saw a ghost… are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

“Well… I guess there is something I’d like to ask you about.” Tim said quietly as he put his glass back down.

“Sure, uhm, what is it?” Martin stuttered – but, _oh boy_ , was he nervous about what the midlaner might want to talk about.

Between Oskar kissing Rasmus, the both of them leaving the bar together and whatever the hell Perkz meant when he mentioned **Nemesisfan_69** , there were more than enough bombs waiting to be dropped on the ADC.

“This morning when you asked me to get your sneakers out of the closet I… _saw_ something.” The midlaner explained, still avoiding eye contact with his ADC.

 _Oh shit,_ Martin thought, swallowing hard _, so he found it after all_ … How was it even possible that, with the way everything was burning down around him already, the universe still found a way to send more trouble his way?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on this date! Or, wait, is it...? I guess we'll have to wait and see the end of it in Tim's POV! ;)
> 
> Still, what are your thoughts and feelings on this one? 
> 
> I'd love to hear all about them - and, as always, thanks for tuning in?


	32. Part 8: Luka

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks! I'm proud to finally present you what you've all been waiting for!! You called for a Perkz POV, and I listened!
> 
> ....well, I guess I had this one laying around for a while anyway ;) I was already giddy with joy when I read through some of the comments anticipating it, precisely for that reason! So here it is, I hope you enjoy it!

This particular Spring Split had, so far, already felt like the most turbulent one Luka had ever had. Not just because he had recently reversed his role swap, returning to the midlane – no, seeing Rasmus on the botlane now instead of himself might have still felt a little weird, but nothing that he couldn’t easily handle. It was more so his personal life that concerned the midlaner. His emotions had, after all, been on quite the rollercoaster-ride lately – from ending things with Miky casually, over meeting a stunning blonde, instantly feeling a connection, only to find out that she didn’t intend to be exclusive with him. Maybe the most surprising thing about all of this was how much it _got to_ the Croatian, who usually kept his cool no matter what. As he played with Sam’s blonde locks, still cuddled up in bed, Luka wondered when he had started to go through this change. He didn’t have much time to think about that, though, since a forceful knock on the door interrupted the pensive midlaner.

“GOOD MORNING, I’m coming IN!” The team’s jungler yelled as he knocked on the door a couple times more before clawing it open.

Absolutely perplexed, Luka watched Jankos prance into the room, wearing an outfit that resembled a butler’s attire, holding a red rose in between his teeth – it was a ridiculous sight. Instinctively, the midlaner started laughing, unable to grasp just why on earth the jungler would make a fool out of himself like that. But, beside him, Sam sat herself up, looking at the Pole with wondering eyes instead of mocking him.

“Good morning, Marcin,” she smiled calmly, “what brings you here at this hour?”

 _Exactly, it’s way too early for this_ , Luka thought grumpily, pulling the blanket up to cover at least half of his naked torso. Now, _why_ didn’t the blonde beside him seem to be bothered by this uncalled-for intrusion?

“Yes, what are you even doing –“ Luka started before Jankos cut him off.

“Well, SAM,” the jungler smirked, walking over to the girl’s side of the bed, “I was WONDERING if you would make me the HAPPIEST MAN IN THE WORLD and…”

 _Wait, what?_ Perkz squinted at the jungler, who got onto his knees to be on Sam’s eye level, _what the fuck are you doing, Jankos?_

“…be my Valentine?” The jungler asked with big eyes, handing Sam the rose he had previously transported with his teeth.

 _You fucking prick_ , Luka thought with a grunt, crossing his arms. He couldn’t comprehend what was going through Jankos’ head – Sam was still in _his bed_ , wasn’t she? He had never heard of anyone bold, or, well _, stupid_ enough to ask someone out while they were in bed with someone else. There was no way that the beautiful blonde would agree to this ridiculous proposition, was there…?

“Oh, Marcin, you’re so sweet,” Sam laughed, turning the rose in her hand, “I’d love to be your Valentine!”

 _What?_ Luka thought, feeling as if he must have misheard.

“That’s GREAT!” Jankos exclaimed happily, jumping back on his feet, “I’ll pick you up after our game, okay? It might be a little LATE but –“

“That’s okay, I’ll have to work late, too,” Sam smiled, seemingly excited - which was absolutely absurd to the midlaner.

“AMAZING! See you later, then!” Marcin beamed, almost dancing with joy as he left the room.

After the door had been slammed shut again, there was a moment of silence before Sam finally let out a long sigh, eyeing the red rose in her hand.

“I don’t think anyone has ever done something this…” she mumbled, pausing to find the right words.

“Stupid? Ridiculous? _Lunatic?_ ” Perkz snorted, attempting to finish the blonde’s sentence sarcastically.

“No,” she softly shook her head, smiling at the flower, “ _sweet and romantic_ – and just for me…”

“Are you kidding me?” Perkz grunted, unable to hide his frustration this time, “I can’t believe you _agreed_ to go out with him…”

“Hmm, why?” Sam tilted her head, looking at the midlaner with innocence in her eyes, “I didn’t have a date yet, so why wouldn’t I agree?”

 _Ouch,_ Luka thought, turning away from her to hide his flushed cheeks. It’s true, he had never really taken her on a date, let alone invited her out on Valentine's day – but how _could_ he after she had explained to him that they weren’t serious at all? In a way, he probably had no right for being mad at his jungler for doing what he hadn’t had the guts to do.

“Sure, whatever,” Luka sighed as he put his feet on the ground, feeling too uneasy to stay in bed.

“Aww, are you _jealous_ …?” Sam whispered, playfully leaning against the midlaner’s back.

“No, why would I be?” Perkz shrugged, attempting to put on a confident grin, “he’s got _nothing_ on me, you know.”

“I don’t know,” Sam laughed as she climbed out of bed to get dressed, “there’s at least one thing he has that you don’t…”

“And what’s that…?” Luka mumbled with a slight frown, reaching down to grab his sweatpants.

“A date tonight!” Sam winked at the midlaner as she grabbed her bag, and Luka couldn’t help but wonder how the blonde had gotten dressed so quickly.

“Very funny… I could get one if I wanted to,” Perkz grinned, pulling the blonde close.

“Oh, I bet…” she smiled, placing a soft kiss on Luka’s lips before turning away, “I gotta go to work now, I’ll text you tomorrow or something, okay?”

“Right…” Luka replied, his half-smile now feeling forced, “take care.”

And, just like that, he was alone. _Valentine’s day, huh_ , Luka thought with a sigh, not even bothering to put on a shirt at this point, _what a bunch of crap_. The Croatian quietly considered what he could do to make himself feel better right now. Sure, there was always League – but, somehow, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was in need of _something else_ to distract him, maybe even to release some of this anger boiling inside of him. Now that he thought about it, there was arguably only _one person_ for the job. Still wearing nothing but his sweatpants, Luka walked through the hallway of G2’s gaming apartment, before finally knocking on the door of his support’s room. By the time Miky called him inside, he was already halfway through the door.

“Why, what a nice surprise…” Mihael smiled brightly, still tucked in bed, “it really has been too long since I’ve seen you _like this_ , hasn’t it?”

“Like what?” Luka mumbled, not fully understanding what his support was talking about before he looked down his half-naked body, “ah, right.”

“Is something the matter?” Miky asked, shuffling to the side of the bed to make space for the midlaner.

“Why, what gives you _that_ impression?” Luka rolled his eyes, still pacing around the room nervously.

“Oh, I don’t know, just a _feeling_ …” Miky replied, sounding just as sarcastic, “would you at least sit down?”

“No, no I won’t _sit down_ right now,” the midlaner mumbled as he finally came to a stop near the window, “it’s just like, everything’s going to _shit,_ you hear me?”

Miky blinked a couple of times, clearly surprised by the sudden outburst of the Croatian. With a sigh, the support got up to walk towards his midlaner.

“Okay, so, what _exactly_ has happened for you to say that? In case you haven’t been paying attention, we’re currently smashing the Spring Split.”

“God, I know that, it’s just –“ Luka snorted, balling his fists, “ _freaking Jankos_ … he fucking asked Sam out while she was in fucking bed with me, I mean, I felt like a damn clown…”

“Huh, didn’t think he had it in him,” Miky said calmly, looking almost fascinated, “but why are you so _bothered_? That’s not like you…”

“I’m not _bothered,_ ” the midlaner hissed, “I couldn’t care less about her saying yes or whatever – he just should have asked at _any freaking other time_ , don’t you think??”

“Sure, sure…” Mihael smirked, leaning in a bit closer, “if you’re just bothered about that, then why did you come to _me_ instead of telling Jankos off?”

“Well, you know…” Luka grinned, looking up and down the support’s body.

“No, I have no idea,” Miky shook his head, shrugging in an exaggerated manner, “I think you’ll have to _tell me_ what you expect me to do about your _situation_ …”

“Oh come on, shut up and let me fuck you already,” Luka laughed as he went in for the kiss, one hand on the Slovenian’s waist and the other on his throat.

“Well, if you _insist_ …!” Miky breathed against the midlaner’s lips.

Hastily, Luka pushed Mihael onto the bed, pulling down his sweatpants before jumping right after the support. As he practically ripped the clothes off of his support’s willing body, barely letting their lips part to breathe, Luka found himself feeling right at home. It was almost like riding a bike – although it had been a while at this point, G2’s former botlane still knew exactly which buttons they had to push to get the other one going, getting hard and ready to mingle within a minute. Instinctively, the midlaner reached over to the nightstand, opening the drawer which was filled to the brim with condoms.

“You didn’t use too many of these with Rasmus, did you?” Luka grinned mockingly, ripping one package open to put a rubber on his dick.

“Hmm, well, let’s just say I had to _refill_ …” Miky grinned, playfully lifting his legs over his head.

“You little slut,” Perkz laughed, spanking the support with both of his hands before forcefully pressing his cock inside without any sort of preparation.

Mihael started moaning as Luka leaned forward to grab his wrists, fixating them tightly above his head. With Miky, the midlaner knew that he never had to hold back – he started rutting into the support full speed ahead. Over the course of their time on the botlane together, the both of them had worked out a way to reach the finish line in no time, functioning like a well-oiled machine. Yes, mostly because of the little time they had had in between scrims and other Esports-related obligations, the duo had perfected the art of efficient – yet rewarding – quickies.

In one flowing motion, Luka switched to holding Miky’s arms above his head with one hand, while the other moved down to jerk the support’s hard cock off. Almost violently, the midlaner pressed their lips together, effortlessly sliding his tongue into the Slovenian’s mouth. And, as the both of them moaned louder and louder, they reached climax together, and Luka couldn’t help but thrust inside even harder. Soon after, he let himself fall onto the bed next to Miky, still trying to catch his breath while the support had already moved on to cleaning the cum off his stomach with a tissue. From start to finish, it had barely taken them ten minutes. _We’ve still got it,_ Perkz thought, feeling quite satisfied with his performance. After tossing the tissue into the direction of the bin beneath his desk, Miky sat himself up to pick up the conversation where it had left off.

“So, Jankos and Sam?“ He said meaningfully.

Luka turned to his side to build eye contact with his support.

“You wanna talk about that now? He is taking her out for food. Does it matter?” The midlaner asked, cocking a brow.

“You tell me. I wouldn’t mind either way - even though Sam being Jankos’ actual girlfriend would significantly decrease my chances of having a threesome with her in the near future…“

“You twat,” Luka grinned as he playfully ruffled the brunette’s hair, “fine, fine, I’ll admit it. Maybe I’m not _completely_ cool with Jankos taking out Sam.“

“Because _you_ wanted to do that?” Mihael asked, eyeing his midlaner curiously.

“I didn’t say that…” Luka whispered, covering his eyes with his arm as he slouched down again.

 _What the fuck is wrong with me_? He thought with a sigh, feeling just as irritated as he had before the fortunate quickie. The next thing he felt was the weight of Miky´s head on his chest.

“You didn’t have to,” the support mumbled, “isn´t this _exciting_ though?“

“How is it _exciting_ to have one of your closest friends make a move on the girl you’re dating? Fucking _enlighten_ me,“ Perkz snorted – only to earn the support’s laughter.

“Wow look at you getting all sensitive. See, this is what’s _exciting –_ think about it. Jerkz hung up on some girl!“ Miky chuckled, playfully patting the midlaner’s naked chest.

Said _Jerkz_ immediately felt the need to show the snarky support just how much he _appreciated_ his observation – forcefully, he grabbed Miky’s full brown hair, practically ripping the Slovenian’s head off his torso to let him see his angry glare. Anyone else would have had to whimper in pain, but, staying true to his nature, Mihael let out a loud moan, staring into Perkz’ eyes lustfully. Within seconds, the joined laughs of the two teammates filled the room.

“You’re absolutely right - this is ridiculous,” Luka laughed, pressing the Slovenian’s face back onto his chest.

“You’re welcome, but that’s not what I said,“ Miky shrugged as he played with the Croatian’s chest hair.

“Oh really? What else could you have _possibly_ meant?” Luka smirked, supporting his head with his free arm.

“I don’t know, after talking to Rasmus about this whole Rekkles thing, and now seeing him go out with Oskar… I just feel like this whole romance thing might have its appeal? I don’t think I see it for myself, but I still don’t think it’s ridiculous if you want to pursue a… _romantic interest_ , Luka.”

There was a pause – the support’s sudden seriousness caught the midlaner off-guard. Without thinking too much about it, he pressed Mihael’s body closer to his.

“Honestly Miky, you never fail to surprise me…” Luka smirked, leaning his head against the other guy’s forehead, “maybe you’re right? I don’t know, it’s just so _unlike_ me…”

“That’s true,” Miky nodded, slowly escaping the midlaner’s embrace, “but it would be _boring_ if things always stayed the same, right?”

“You have a point,” Perkz agreed, eagerly watching as the support got up to toss the clothes he had worn before, an oversized T-shirt and some boxers, into the laundry bin.

“Man, something about seeing you in _that_ at the breakfast table just gets me going in the morning,” the midlaner chuckled, now climbing out of the bed himself.

“Oh, I would have _never_ guessed,” Mihael replied in a sarcastic manner, playfully rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, Luka felt as if he had seen the clothes in Miky’s hands before somewhere today – and not just on him. A question popped into his head – and, as he was with Mihael, there was no reason _not_ to ask.

“Say, Miky, am I imaging things, or do you keep wearing the _same clothes_ as Sam in the morning?”

“What do you mean? You really don’t _know?_ ” The support laughed as he got a change of clothes out of his closet.

“Don’t know _what_?” Perkz asked hesitantly, feeling as if he missed something important.

“Hmm, I guess I know you better than you know yourself then,” Miky said, a cocky smile gracing his lips.

“You better tell me what it is then, I’m sweating over here,” the midlaner smiled nervously.

“See, you have this _quirk_ ,” Mihael explained calmly, “back when I used to sleep in your bed, you _always_ wanted me to wear the same clothes on specific days of the week.”

“…now you’re just messing with me, right?” Luka squinted at his support, doubting that the wild theory could hold any sort of truth, “I mean, that doesn’t sound _real_ to me.”

“It’s _wild_ , right?” Miky snickered, pointing towards the part of his closet where he kept his T-shirt and boxers combo sets, “there, I even wrote down the weekdays on the tags. You see, as soon as I figured this one out, you couldn’t help but fuck my brains out every morning.”

“That’s hardly proof, Miky, I always did that _anyway_ …” Luka snickered, remembering how rewarding waking up next to the support had felt.

“Maybe…” Mihael shrugged, closing the closet behind him, “but how come Sam ends up matching my wardrobe routine every day, then? You’re the one providing her with the clothes, right…?”

“Well…” the midlaner mumbled, trying to come up with a reason why it could still be a coincidence, “…fuck, fair enough. I guess I _am_ weird like that.”

“Who’s the weeb now?” The support giggled as he grabbed his phone, “shoot, no battery? My charger must have died…”

“Nice try, but you’ll always be our number one weeb,” Luka replied, lazily pulling up his sweatpants, “wait – there’s one thing I still don’t understand about this whole wardrobe fiasco…”

“And what would that be…?” Mihael sighed, sadly staring at the dead phone in his hand.

“Well, why are you _still_ wearing what I like every day? When we stopped fucking months ago?”

“Hmm, I don’t know…” Miky mumbled, scratching his head pensively, “I guess I just like the routine? Feeling like I’m _serving_ someone? Rasmus never really cared about what I wear, so there was not really a reason to stop.”

“Aww, Miky…” Luka chimed, pinching the support’s cheek, “just admit it, you just _like me_ that much…!”

“Oh, shut up,” Mihael laughed, slapping Perkz’ hand away, “anyway – you owe me now, just so you know it!”

“What, I owe you for the quickie that you enjoyed just as much as me?” The midlaner placed his hand on his hip sassily.

“For that, for my great sacrifice of wearing what you like all the time – your choice,” Mihael explained with a grin, “either way, I want you to take me to karaoke tonight.”

“Tonight? I don’t know, let me check if I have time…” Perkz pretended to go through an imaginary calendar with his hands.

“If you want to pretend to have a date, you could have just taken Sam out on an _actual one_ , no?” The support shrugged.

“God, you can be a real bitch sometimes,” Luka snorted, loosely slapping Miky’s cheek a couple of times, “fine, you got yourself a deal.”

“Excellent,” Mihael grinned, “I have to go get a charger from Rasmus, that boy has a whole stash in his room… you wanna stream together afterwards, maybe?”

“Sure, I’ll just have to take a shower first,” Luka replied as they walked out of the support’s room together, "wait - you don't think Rasmus would mind what we just did, right...?"

"No, why would he? We're just fucking, Luka, we're not exclusive... shouldn't you know what that's like?" Miky smirked.

"That's good then - but also, geez, Miky, would you give me a break?" Perkz murmured with a crooked smile, turning away to head towards the bathroom, "I'll come to the gaming room after my shower."

“See you in a minute then,” Mihael mumbled, already knocking on the door next to his room’s.

After a good wash up in the team’s bathroom, Luka already felt like a changed man. Somehow, he had been able to flush some of the worries he had held onto this morning down the drain. Of course, his support, who was already awaiting him in the gaming room after the midlaner had gotten dressed, had something to do with that. But, while Luka was still smiling when he sat down beside Mihael, he quickly realized that this time, it was the Slovenian that looked agitated.

“Uhm, what’s wrong, Miky? Did Rasmus not have a charger or…?”

“He _dumped_ me, Luka,” Mihael sighed, sadly staring at his hands, “I just told him about our morning quickie and he just – he just said he wanted to end things.”

“I’m sorry…?” Luka mumbled hesitantly, unsure of how he should handle this unexpected mood swing, "I guess he did mind in the end?"

“That might have been a part of it... I guess it’s fine, really, I’m just worried about our _synergy_ but –“ Miky gave his midlaner a soft smile, “we should be fine, right?”

“I don’t know… you sure you’re not, you know, _bothered_ …?” Perkz asked, remembering how relentlessly his support had teased him barely thirty minutes prior to this conversation.

“Nonsense, Luka,” Miky snorted, opening Twitch to start his stream, “we both know he’s better off with someone like Oskar – he was too soft to be a true dom to begin with.”

“If you say so,” Luka shrugged, following his support’s lead, “Rasmus and Oskar…that reminds me, they’re going out tonight, right?”

“Yup, that’s today… hope it works out, honestly,” Mihael said, sounding oddly serious, “he deserves to be happy, you know.”

“Yeah…” The midlaner smiled, giving the Slovenian a pat on the back, “I couldn’t have said it any better.”

Peacefully, the both of them started streaming their DuoQ adventures for their fans. Luka didn’t shy away from making as many Valentine’s day jokes as possibly, constantly referring to Miky as his “ex” – the fans loved it, and, in a way, it was also the truth. Even though they had never bothered to put a label on things, Mihael was arguably the only guy Luka had ever been with. And, to this day, he had never _once_ regretted exploring things with his kinky support, even though he had considered himself to be strictly heterosexual before. The time they spent streaming was, therefore, truly blissful. Suddenly, a notification on his phone caught the midlaner’s attention, causing him to die in-game seconds later.

“Woah, would you stop inting, Perkz?” Miky laughed, the chat following his lead.

“Sorry, sorry,” Luka mumbled, scratching his head as he stared at his death screen, “I got a spicy Valentine’s message, you know? I’ll show you later…”

“Oh?” Mihael raised an eyebrow, giving his midlaner a curious look.

Under different circumstances, he would have told Miky all about the message right away, of course – but, when you have as many viewers on stream as they did, one had to be extremely mindful with the information shared. Although it was normally a hobby of his, exposing fellow LEC players to the _public_ went a step to far. Perkz did, therefore, have to wait until after the stream to tell Miky all about the petty message Fnatic’s midlaner had sent to **Nemesisfan_69**.

“Oh, shut up…” Mihael whispered in shock, quickly tilting the screen of Perkz’ phone into his direction to look at the chat himself.

“That won’t work, he already deleted it,” Luka shrugged, “but I saw it… he told Rasmus _to stay away from Oskar,_ isn’t that hilarious?”

“Hilarious? I don’t know, it smells like more drama is right around the corner to me,” Miky replied, slowly leaning forward to turn off his PC, “but I also kind of _really_ want to tease Tim about that, now…”

“I knew it!” Perkz laughed, “I’m sure you’ll get a chance to do that soon enough – but, I don’t think we should tell Rasmus about the message now, should we?”

“No, not with his date with Oskar coming up,” the support nodded in agreement, “he’s just _too nice_ for his own good, in the worst case scenario, he’d back out of the date.”

“Yeah, maybe…” Luka mumbled, surprised by how well Miky seemed to know his ADC by now, “speaking of dates – don’t think I forgot ours…”

“Oh, you’re just trying to get me into bed again, aren’t you?” Mihael pouted for a moment before breaking out in laughter with his midlaner.

“Pshh, no spoilers!” Luka wheezed, wiping a tear out of the corner of his eye.

In good spirits, both of the guys, as well as the rest of the G2 squad, packed up to head to the LEC studio. After their triumph against Fnatic the week before, Luka truly felt like they were unstoppable this Split. It was almost as if their defiant loss at the World’s finals had made them even stronger – under different circumstances, one might have described it as a _phoenix rising from the ashes_. But, naturally, that was not a metaphor any G2 member or associate would use now. Luka would much rather think about his next player of the game title, already imagining dominating the leader board in his mind as he took the stage for the seventh time this Split.

But somehow, this game didn’t feel like the others. Although Luka felt as if his performance on Yasuo was solid, at least during the early and mid-game, the team’s botlane was seriously running it down from the get-go. Since Caps had usually managed to do his job as an ADC, which mostly involved _not dying_ , Perkz was more than surprised to see him getting picked up again and again, making mistakes that only a rookie would normally make. G2 tried to hold on, but the game was beyond saving before Luka had even realized that something most be seriously _wrong_ with his ADC.

 _Maybe the thing with Miky hit him harder than he thought?_ Luka considered for a moment, sighing as it was time to shake the winner’s hands. Even though he was worried about Rasmus above anything else in this moment, the smug smiles on the faces of Misfit’s players were still hard to take in – _especially_ when it came to Febiven. The rivalry between the two fellow midlaners had always felt particularly strong and thrilling for Perkz, and he hated _nothing mor_ e than to be the one to come out on the short end _. I’ll get you back next time_ , he thought grumpily as he shook his opponent’s hand reluctantly.

Although a part of him just wanted to be alone to deal with the unexpected loss for a moment, he knew that it was more important to be there for his teammates right now. Rasmus did, just as Luka had anticipated, look awfully agitated as the players left the stage. It was such an unusual sight that the midlaner instantly prepared a big motivational speech in his head to cheer his ADC up in the lounge. As he saw Rasmus stare at his phone solemnly, crammed up on the couch, Luka saw his chance to strike – but, before he could even begin, Rasmus suddenly started to smile at his phone, which irritated the midlaner for just about a second. _Is he smiling because of Oskar?_ The midlaner wondered, surprised by how close the two of them must have gotten already if his guess was correct. And before Perkz could recover, Rasmus sprang up and straight up delivered the motivational speech himself.

After the team’s mood had been turned around for the better by the ADC’s words, the Dane left to meet his date with a smile on his face. _He’s so much stronger than you’d think_ , Luka thought, embracing that warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest. Even though the Croatian had been with G2 for a long time now, the team had never felt as much like a family as with this particular roaster. But, as he caught a glimpse of Jankos writing something on a cheesy Valentine’s card, he remembered that every family had its problems, too. The team's toplaner and jungler had, yet again, gotten into some sort of quarell, but the midlaner couldn't care less about that. That was something Grabbz could handle - no, he had his own beef with the obnoxious Pole. Luka let out a big sigh, attempting to find a comfortable position on the couch – seconds after, Miky sat down next to him.

“So, that game was a disaster.” The support shrugged, carefully watching the midlaner’s expression, “but I have a feeling that that’s _not_ the reason why you look so gloomy.”

“What? Shut up, I’m not gloomy…” Perkz mumbled, still staring daggers at the team’s Jungler.

“Cheer up, buttercup,” Wunder mumbled, sitting on the other side of the couch, his gaze fixated on his phone.

“EXACTLY!” Jankos exclaimed, triumphantly raising the card in his hand into the air, “don’t be upset on such a WONDERFUL day!”

“Right, I’ll just forget about our embarrassing loss and…” Luka muttered, not daring to say the last part out loud.

“And…?” Mihael smirked, nudging the midlaner’s side playfully.

“Guys, who gave Jankos too much sugar again?” The team’s coach, Grabbz, sighed, flipping through his notebook nervously.

“It’s not the sugar this time, Grabbz,” Miky grinned, “see, today he –“

“WELL!” Jankos almost shouted as he jumped up, “I’ll tell you ALL ABOUT IT!”

“Oh, here we go…” Wunder rolled his eyes in the corner of the room.

“I have planned the GREATEST DATE! I’ll pick Sam up in a second, and we’ll have a CANDLELIGHT DINNER and walk through the PARK and –“

“You know where the park is?” The team’s toplaner laughed, _obviously_ trying to cover up his jealousy.

“Wait, wait, let me get this straight…” Grabbz mumbled, massaging his temples, “you’re going out on a date with Sam… a different Sam than Perkz’ girlfriend though?”

“His _what now_?” Mihael whispered, playfully swinging his arm around the midlaner’s shoulder.

 _God damn it, Miky_ , Luka thought, the anger starting to boil up.

“You’d _think_ Jankos would be decent enough to find another, yes,” Wunder grunted, finally putting his phone away.

“Oh, Wunder, you’re just MAD because she wants ME, not you! And now all YOU can do is keep being REJECTED on TINDER!” Jankos snickered, carefully putting his finished card into his bag.

“Anyone else got a reason to be mad?” Mihael remarked, staring at his midlaner expectantly, “Luka, perhaps?”

“Miky, I swear to god…” Perkz hissed, sullenly crossing his arms.

“You BET she only agreed to go out with you because she felt BAD for you!” Wunder shouted, now jumping out of his seat to meet the jungler on eye-level.

“Okay, uhm, guys,” Grabbz stuttered, positioning himself in the middle of the quarrel, “this is getting a bit too spicy right now, okay? Martin, how about you and I hit the Cafeteria?

"What?? No, just let me wipe that stupid grin off his -" Wunder started, his head practically steaming in fury.

"Come on, you like the Mettbrötchen they have here, right?” Grabbz added quickly, knowing that the German speciality was one of the toplaner's defiant weaknesses.

“Hmm, Mett…” The toplaner hummed, looking as if he was lost in a daydream for a second, “don’t you think the Cafeteria is closed by now, though?”

“Maybe, yeah,” the coach sighed, putting his hand on the toplaner’s shoulder to guide him outside, “let’s find a place that will serve us then, what do you think, big boy?”

“Sounds good to me… I should have _known_ you wouldn’t have a date either,” Wunder replied, obediently marching out of the room with his coach.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Grabbz grunted before turning back to say goodbye to the rest of the team, “I feel like you guys have plenty to talk about, so I’ll leave you to it!”

Suddenly, Luka found himself alone with the _one person_ that currently pissed him off more than anyone else, and the _one person_ who wanted to push him to talk to said first guy more than anyone else. Instantly, the midlaner wanted to run away – but, alas, his support had a tight grasp on him.

“So, Jankos,” Mihael started, knowingly grinning at the jungler, “it doesn’t bother you that Sam sleeps in Luka’s bed every night?”

“Oh WELL, lots of people sleep there I heard – just like YOU, Miky, right? What’s the big DEAL?” Jankos giggled, seemingly unbothered by the support’s provocation.

“Hmm, I must have misunderstood you then…” Mihael scratched his head, “I thought you said you wanted to _date_ Sam, not just to share some pussy with Luka.”

“JESUS, MIKY!” Jankos exclaimed, his face suddenly beaming bright red, “you have NO MANNERS!”

“Damn straight,” Perkz chuckled, ruffling the support’s hair.

“Who, me?” Miky grinned, pushing his glasses up with his index finger, “I’ve never asked anyone out, but I think most people with _manners_ wouldn’t do that while the person in question is in bed with someone else, don’t you think?”

 _Shots fired_ , Luka thought, smiling from ear to ear. Even though the situation was technically anything but funny for the midlaner, seeing his sassy support in action never failed to lighten his mood.

“I don’t GET YOU, Miky!” Jankos groaned, angrily stomping to grab his coat, “Perkz was the one who HELPED ME get with Sam, remember?? I don’t hear HIM complaining!”

“Now that you say it…” Mihael mumbled, glancing over to Luka again, “I guess I don’t hear him complain either. Go ahead then, lover boy.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need your PERMISSION,” Jankos laughed, swiftly putting on his coat, “you guys have FUN and all, I’m OUT!”

Luka sighed in relief as the silence finally filled the room again. Sure, a part of him would have liked to stand up for himself – but for that, he would have to admit that he was bothered in front of the jungler, and he was not ready to do that. It was bad enough that his support kept pushing him, after all. Right now, he just wanted to forget about the whole fiasco – to have a fun night out with the one person who had _never_ given him shit for just wanting to have _fun_.

“Well, Luka,” Mihael sighed next to him, slowly getting up from the couch, “I did what I could there, but I can’t help you being a chicken I guess.”

“Come on, I just don’t want to think about this now, okay?” The midlaner replied, enclosing the support in his arms playfully, “let’s just go sing some _awful fucking karaoke_ and get shitfaced, what do you say?”

“Well, if you _insist_ …!” Miky laughed, “where are we going, though?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I have the _perfect_ place in mind…” Luka smirked confidently, guiding the support outside.

For just a moment, briefly after the midlaner and the support had walked through the door of their date’s location, marvelling at the odd, yet charming décor, Luka felt as if the evening could turn out to be just as _perfect_ , after all. As Miky wanted to go check out the karaoke machines in the basement immediately, Perkz decided to hit the bar to get them some drinks. After the horrendous events that had happened in the LEC studio that day, the Croatian was in desperate need of alcohol, after all. When Luka did, however, spot something _even tastier_ standing right there at the bar instead, he abandoned his initial mission for something else.

 _God, I love rubbing stuff in Rekkles’ face_ , Luka thought as he relentlessly teased Fnatic’s ADC about his awful dating life. Since the both of them had been in the business for a while now, simultaneously representing their teams as 'captains', there had always been a certain friction between them – not a sexual one, though. Luka might have been the only person on this planet to say this, but Rekkles was simply not his type. But teasing the Swede still felt incredibly satisfying to the midlaner – and, on top of that, he felt the need to tell Rekkles just how much _better_ Selfmade was for his precious little Rasmus. Seeing the ADC scramble when he heard about them felt incredible, and Perkz just _had to_ mention **Nemesisfan_69** to top things off. It was the _perfect_ play. As Rekkles stomped away angrily, Luka let out a satisfied sigh before turning to the barkeeper – but, before he could place his order, Miky appeared next to him.

“Oh, hey, I was just about to order us some Daiquiris…” Luka grinned, pointing the drink out on the menu.

“Daiquiris? _Daisuki desu_ ,” Mihael chuckled, and Perkz figured that was just his _weeb way_ of saying that his choice of beverage pleased the support.

“Alright, I’ll just – wait, you found the karaoke machines, right? I was so sure they had some..”

“Well, I didn’t go search for them because I saw something _more interesting_ …” Mihael said, eagerly pointing towards something behind the midlaner.

“What could you _possibly_ find more interesting than karaoke right now,” Luka laughed as he turned around, trying to spot what Miky was pointing at, “oh – okay, I get it now.”

With the curiosity flashing in his eyes, Perkz stared at Rasmus and Oskar sitting at a table near the bar, seemingly enjoying their date immensely. They were playing some sort of card game, slurping on fancy cocktails that must have been alcohol-free, laughing together… Suddenly, the warm, fuzzy feeling Luka had felt in his chest earlier that day returned. Something about seeing Rasmus this _happy_ just filled the Croatian with joy.

“They’ve got quite some chemistry, huh?” Mihael whispered, staring at the lovebirds just as intensely as the midlaner.

“Yeah… man, they look so fucking happy,” Luka smiled softly, his emotions getting a hold of him.

“I mean, yeah, but I was talking about a _different_ kind of chemistry,” Mihael leaned forward to whisper into his midlaner’s ear, “I think we should hit the restrooms, if you know what I mean…”

“Ah…? Well, how did you say it – if you _insist_ …!” Perkz snickered before following his support to the restrooms of the establishment.

Only moments later, Luka pressed Mihael against the wall of one of the stalls forcefully, fully burying his tongue in the support’s mouth as he fumbled to open his pants with his free hand. But, before either of their pants were pulled down, the noise of someone entering the restroom interrupted their playtime. Almost out of instinct, Luka covered the Slovenian’s mouth with his hand, trying to keep him quiet until the intruder was gone. But, weirdly enough, there were no other noises to be heard – _maybe the guy already left?_ Perkz thought, carefully opening the stall’s door to poke his head out. Before he had even realized who the person staring into the mirror in front of them was, Miky had already sneaked out of the stall.

As it was too late to stop his support now, Luka decided to close the door again, attempting to conceal his presence. _It was inevitable,_ the midlaner thought with a sigh, sitting down on the closed toilet lid, _he did say that he wanted to tease Nemesis, after all_. For Miky’s sake, Perkz kept his mouth shut as long as possible, even though some of the comments were _way too funny_ to contain his laughter. After all, he was found out moments later – apparently, Nemesis was aware of Miky’s fling with the midlaner. That didn’t really bother the Croatian, though. When Mihael finally returned to the stall, the only thing Luka wanted to do involved the both of them taking off their pants – and, luckily, that was also what the support had in mind.

After another fabulous quickie, followed by plenty of rounds of terrible karaoke, paired with multiple Daiquiris, the midlaner and the support returned to G2’s gaming apartment in an absolutely fantastic mood. _Who cares about dating_ , Luka thought with a grin as he followed Mihael inside, _we totally smashed Valentine’s day without it_. As the Croatian was about to close the front door behind him, he stumbled over some shoes that he had never seen before.

“Wait, whose are these?” Luka mumbled, pointing towards the unidentified sneakers.

“I don’t know…” Miky replied, eyeing the mysterious shoes curiously, “you think they could be _Oskar’s_? Oh man, that would quite something!”

“Yeah, sure would be… guess we’ll see tomorrow morning,” Perkz smiled, carefully pealing his own sneakers off his feet.

“I hope we’ll _see it_ … especially if Rasmus makes Oskar wear those tight pink briefs Rekkles had on the last time,” Mihael giggled enthusiastically, placing his shoes next to the midlaner’s.

“Very funny, Miky…” Luka rolled his eyes, suddenly noticing something else, “uhm, I don’t see Jankos’ shoes… or Sam’s… you think they’re still out?”

“Why, do you _care_ …?” Mihael teased the midlaner, poking his side, “they might be at Sam’s place for all we know…”

“Whatever…” Luka swallowed hard, trying to shake off his gloom, “you wanna continue the fun in your room?”

“Hmm, well, it’s kind of late and you know I don’t share my bed _like that_ ….” Miky whispered, scratching his head, “but I wouldn’t mind staying over in your room.”

“Right, okay,” Luka nodded slowly, thinking about the support’s words carefully, “you go on ahead, I need a glass of water.”

As the support willingly slouched towards the midlaner’s room, Perkz took a moment to breathe. His conflicted feelings towards Sam were one thing roaming his mind at the moment, but he had been able to supress those all day long, so why not continue? Still, there was something else that the support had added to the mix with his last statement. It was true that, during the whole time they had fooled around with each other, he had _never_ slept in Mihael’s bed, not even once. The support had cuddled up in the midlaner’s bed on plenty of occasions – but, no, never the other way around. As Luka made his way to the kitchen, he considered what the reason for that may be.

 _It’s probably because he never had his own room growing up_ , the Croatian pondered as he tiptoed through the dark hallway. Since the Slovenian’s family didn’t have a lot of money when he grew up in his small hometown, he always had to share a room with his two sisters, with no privacy whatsoever. The funny thing was that Miky did, during the rare times when he mentioned his childhood, talk about these kinds of circumstances like it was the most normal thing in the world. _But fuck, you deserve so much better_ , Luka thought with a sigh, _the poverty, the snowbound village, your brother’s poor health – how did you even turn out okay, Miky?_ Maybe it was the alcohol in his blood that made the midlaner especially emotional at this moment – nevertheless, he regretted feeling as if he still knew _so little_ about Mihael. 

Suddenly, Luka realized that there was light coming from the kitchen, shaking him out of his emotional pondering. When he poked his head inside, he saw Rasmus leaning against the kitchen sink, drinking a glass of water in total peace. The ADC’s eyes lit up as he saw the midlaner stroll inside, almost as if they haven’t seen each other in ages.

“Oh, hey Luka, you’re back too?” Rasmus said with his usual crooked smile.

“Yeah, just got here, actually,” Luka replied casually, grabbing a glass for himself, “so, how was your date with Oskar?”

“It was amazing!” Rasmus’ eyes beamed, “I mean, we did all these nice things and he even got me a gift and… yeah, it was great.”

“I’m glad,” the midlaner smiled softly, “say, Rasmus, Oskar doesn’t happen to be in your room with you right now, does he?”

“Uhm…” Rasmus blushed, shyly scratching his chin, “I mean, he might be…?”

“Don’t be so coy, geez!” Luka laughed, ruffling the ADC’s hair, “I’m happy for you, okay?”

“Thanks Luka, that’s sweet,” Rasmus mumbled, still looking slightly embarrassed, “but, uhm, did you and Miky also have fun? With the karaoke?”

“Oh yeah, it was great – well, we _suck_ at karaoke, but we had fun alright,” Luka snickered, emptying his glass of water in a single motion.

“Sounds nice…” the Dane nodded, looking at the midlaner with big eyes, “but, uhm, Luka, are you wearing lipstick or something? Your lips look so different – I thought you guys were not on a _date_ …?”

“Lipstick? That’s ridiculous, Rasmus,” Perkz laughed, gently stroking his lips, just to make sure, “I mean, I guess maybe Miky just sucked on them too hard? He does that sometimes…”

“He sucked on them?” Rasmus mumbled, squinting at the midlaner in disbelief.

“Yeah, so what...? That’s a thing people do, you know…” Luka shrugged, putting his empty glass into the sink.

“I _know_ that, it’s just –“ Rasmus paused, staring down at his hands, “Miky never kissed me. He said he didn’t do that, you know?”

“Huh?” Perkz mumbled, unsure of what to say.

“Well, I thought it was weird but okay, if he doesn’t do it with anybody then… I don’t understand, Luka, has he always kissed you?” Rasmus whispered, looking awfully insecure.

“I – I think so?” Luka stuttered, trying to remember, “maybe not in the beginning, I don’t know…”

“Hmm, okay,” Rasmus sighed, finally putting his glass away as well, “I mean, it doesn’t matter, right? Miky and I are back to being just friends and that’s exactly what I want.”

“Right, yeah, it doesn’t matter,” Perkz nodded, putting his hand on the ADC’s shoulder, “he really adores you, Rasmus. And he’s excited about the whole Oskar-thing, too.”

“Hmm, I know, not just so that he can _listen_ , I hope,” Rasmus chuckled, giving Perkz another bright smile.

“While that does sound like something he’d do…” Luka muttered admittingly, “he just wants you to be happy. God, so do I!”

Suddenly overcome by emotions, the midlaner enclosed the small ADC in a tight embrace. Hesitantly, Rasmus followed Perkz’ lead and patted the bigger guy’s back.

“Uhm, Luka, are you drunk?” The Dane whispered into the Croatian’s shoulder.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous, Rasmus…” Luka mumbled as he stroked the ADC’s brown hair lovingly, “I’ve only had, like, one or two drinks, three tops…”

“Right, right…” Rasmus chuckled, slowly slipping out of Luka’s grasp, “I think it’s time for bed now, you should really sleep this one out – I’m kind of tired too.”

“Sleep, yeah…or _something_ like that,” the midlaner winked slyly.

“Riiiiight,” Rasmus smirked, attempting to wink back – but, somehow, he ended up closing both of his eyes, making it look like he was just blinking.

“We’ll work on that!” Perkz snickered, parting ways with Rasmus in the hallway, “goodnight!”

As the Croatian roamed down the hallway back to his room, he couldn’t help but feel like the conversation with Rasmus had just added to his trouble. Or maybe it was the way in which he still couln't help but think about Sam somehow? Or maybe it was _really_ just the alcohol that made him feel this emotional? Either way, he was excited to spend the night with his support, in more than just a sexual way. It had been a long time at this point, but so many factors of this odd Valentine’s day made the midlaner want to hold the support tight.

“Let’s get back to it,” the midlaner grinned as he walked into his room, eager to dive back into the fun with his support.

To his surprise, he found the completely naked Mihael lying sideways on his bed, snoring softly. _He must have fallen asleep waiting for me_ , Luka thought, catching himself smiling at his sleeping support. As he pulled the blanket up to cover Miky’s body, Luka suddenly realized that he couldn’t even _recognize_ himself. _When have I gotten this damn soft?_ He wondered, carefully slipping into bed himself, _it must be the alcohol, right?_ And, yes, the midlaner was convinced that there was no other possible explanation for his behaviour as he threw his arm around his support and dozed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on our guest POV! What do you think? Has it answered some of the long-term questions roaming through your mind?
> 
> Wait, what do you mean you wanted to find out what happened on the end of the Remesis-date first? Tim's POV is up next, bear with me a bit longer, would you? Can't please them all, apparently... ;)
> 
> Hope this chapter still managed to spark some joy - and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	33. Part 8: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the longest chapter ever! 
> 
> This time around, we're hitting 9k words, and I know that many of you have questions desperate to be answered so... I hope they will be! Without further ado... hope you enjoy the resolution of our disasterous date ;)

When Tim woke up through the impact of a soft kiss on his shoulder, he felt weirdly content with the world. Even though it took him a while to remember where he was, he at least knew _who_ he was with. It would take him some more time to get used to sleeping in a hotel room regularly, as that was certainly nothing he had grown up with. But, as he had shared the bed with his ADC a couple of times during the past week, he felt as if he could do it if it was for Martin. Of course, the fact that he didn’t have to see Oskar this way was a plus.

Sure, it was childish of the midlaner to avoid his jungler; he just felt so _betrayed_ by the guy that _should_ have been _his_ best friend. _He should have had my back, not replace me with Caps,_ Tim thought, shuffling around uneasily. There were also these _other_ feelings that just kept creeping up on him ever since his last real conversation with Oskar, but Tim didn’t even _dare_ to address them in his head. As he felt the ADC carefully leaving the bed, he felt bad for even _thinking_ about Oskar again.

Their morning chat was casual, just like it always felt. Before he slept over for the first time, Tim never would have imagined Martin as such a practical person – mostly, he just _did_ the stuff he felt he needed to do without loosing too many words about it. Today was seemingly no exception, as the Swede simply got up to get ready for the gym, no questions asked. If he hadn’t accidentally woken the midlaner up, Tim probably would have slept right through the ADC’s morning workout. In a way, he admired Martin for that. The only thing he could really bring himself to do in the morning almost exclusively involved his OnePlus, after all.

But, despite the early hour of the day – _wait, is it noon already, actually?_ – Tim enjoyed being able to pick a jersey for himself out of Martin’s huge collection. He was still in awe when he held the seemingly ancient H2K-jersey in his hands, taking a moment to appreciate just _how long_ Martin had been in the business by now. It was exactly what he wanted for his own career- well, _that_ and to win Worlds, that is. And, even though it was ridiculous to ask the midlaner to join, Tim also enjoyed assisting his ADC a little when it came to his gym adventures. The request to look for his sneakers was small, but it always felt nice to Tim to be _needed_.

 _Damn, Martin needs to clean up this closet_ , Tim thought with a sigh as he tried his best to find his way around the mess. Although he definitely knew what the trainers in question looked like, he had an incredibly hard time with spotting them in between all of the clothes, accessories, other shoes – _wait, is that a soccer ball?_ Considering that the hotel’s closet was absolutely huge, it almost seemed like an achievement to stuff it to this extend. Finally, Tim spotted a shoe carton with the Nike logo on it and figured that Martin must just treasure these shoes dearly, forcing him to keep them in the original packaging. So, he opened the carton and –

 _Nope, those are not sneakers_ , Tim thought, his eyes and mouth wide open in shock. He stared at the open box in his hands, which contained dildos varying in size, several black leather straps and other items that he couldn’t even identify immediately. Tim was baffled – he would have never guessed that Martin was into _all of this_ , without ever saying a word about it to the midlaner. They hadn’t exactly _started_ having sex just yesterday, either – _why would he hide this for so long?_ Tim wondered whether he had ever given the ADC a reason, despite being inexperienced, that is.

“Uhm, did you find them?” Martin’s voice echoed through the room, causing Tim to panic.

 _He can’t see me with this_ , the midlaner thought nervously as he crammed the carton back into the closet. Luckily, as he pressed against the box with his whole bodyweight until it finally disappeared in the chaos, he spotted the sneakers he was originally looking for out of the corner of his eye. Swiftly, he grabbed them, and, just as he turned around to put the shoes into Martin’s gym bag, he locked eyes with the ADC.

“Are these the right ones?” Tim asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Yeah, thanks,” Martin chuckled, looking up and down the midlaner’s body, “you look _so_ much better in this than Forgiven.”

“Not a hard thing to do, but thanks,” Tim replied with a shrug, but the compliment made his heart flutter a bit.

In order not to raise any further suspicion, Tim quickly stuffed the shoes into the ADC’s gym bag, attempting to send him off by saying, “well, don’t die in the gym, okay? I won’t be there to save your ass.”

“Sure, well, I’ll try?” Martin grinned, and Tim’s heart jumped again when the ADC gave him a peck on the cheek.

Slowly, he turned to walk back towards the bed, as that was the normal thing to do in this situation – but he certainly didn’t feel like going back to sleep. As soon as he heard the door fall shut behind Martin, Tim jumped up to grab the mysterious box from the closet. As he carefully pulled out the shoe carton, making sure to stabilize the rest of the closet’s content so that it wouldn’t collapse on top of him, he noticed that there was another, similar looking box right behind it. Even though the mission to recover all the treasure chests proved to be difficult, in the end, like a true _Lara Croft,_ Tim found himself sitting on the bed, both of the mysterious shoe cartons in front of him. He knew that going through Martin’s stuff while he was in the gym was not necessarily the greatest thing to do, but the Slovenian simply couldn’t contain his curiosity.

With big eyes, Tim started to inspect each of the strange objects he found, realizing just how _clueless_ he really was. Even though he hadn’t thought of himself as a virgin for at least half a year by now, he felt terribly lost while looking at all the kinky gadgets Martin had hidden away in his closet _._ Some of the dildos looked weirdly relaistic, while others were colourful and oddly shaped - turning them in his hands already felt dirty to the midlaner. _Sure_ , he knew what a dildo was supposed to do – but, when it came to most of the other things, he couldn't even imagine what they were supposedly _used_ for. Suddenly, he remembered seeing Bwipo and Oskar sitting on a bed in a similar manner the week before – _maybe this is the weird kinky version of their Sex Ed-talk_ , Tim wondered as he tried to put on a ring that was way too big for either of his fingers.

It was not like he was _disgusted_ as he went through Martin’s collection – no, if anything, he was curious. But he couldn’t imagine why the ADC would choose not to tell him about it. In a way, the possibility that the Swede just didn’t consider him to be _good enough_ for letting him in on his kinks scared Tim. The thought that he might have lived out his fantasies with _Caps_ instead instantly turned fear into anger. _Maybe confronting him with is now is not the greatest idea,_ Tim thought with a sigh as he put all of the items sprawled out on the bed back into the boxes, _maybe I should give him some more time._

After he had put the shoe cartons back into the closet, somehow effortlessly this time around, Tim let himself fall back onto the bed. He noticed that he suddenly felt a lot hotter than before – maybe due to the somewhat arousing adventure he had just taken, maybe because the heater had finally started to do its job. Either way, he decided to take off the jersey again before grabbing his phone. Usually, when he opened Discord for the first time in the morning, Tim would spend a couple of minutes staring at this chat with **Nemesisfan_69** , trying to figure out whether he should respond to the daring message his rival had sent him the week before. He felt like he had a lot to say to the other guy – but, just like all the days before, he just couldn’t come up with the right words today.

Tim’s grumbles were interrupted by a Snapchat notification. When he opened the app seconds later, he realized that Bwipo had sent him several snaps – without thinking too much about it, he opened the first one right away. He found himself presented with an incredibly cheesy slideshow of the toplaner and his date, Hylissang, touring through the city, with big smiles on their faces, red roses in their hands and hashtags like “#earlybirddate” and “#valentineswinners”. It was so cringy – but, still, it turned Tim’s attention to something a little less frustrating, at least.

 _Valentine’s day_ , he thought, taking a deep breath, _so we’re really doing this, huh?_ He might not be the traditionally romantic type of person, but Tim had wanted to go on a proper date with Martin for quite some time now. It didn’t have to be anything fancy, really. If it was up to him, they would probably watch a movie or have some food – as long as there were no flashing lights and masses of strangers involved, he would be fine with it. But, when Martin proposed planning the whole thing, he didn’t want to object. In the end, it was nice to feel _special,_ for a change. Now, the fact that he was as clueless about dating as he was about most of the things in Martin’s secret sex toy collection was something that he might have to _downplay_ a bit in front of the ADC.

But, admittingly, it was incredibly hard _not_ to think about what Martin might have preferred to be doing when he returned from the gym. _Do you want me to kiss you softly? Or should I be rougher with you?_ Tim wondered as the sweaty ADC pulled him into a tight embrace. The fact that he couldn't even figure out on which end of the deal Martin would want to be scared the midlaner even more. It was, therefore, no surprise that he kept doubting his every move when the both of them were having sex in the shower. _Do you want me to do it this way? Or should I put my hands here and…wait, would he like me to use one of the things, actually?_ Tim wondered, feeling as if he was about to drown while attempting to deepthroat Martin’s cock, kneeling down in front of him. Thousands of questions swarmed through his head, making it difficult to enjoy the moment. But, as always, he let Martin take the lead to bring the both of them to the finish line. Still, today, Tim felt as if he wouldn’t be able to let that stop bothering him.

Tim was still arranging images of the various dildos he saw earlier that day in his mind when he sat down on the couch in Fnatic’s office. Hearing Bwipo boast about the amazing date he took Hylissang on was barely enough to shake the midlaner out of it, as he basically felt as if he had _been there himself_ due to the excessive Snapchat coverage of the toplaner. But, even though he wanted to, he couldn’t _stop_ listening when Bwipo suddenly shifted the focus of the conversation to the team’s jungler. Tim’s gaze remained on his OnePlus, but, sadly, he was all ears.

“Ah, well, from the looks of it, Oskar is doing his part to keep romance alive as well,” Bwipo smirked, playfully nudging the jungler’s arm.

“Oh stop it, this thing with Rasmus is casual…we just want to have a fun evening, you know?” Oskar mumbled, much quieter than he usually spoke.

 _This can’t be real_ , Tim thought, desperately trying not to let the shock show in his expression _, he must be joking_. Immediately, Martin dramatically stormed right out of the room. Swiftly, the team’s support followed. But Tim couldn’t handle the ADC’s breakdown right now – he had to deal with his own. After their fight the week before, the midlaner had somehow come to terms with the fact that Oskar was slowly replacing him with Caps as his best friend, or _a friend_ , at least. Now, why did hearing about them going out on a date suddenly make things feel so much worse for the midlaner? He felt the anger boiling in his chest, begging to come out – instinctively, he opened up his chat with **Nemesisfan_69** , staring daggers at his screen. Maybe _those_ were the words he had been trying to find.

 **Nemesis:** Stay away from Oskar, you’ve messed up enough people’s lifes.

After hitting send, Tim felt satisfied with himself for about a second. He did, after all, really care about Oskar, and Caps’ dating history didn’t exactly speak for him. If anything, the jungler would probably just get his heart broken, chewed up and spit out. But he quickly realized that his _real reasons_ for sending out that petty message weren’t half as mature as he tried to make them sound – and also that this verbal attack wouldn’t solve anything. With a subtle sigh, the midlaner deleted the message, hoping that the Dane hadn’t seen it yet. Next to him, the team’s toplaner still stared down the hallway Martin had escaped to.

“Huh, what’s up with Martin?” Bwipo asked innocently, his hand still rubbing Oskar’s shoulder supportively, “anyway, I’m _so glad_ things are looking good with you and Rasmus…!”

“Uhm, please just don’t make a big deal out of this,” the jungler smiled nervously, his eyes flashing back and forth between the toplaner and the midlaner.

But Tim didn’t say anything. Instead, he popped in his headphones and turned on some music, trying to block out all the noise around him. He just couldn’t handle having all of these _feelings_ right now – not when Martin was seemingly imploding already, and with their redemption match coming up. Most of all, they had to win the game today. Then, he would have to get through the date – _wait, that’s not the right way to think about a date, is it?_ Tim wondered as he felt his insecurity getting the best of him _. A weapon has no emotions_ , he recited in his head, attempting to calm down somehow – but, let’s be honest, that mantra had stopped working ages ago.

Luckily, Tim managed to somehow channel his conflicted feelings into passionate gameplay, delivering a clean performance and clearly contributing to Fnatic’s victory that day. For a brief moment, the victory made him forget about the weird twists and turns he had encountered so far – yes, for a while, he felt like he was on top of his game. As he left the stage, walking side by side with his jungler for a bit, he was reminded of times where Oskar would enthusiastically swing his arm around the midlaner’s shoulders after a victory, telling him how great he had played and –

“You guys can go ahead, I have to wait until G2’s game is over,” Oskar explained as they headed down to Fnatic’s lounge.

 _Ah, right, things are not like that anymore,_ Tim thought, flinching at the thought of the jungler eagerly awaiting G2’s ADC to leave the stage instead of him. The midlaner wondered whether the pain in his chest felt like it had that time when he realized that Martin was still in love with Caps – then, he considered that the Dane might just be the bane of his very existence. _Or maybe it’s just more convenient to be mad at him than mad at myself_ , Tim thought, staring at his OnePlus as if it held the answer to all of his questions. Well – maybe he didn’t want to know the answer to that particular question. He already beat himself up for too many things most of the time as it was. Suddenly, he realized that him and Martin had separated from the rest of the team, now walking down the hallway alone _. I really need to pay better attention to my surroundings_ , he thought, making a mental note to his future self.

It surprised Tim that Martin _actually_ wanted them to dress up – or, at least, to wear something besides their jerseys. The midlaner never really cared about what he was wearing, as long as it wasn’t anything too flashy. Some might argue that he didn’t care about his appearance, period. Maybe that was true – then again, he also didn’t really care about what _other people_ looked like. Even though one might find it hard to believe, it had not been Martin’s looks that had drawn the midlaner to the ADC – no, initially, it had been the Swede’s presence, his legacy, and the way he had handled Tim from the beginning. Of course, over time, Tim had come to love Martin’s appearance, minus his messy beard. That was probably the reason why he granted the ADC’s request and slouched back to Fnatic’s lounge to get changed. But, before he could walk through the door, he heard voices from inside the room.

“Well, don’t jump to any conclusions just because he hasn’t answered, okay?” Oskar said calmly.

“You don’t understand, he never does this!” Alfonso exclaimed, seemingly in distress.

Now that he thought about it, Tim realized that the team’s coach had been acting somewhat _different_ on this particular day. But, as he had been quite occupied with his own affairs, he hadn’t really noticed or, well, cared. A part of him wanted to sneakily listen in on what the Spaniard might be fussing about this time – but, more than that, he wanted to get back to Martin so that they could finally leave for their date. And so, Tim decided to enter the lounge.

“Come on, Alfonso, sit down and relax a little before you –“ Oskar stopped for a second as he saw the midlaner make his way inside, “oh, Tim, did you forget something?”

“Martin said that I should borrow his hoodie,” Tim explained calmly, walking over to the chair it had been tossed over, “apparently, this jersey is not something you wear on a date.”

“How thoughtful of Martin,” Alfonso mumbled, hastily wiping his eyes, “he’s right, you know.”

“Well, I think you look fine the way you are,” Oskar smiled, and Tim wondered whether the jungler even _realized_ what he was saying.

“It’s whatever,” Tim mumbled, pulling the black, oversized sweater over his head.

“That’s much better,” the team’s coach nodded, “who’s your lucky date, anyway?”

For a second, Tim and Oskar exchanged a meaningful look. It was a moment packed with emotions – he shouldn’t feel this sad, and the jungler certainly shouldn’t look the part, either. If the both of them were about to head out on dates with people they liked, then this look shouldn’t have meant any more than “ _do you think Mithy knows? No? Then I probably shouldn’t tell him”._ But there was so much more to it. It made Tim want to leave the lounge immediately.

“Uhm, just someone you wouldn’t know,” Tim mumbled quietly, walking towards the exit, “see you tomorrow, okay?”

And, as Tim hurried to the back exit of the studio, he silently prayed that Oskar wouldn’t rat him out to Mithy. If the coach knew about what was going on between him and Martin, there surely would be trouble – in the worst case scenario, Alfonso might re-open the investigation on Condom-Gate 2020. Yet another thing he was scared of… Today, his worries just seemed to pile up endlessly. Seeing his ADC approach him in a tight shirt that really showed off his body was barely enough to get his attention back to reality.

“Well, you like this better?” Tim asked his ADC, letting his OnePlus slide into the hoodie’s front pocket.

“Yeah, you look great,” Martin smirked, carefully pulling Tim’s hood down, causing the midlaner’s heart to beat faster.

As Tim looked into his date’s marvellously green eyes, he thought about kissing him – but that was something they’d never done in public before and, even though there was no one around, it didn’t feel like the place or time for it. But, as he tried to avoid fully getting lost in the ADC’s eyes, he was at least able to think of a good comeback.

“The colour brings out my eyes, no?” Tim said with a dead-serious expression on his face, and Martin immediately started laughing. He might deflect with his humour sometimes – but he really loved to make Martin laugh.

“Sure, sure… I’m kind of hungry, you wanna go grab some Pizza?” The ADC asked as they started heading outside.

“I thought you got us reservations at some great place?” Tim asked, feeling a little disappointed by how casual Martin seemed to be handling their date.

“Well, the reservation isn’t until 10, I guess I didn’t think Mithy would let us go already,” Martin replied, waving over some car at the side of the road.

“Hmm, true, he was in a weird mood today,” Tim mumbled, remembering Mithy’s strange conversation with Oskar in the lounge, “pizza sounds fine to me. You want to go to Vesuvio?”

“Sounds perfect to me…” Martin replied with a smile as he opened the door for his midlaner, waving him inside chivalrously.

“Geez, what a gentleman,” Tim smirked, and, even though the gesture was beyond cheesy, the midlaner felt as if he was going to blush.

As the car’s wheels started turning, Tim turned his head to look out of the window, right into the dark streets of Berlin. His head was still full of questions, and doubts, and weird expectations that he would have never thought he had. Tim just felt like he needed to be alone with his thoughts for a while, as he hadn’t been able to do that all day long. But, somehow, Martin seemed to have an obsessive need to keep the conversation going. _Why can’t he just enjoy the silence for a moment?_ Tim asked himself as he found himself wrapped up in a conversation about League again, _why can’t he be a little more like Oskar?_ The shame overcame the midlaner instantly as the image of his jungler roamed through his head – that just wasn’t _fair t_ o Martin.

Although they kept up the conversation about League until the pizzas they had ordered were delivered to their table, Tim felt as if he was sleepwalking through this date. It didn't feel different from any other day to him, minus the rest of his teammates, really. It was an easy way out to blame his complicated mindset – maybe he just didn’t know what a date _felt like_? He had never been on one, after all. Maybe _this_ was exactly what it was supposed to feel like. Across the table, Martin did, however, not look very happy himself _. Am I screwing it up?_ Tim wondered, hesitantly chewing on his pizza.

“So, uhm, did you watch any good movies lately?” Martin asked, picking up another slice of pizza.

“Not really…” Tim replied, trying to think of the last time he even _saw_ a movie.

It must have been with Oskar, that much was for sure. Instantly, he was unable to properly follow up on the question.

“Huh, okay, maybe some series, then? I recently started watching _Sex Education_ on Netflix, that show’s quite something…” The ADC explained innocently. 

“I don’t know that one,” the midlaner replied, swallowing hard.

Tim quickly averted his gaze, trying to dodge Martin’s confused stare – from the looks of it, the ADC didn’t even _realize_ that he had just put his finger directly into the midlaner’s open wound. The thought of his lack of knowledge regarding the wild shoe carton of secrets he had found this morning sent a shiver down the Slovenian’s spine – and, yet again, there was this _shame_. But there was no way Martin could have known about all that. And there was no way that Tim could bring it up now… Instead, he chose to silently endure the fact that his date had just recommended him to watch some _Sex Education_. And, this time, the silence dragged on until the guys arrived at their next destination.

“Sooo… this is it?” Tim asked hesitantly, unsure of whether they might have given the cab driver the wrong address.

As viewed from the outside, the joint looked completely unspectacular. But there was quite a lot of noise coming from inside, which grew in volume as they made their way in. Immediately, Tim started to feel uncomfortable in the crowded environment, paired with dimmed lighting on one half of the room, and flashing, colourful lights on the other. But then, Tim saw the arcade machines, and his mood changed for the better. He had wanted to try out some of the old school games he could spot from the entrance for a long time – excitement sparked in his eyes.

“How about you go sit down over there while I get us some drinks at the bar?” Martin smiled, pointing towards an empty table near the arcade machines.

“Sure.” Tim mumbled, feeling slightly disappointed about the ADC not wanting to go play instantly.

Then again, maybe he was just trying to deflect again. Naturally, there were quite a lot of couples around, which made forgetting about the fact that Tim was currently out on his first date, which felt incredibly awkward, really difficult. _But maybe that’s just my perception_ , Tim considered as he sat down, _maybe Martin is having a better time_. After all, the ADC had been smiling until a second ago, and this location seemed to be promising. But then, Tim saw Oskar, which intuitively made his heart jump. And then, he saw Caps, which made his heart die a thousand deaths. Whatever hope for having a nice evening he had held onto previously seemed lost – and, since the jungler and the ADC sat near the bar, there was no way Martin wouldn’t walk directly past them. He considered his theory as confirmed as he watched the Swede approach the table, his face looking incredibly pale.

“There you are,” Tim mumbled as the ADC sat down beside him, “what took you so long?”

“I ran into Perkz at the bar, of all people…” Martin sighed, looking extremely irritated, “and then, on my way back, I saw…”

“… Caps and Oskar, I know,” the midlaner ended the ADC’s sentence, still looking over to the table where the other guys were sitting. Tim didn't even register what the ADC had hinted at before, even though his conversation with Perkz couldn't have been good news either.

“R-right,” Martin stuttered, “I have no idea why we ended up in the same place, I haven’t even talked to Rasmus since last week.”

“I didn’t even know you were taking me here,” Tim shrugged, repeating Martin’s words in his head just to make sure he had taken them in, “they must have figured it out somehow.”

“You don’t think this could just be a coincidence?” Martin scratched his head, and Tim couldn’t help but wonder how his ADC could be this naïve.

How could it be a coincidence? How could G2’s ADC _not_ have been here to personally torment them? Desperately, Tim tried to reel himself back in. Maybe it was better to think of it as a coincidence. He didn’t really want to think about Oskar and Caps being _serious_ about this whole date thing, after all. _Don’t let it show_ , Tim told himself, _keep it casual._

“Doesn’t sound like one to me…” the midlaner mumbled, now eyeing the drinks the waiter presented them with – a _perfect_ deflection if Tim had ever seen one. 

“Two Vodka bombs with extra Red bull?”

“Yes, thanks,” Martin smiled at him, raising one of the tall cocktail glasses.

“Well, this looks good,” Tim did the same, the hint of a smile on his lips.

“To us, no? Let’s not let them pull us down…” Martin proposed as a toast.

“Yeah,” Tim replied, making their glasses clink.

Even though it was genuine, the toast felt like a weak attempt to get their date back on track after the _train wreck_ the guys had just witnessed – and, that was, from what Tim could tell as his gaze followed Oskar and Caps to the dancefloor, still ongoing. They were walking hand in hand, joking, laughing… a quick glance over to his ADC was enough for Tim to tell that Martin was just as _bothered_ as him, if not more. Of course, his romantic history with Caps made the whole thing hit Tim even harder. _All of them want Caps_ , Tim thought, his lips already trembling as he tried to sip on the straw in his drink, _the fans, Martin, Oskar... why doesn't anyone want me?_ The midlaner was in desperate need for a break right now.

“I have to go to the toilet,” Tim mumbled, slowly getting up and slouching into the direction of the restrooms.

He didn’t _really_ have to go to the toilet, which is why the midlaner didn’t even hit one of the stalls. Instead, he just stood in front of the mirror, staring at the pale ghost that was supposed to be his reflection. For an instant, Tim considered running away. Of course, it was a terrible thing to do to someone on a date, but the Slovenian just didn’t feel like he had in in him to return to the table _like this_ – not with the show that was currently going on. He’d rather die than to dance in between sweaty strangers to some washed up pop music – and still, he _wanted_ to be were Caps stood right now. He wanted to feel Oskar's eyes on him - he wanted Martin to stare at him longingly from a distance. The thought of G2’s ADC playing with the jungler’s feelings, just as he had with Martin's before, made him so _incredibly_ angry. Or maybe, it was really just him being angry with himself again, for doing the exact same thing. Tim leaned down to splash some cold water in his face, trying his best to shake off his dark thoughts. He almost shrieked as he suddenly saw the reflection of someone else, standing directly behind him, in the mirror.

“Good evening, Tim, fancy meeting you here,” Miky said calmly, almost as if it was a completely normal thing to just whip up a conversation like that in a public restroom.

“What the hell, Miky…” Tim mumbled, taking a deep breath to recover from the shock.

“It appears fate has brought us together… or, well, the fact that they have some great karaoke machines here,” the support smirked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tim sighed, taking a paper towel to dry his hands, “I’m here for a date.”

“On Valentine’s day? How WILD,” Mihael rolled his eyes, “yeah, I know all about you and Rekkles. _Boring_ , but whatever.”

“So you talked to Caps, huh?” The midlaner mumbled, not even able to be mad about his secrets being spread around the League anymore, “whatever.”

“You can put up that act with the others, Tim, but I know that it bothers you,” Miky whispered, smiling knowingly, “the thing with Rasmus and Oskar.”

Anger flashed in Tim’s eyes – the support _really_ knew how to push his buttons.

“What do _you_ know about that, huh?” He hissed, turning around to face the other Slovenian.

“Woah, woah, calm down, would you?” Miky raised his arms, mockingly surrendering, “I just wanted to emphasize that Rasmus has good intentions with your boy, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why would I _worry_ about that? I couldn’t care less,” Tim said calmly, almost convincing himself.

“Of course you do…” the support rolled his eyes, “it’s written all over your face, Tim.”

"Whatever... it's not my fault that Caps just keeps breaking people's hearts, is it?" The midlaner huffed dismissively.

"Hmm, I think you got our ADCs mixed up there..." The support smirked, pushing back his glasses, "I'm surprised enough that Rekkles is taking you out on a date..."

"Would you just shut up? I'm really not in the mood for your games right now..." Tim mumbled, turning away to hide that Mihael had obviously just hit another weak spot.

"Oh? Something's up with you two, hm? Let me guess, your sex life is stale as fuck..." The support snickered mockingly.

"What?? Of course it's not! I -" Tim stuttered, feeling incredibly flustered.

Suddenly, a rumble, paired with the sound of muffled laughter, drew the midlaner’s attention away from the awkward conversatio. Tim turned to the stall the noises were coming from. He noticed that the door was unlocked – immediately, Tim realized how Miky had managed to appear behind him this quickly.

“You’re in here with someone? Is it Perkz again?” Tim remarked, hiding his embarrassment as much as possible.

“I’m _definitely not_ Perkz!” An exaggeratedly high-pitched voice, possibly attempting to imitate the sound of a woman, echoed from the stall.

Miky started laughing.

“Oh, come on, you know I’ve done _way weirder stuff_ than this,” the support wheezed, not taking the situation seriously at all.

“Well, if that ain’t true,” Tim mumbled, smirking slightly as he remembered the other Slovenian telling him about his wild sexual adventures.

Now that he thought about it, Miky was probably the most sexual person he knew – and, even though he had never been able to fully understand his insatiability, he did seem to enjoy life to the fullest. For a moment, the midlaner considered asking the support for advice regarding the mysterious box of kinky secrets he had found in the ADC’s closet this morning – but, before he had a chance to do so, the voice inside the stall spoke up again, in a normal pitch this time.

“Is he gone yet, Miky? I’m still hard,” Perkz yelled out shamelessly.

“Give me a second,” Mihael replied, putting a hand on the midlaner’s shoulder and leaning in to whisper in his ear, “just do what you want, Tim, but don’t be _boring_ , alright?”

And, with a last smirk, the support disappeared into the stall again. Tim seriously didn’t want to listen to whatever Miky and Perkz were about to do in there, so he decided to leave the restrooms to return to his own madness on the other side of the establishment. Somehow, the weird encounter had given him an idea that might just be stupid enough to work. A way to deal with the guilt, the shame, the anger – but also a way to _save_ this cursed Valentine’s day. Now, that didn’t mean that Tim was suddenly cured of his nerves – no, he was still shaking as he walked back to the table Martin was sitting at, hesitantly glancing over to the dancefloor to see whether Oskar and Caps were still dancing. But, to his surprise, he couldn’t find them anywhere. Between staring at himself in the mirror and having an outright discussion with Miky, Tim wasn’t exactly sure just how long he had been gone at this point.

“Hey, you were gone for quite a while… are you okay?” Martin asked nervously, and Tim immediately noticed that the ADC had pretty much emptied his cocktail already. 

“Hi… yeah, I’m okay,” Tim mumbled as he sat back down, reaching for his drink as well. 

“You kind of look like you saw a ghost… are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Martin asked, his concerned gaze now lasting on the midlaner.

“Well… I guess there is something I’d like to ask you about.” Tim said quietly as he put his glass of liquid courage back down.

“Sure, uhm, what is it?” Martin stuttered.

Tim took a deep breath.

“This morning when you asked me to get your sneakers out of the closet I… saw something.” The midlaner explained, still avoiding eye contact with his ADC.

There was a pause before Martin mumbled, “uhm, I’m not sure what you are talking about…”

“Think you do,” Tim sighed, “I mean the dildos, the leather straps, all of that stuff that I can’t even name…”

Across the table, Martin blushed heavily, seemingly embarrassed and overwhelmed by the way Tim was confronting him about his secret stash. But it was not the midlaner’s objective to embarrass the ADC.

“It’s okay, I mean, I just don’t understand why you would hide all that from me,” Tim mumbled, hesitantly lifting his gaze again to look at Martin’s face.

“I didn’t mean to hide it, I just… didn’t want you to think I’m into _weird stuff_ ,” the ADC muttered, still looking as if he was going to die of embarrassment any second now.

“Well, I don’t know enough about most of the stuff to even say that it’s weird,” Tim explained calmly, “just, like, don’t underestimate me like this.”

“I’m sorry, I guess I… I still don’t understand why you would bring that up now, I mean you’re clearly bothered by the whole thing with Caps, aren’t you?”

 _How can you be stupid enough to bring that up now_ , Tim thought with a grunt, taking another sip of his drink. The ADC was right, of course – but also incredibly _stupid_.

“Did he know about that stuff?” Tim asked, looking Martin directly in the eye, “did you... do all that with him?”

“What?” Martin swallowed, his eyes widened, “no, no I – I never told him about that, there were enough issues already and… sorry, but are you _angry_ with me?”

“Not really,” Tim shrugged, feeling a whole range of emotions, “honestly, this day has not being going the way I imagined it, and a lot of things made me angry today – but not this.”

No, if anything, the fact that Caps had never seen this side of Martin deeply satisfied Tim. For the first time today, he felt like he had a leg up on the Dane. For the first time, Tim felt like he was able to _do something_ to make himself feel better.

“Yeah, I feel the same way,” the ADC sighed, staring into his empty glass for a second before looking back at his midlaner, “I’m still a bit overwhelmed by this change of topic, too…”

“First time I get to choose a topic tonight,” Tim snorted, causing the ADC to chuckle, “it feels good… no, honestly, I think I want to try.”

“Wait, what?” Martin spluttered in shock, “you – you mean it? Do you really think that’s a good idea, considering everything that... happened today?”

“No,” Tim admitted, finally emptying his glass, “I think it’s a terrible idea. And that’s why I wanna do it.”

Martin swallowed hard, nervously glancing back and forth between his hands and his midlaner’s eyes, “what exactly do you mean with… it?”

Tim leaned forward to whisper his answer into the ADC’s ear – he dared to be as explicit as he possibly could be, trying his best to remember some of the practices Miky had once described to him. But he also made sure to emphasize that Martin would have some _creative freedom_ as well. The excitement that sparked up in the Swede’s eyes was hard to miss, causing the midlaner to feel even more content with his decision.

“Oh man, let’s go then,” Martin whispered, a sly smile gracing his lips.

Hastily, both of the guys grabbed their jackets and belongings, making their way out of the establishment to head back to the ADC’s hotel. Even though Tim was kind of disappointed about not being able to try out the arcade machines, he was still excited about what might happen next. It might have been the first time all day long in which Tim felt as if he was in charge of his own destiny, even though that sounded incredibly dramatic to him.

After a silent cab ride back to the hotel, sparked with anticipation, Martin and Tim finally arrived in the ADC’s dark room, stumbling through the door as they passionately started to feel each other up, kissing sloppily in the process. As clothes were hastily being peeled off their bodies and thrown onto the floor on their way to the bed, the ADC and the midlaner were almost naked when they finally found themselves right in front of their designated playing field. Suddenly, Martin pulled away, seemingly hesitating for a moment.

“Are you sure that you want me to do this…?” He asked carefully.

“Yes…” Tim mumbled, giving his ADC a determined look that hopefully hid his insecurity.

“Alright,” Martin mumbled with a slight grin, giving Tim a push that made him fall onto the bed, “but, uhm… just to be sure, you should have a safe word.”

“Ah _what_ …?” Tim squinted at his ADC, laying flat on his back.

“You know, something you say when you want me to stop… it should be something you wouldn’t normally say when we… you know…” Martin smirked, opening his closet to get his utensils.

“Oh, I see,” Tim replied, thinking of a suitable word, “I’ll pick _Jankos_ , then.”

“Oh god…” Martin shuddered as he climbed onto the bed, shoe carton in hand, “that’s a good one, what a boner killer…”

“Not for long, I hope,” Tim whispered as he propped himself back up to look at the ADC sitting in front of him.

“Hmm, let’s see,” Martin smiled, putting some of the gadgets onto the bed.

“Sooo… what are we going to use?” Tim asked curiously, grabbing one of the perky, pink dildos.

“Careful with that,” the ADC mumbled, blushing a little, “I’ve already got something in mind, okay?”

The midlaner nodded slowly, turning the pink monstrosity in his hands. The way the dildo was moulded looked strangely realistic, giving the impression that it had been fabricated meticulously, or possibly even modelled after the real deal. As Tim took a closer look at the toy’s flat base, wondering whether it could be attached to the wall, a certain detail caught his attention.

“Why does this one say _xPeke_ …?” Tim mumbled, looking at his ADC in confusion.

“Uhm, that was a – a gift,” Martin blushed hard, hastily grabbing the dildo out of the midlaner’s hands, “we’re gonna do something different though, okay?”

“Sure,” Tim nodded slowly, his thoughts still spinning around the pink penis duplicate he had just inspected, “what do you want me to do?”

“Uhm, well, I thought I’d call the shots and…” the ADC pulled out a long, black satin ribbon that kind of looked like a thin scarf, “I think, first off, I want you to wear this.”

“Okay, sure…” Tim reached out to grab the soft piece of fabric, wondering whether putting on a scarf could really be considered a sexual act.

“No, no,” Martin shook his head, laughing softly as he leaned forward to wrap the black cloth around the midlaner’s head himself, covering his eyes, “I think you should just let me handle this. I’ll get you ready…”

 _So it was a blindfold_ , Tim thought as he hesitantly laid back down. He gladly let his ADC call the shots, as that was what he had been hoping for from the beginning. Tim didn’t go into this special playtime thinking that he would be the one to dominate Martin – no, he specifically _wanted_ the Swede to take control. Even though that hadn’t worked out too well regarding their date, Tim was certain that Martin would be up for the task _now_. Still, Tim didn’t really know what _exactly_ would happen next, which made him a little nervous, especially now that he couldn’t see anything.

“What are you doing now?” The midlaner asked carefully, trying to make sense of the sounds his ADC was making, seemingly searching for something in his stash.

“Why, I’m giving you what you asked for,” Martin replied, mindfully placing his hands on the midlaner’s hips as he guided him to lay on his stomach, “put your arms behind your back, okay?”

After a moment of hesitation, Tim followed his ADC’s order, allowing the Swede to start tying him up with what felt like a soft rope. Martin’s hands worked surprisingly quickly, leaving the midlaner unable to move within minutes. Even though he couldn’t see it, Tim was certain that the way in which the rope had been tied and knotted around him must have reflected true artistry. For a moment, he wondered where the ADC could have possibly picked up these unexpected skills – _does it have anything to do with the ominous guy who had gifted him that weird dildo?_

“Is this tight enough?” Martin asked as he carefully tucked on the rope.

“Yes…” Tim whispered, already eagerly anticipating the ADC’s next move as he tested the strength of the rope, leaning against his entangled prison.

As he couldn’t see anything due to the blindfold, Tim couldn’t exactly tell what was going on behind him – but, for a second, he swore he could hear the _clinging noises_ of Martin’s hands rummaging through the various metal rings he had cluelessly tried to put on his fingers earlier that day. Although he was supposed to stay quiet, he just _had_ to ask.

“Where do these rings go…” Tim mumbled, trying to look into the ADC’s direction as if that would help him understand.

“Rings? Ah, well, on here…” Martin replied in amusement, slapping his _extraordinarily hard_ cock against the midlaner’s ass playfully. _Huh_ , Tim thought _, I should have thought of that myself_ …

“You’ll understand why those are fun in a moment,” the ADC smirked, still cramming for something else in the box.

“Okay… so, uhm, what do you want me to do now?” Tim asked hesitantly.

“Hmm, just stay still, really – but, also, it would be best if you stopped talking now…” Martin whispered, leaning forward to trace Tim’s lips with one finger, slowly slipping it inside his mouth.

“Mhm…” Tim hummed in agreement, softly sucking on the ADC’s fingertip for a moment.

“Good…” Martin mumbled, withdrawing his hand as he let it travel down the midlaner’s body.

He might not have been able to see, as the dark cloth covered his eyes – and he might have not been able to speak, as he now made sure to keep his face pressed into the pillow now - but what Tim _felt_ was suddenly even more intense than before. Martin’s hands were now spreading his ass, which he obediently kept up in the air. The Swede’s cold, seemingly lube-coated fingers were circling his hole playfully, driving Tim wild. Without as much as a warning, the ADC pressed his fingers inside forcefully – Martin was _certainly_ not as careful and slow as he usually was today. Tim panted heavily, trying his best to remain still despite the sharp sensation – still, he instinctively moved away from the ADC’s fingers slightly.

“Hey, I thought I said you should stay still…” Martin chuckled, pulling one of his hands away to give the midlaner’s ass a playful spank.

The sensation of Martin’s flat hand slapping his behind repetitively, paired with the ADC's fingers pushing inside forcefully, somehow _did something_ for the midlaner. Sure, a part of him had wanted this from the start – he had been curious about experiencing this sort of sexual pain from the moment he had first laid eyes on the ADC’s collection of toys and gadgets, if not earlier than that. But there was also this other part of him that wanted to _use_ the sensation for something else.

As the pain really started to kick in, it almost felt like a door in Tim’s mind was pushed open. The _punishment_ somehow allowed all the feelings that he had pushed away all day, or maybe even longer, to enter his mind again, roaming freely this time. There was the guilt and the shame, and also this desire… and all of those feelings revolved around _Oskar_. Tim’s hard dick twitched in anticipation as the sound of a condom wrapper being torn open echoed through the room. For the first time, the midlaner didn’t feel like pushing the image of his jungler to the edge of his mind – somehow, the way he was being _treated_ right now made it feel okay to think about him.

“I’m going on in now, okay?” Martin whispered, leaning in a bit closer.

“Mhm…” Tim hummed in agreement, remembering not to speak.

For some reason, the image of the pink dildo entering him instead of the ADC flashed through the midlaner’s mind – but, in the end, his supreme muscle memory would have been able to tell if it was Martin’s cock right away. And so, as he felt the ADC’s length being pushed into him mercilessly, the only thing Tim could do was inhale sharply, supressing a whimper. Even though he still felt the imprint of Martin’s hand on his butt cheek, the sensation of his hard cock stabbing his insides was much stronger, and much more arousing. He let his thoughts wander back the time Oskar kissed him at the bar – he remembered the jungler’s tongue exploring his mouth carefully, making his heart pounce in his chest. Suddenly, Martin grabbed the rope he had used to tie Tim up with, tugging and pulling on it as he started rutting into the midlaner. This time, Tim couldn’t hold back his wails.

“Does it hurt a little…?” Martin grinned, clutching the midlaner’s hip to deepen his thrusts, “I hope it’s working for you, then…”

 _Oh, it’s working alright_ , Tim thought, his cock twitching desperately in order to finally get some attention. It was not just desperate for _any_ touch – in his mind, Tim suddenly saw the image of Oskar’s lips wrapped around his dick, moving up and down rhythmically. He instinctively opened his eyes, staring against the dark fabric of the blindfold as if that would help him deal with the scene he had suddenly recalled. But he didn’t fight the flashbacks – this time, he _allowed_ himself to remember. _We really did that,_ Tim thought, his body barely withstanding the mash-up of pain and arousal, _that's what he meant when he said we were fooling around..._! With the memories of the whole evening, which had previously felt lost forever, returning to his mind, it was hard decide whether his heart or his cock was pulsing harder. Behind him, Martin started to moan, his grasp still as tight as ever as he pounded Tim’s ass even harder. At this point, the midlaner couldn’t control his whimpers anymore, either. He thought about Oskar’s ice blue eyes, staring back at him as his dick began to swell – it felt as if any sort of touch would send him over the edge now.

“You’re doing well,” Martin panted, reaching down with one hand while grabbing Tim’s hair with the other, “You want to cum, don’t you...?”

And, as Tim felt the ADC’s hand being wrapped around his cock, he thought he would go insane. He helplessly pressed himself against the Swede, attempting to swallow him up even deeper – and, even though he would have never dared to under different circumstances, Tim found himself imagining _someone else_ thrusting inside of him. Although he was more than happy to experience this ecstasy with his ADC, a different name echoed through his mind. He was not able to think twice about it – he hastily bit on the pillow his face was buried in, starting to moan _Oskar_ , his muffled noises filling the dark room. Of course, Martin would have never been able to know that it was not _his name_ the midlaner was calling out – if he did, he might have stopped instead of pushing forward, pounding into Tim as he reached climax.

“Fuck, fuck…” Martin moaned against his gritted teeth, jerking off Tim’s dick even more furiously as he shot his load inside of him.

In all of his past sexual encounters, Tim couldn’t recall ever coming this hard. He thrusted against Martin's hand with desperate moans, firing his cum all over the bedsheets. His head was still spinning, no end in sight, when the ADC finally laid the midlaner down on his side, starting to untangle the ropes. As the blindfold was removed, Tim blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to be able to see again. Finally, the exhaustion fully took a hold of him now. He managed to move away from the cum stain he had left on the bed, but that was about all he could manage. Even though he should have felt the shame rushing back in by now, he was weirdly satisfied with how things had played out. Martin was still cleaning up his gear, smiling to himself relentlessly.

“That was quite something, Tim,” the ADC grinned as he finally sat back down beside the midlaner.

“Yeah,” Tim mumbled, giving Martin a smile as well, “I’m glad we tried it…”

“Me too… I mean, there’s still a lot more that I can show you if you like,” Martin explained as he sank down into the pillows.

“Another time,” the midlaner whispered, finally allowing his eyes to fall shut.

This Valentine’s day had been a true rollercoaster of emotions for the Slovenian, that was for sure – but, did he possibly find a way to deal with his conflicted feelings, once and for all? Or was it simply one step into a completely different direction for Tim? As he felt himself drifting off, he couldn’t care less about what it meant. For the first time in a while, he had taken control, however ironic the execution might have been – and, _damn_ , he felt good.

“Uhm, by the way,” Martin said, swinging his arm around the midlaner’s waist, “does the username **Nemesisfan_69** sound familiar to you?”

“What?” Tim mumbled, his eyes flashing back open in shock.

“Well, Perkz mentioned it earlier… I guess I figured he was just messing with me,” the ADC whispered against Tim’s shoulder.

“I do know the guy…” the Slovenian shuddered as he remembered his interactions with the cursed user, “what did Perkz say, exactly?”

“Just something about the guy enjoying how you played Cassio today or whatever,” Martin yawned, seemingly not grasping how serious the situation felt to Tim, “so, do I need to punch Luka the next time I see him or…?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tim sighed, “as if you could ever punch someone… and, no it’s fine, really. Let’s just sleep.”

But, oh, it was definitely _not_ fine for Tim. The fact that Caps must have shared their Discord conversation, if one could call it that, with his whole team shouldn’t have surprised the midlaner – still, it irritated him. It also made him wonder whether the Dane could have seen the petty message he had sent earlier that day, after all. _What if he told Oskar_ , Tim asked himself, fearing to face the jungler if he had found out about his jealousy. Martin was already fast asleep when Tim finally closed his eyes, trying his best to do the same. Suddenly, his newly found way of “dealing” with his conflicted feelings didn’t seem to be as fool-proof anymore. And, with the image of Oskar being the last thing on his mind, he finally roamed towards dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on our Valentine's date, everyone! Did the outcome of this one surprise you? If so, in which way? 
> 
> I don't think I've ever been more excited about reading your comments - especially because more and more people keep coming back to tell me about their thoughts and feelings! You guys rock! I'll be keeping my popcorn close by and wait... ;)
> 
> Next up is a very special episode of the DreamServer which I am excited about as well...!
> 
> Anyway, as alway, thanks for tuning in!


	34. Part 8: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Welcome to a very special episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> So, before we get started, I have something to adress: the comments on the last chapter might have been the most interesting for me to read so far because everyone seemed to have their own take and opinion about the disaster that was the Remesis-date. Some of you even started to discuss certain aspects of it - it was truly fascinating! It really starts to feel like there's a whole community emerging here (my girlfriend suggested a Discord Server, haha), I feel so honoured and happy about it. Sadly, I'm kind of buried in work at the moment since university is starting again and I have to work a bit harder to plan my online-classes... which is why I haven't really had time to answer all of your amazing comments. Maybe you could give me some feedback on how important receiving a detailed answer is to you, because I certainly want to show all of you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your day not only to read my fic, but also to leave such amazing comments! But, for now, I thought I'd prioritize writing in my free time so that I can continue to provide you with content twice a week. What do you think? 
> 
> Phew, that was a lot - anyway, hope you enjoy today's episode! :) Again, it's the longest one yet...
> 
> EDIT: A cheat-sheet for the who's who has been requested and can now be found as a different work on my profile (for all the DreamServer-episodes), for those who want to know before reading or want to check their guesses!
> 
> EDIT 2: Thanks for your swift feedback, I'll reply to comments briefly and when I can, focussing on the highlights :) and ofc I'll answer any questions that come up as well!

_As the day of love came to an end, many of the sweethearts and the heartbroken of the League found themselves logged onto the DreamServer that night. Now, one might wonder whether this holiday could have any effect on this ominous format, since similar platforms often include seasonal special events. In the real world, these special events are usually created to keep the players occupied and happy, and also to prevent the format from becoming too predictable. But, then again, applying the rules of the real world seems to be absurd when it comes to an odd, supernatural phenomenon like this, doesn’t it? Yes, it would be absolutely crude to claim that a collection of professional League of Legends players talking to each other in their sleep could possibly serve some sort of bigger purpose – it would be wiser to consider it a random mood of the universe instead_. 

\- **[Sweet], [Nachos], [Milk], [Hyde]** and **[Rock]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[Milk]** : Hi guys, what‘s cracking?

 **[Hyde]** : Oh, just the usual…

 **[Nachos]** : The usual? This day was anything but usual!

 **[Sweet]** : I agree, it was quite _unusual_ , one might say

 **[Rock]** : I’ve had a lot more boring days, at least…

 **[Milk]** : Me too… part of me _wished_ this day had been boring, though

 **[Hyde]** : Valentine’s day did you in, huh?

 **[Milk]** : I don’t know, honestly

 **[Milk]** : I think I’ve had the same problem on most other days of the year, too

 **[Rock]** : Same

 **[Rock]** : You just have to actually _acknowledge_ the problems on a day like this

 **[Hyde]** : sucks to be you guys

 **[Nachos]** : I mean, do I feel bad for you? Yeah

 **[Nachos]** : Do I still want to talk about the amazing date I had?

 **[Sweet]** : Yes please!

 **[Sweet]** : I mean, uhm, me too

 **[Milk]** : Whatever guys, go ahead

 **[Milk]** : Maybe I’ll get at least _some_ romantic input today this way…

 **[Rock]** : I think I’d rather not talk about –

 **[Nachos]** : OKAY so, basically

 **[Nachos]** : I planned an amazing date, we had a lovely time

 **[Nachos]** : It was the most romantic thing I’ve ever done, I think

 **[Sweet]** : aww, that sounds so _sweet_!

 **[Rock]** : No shit, I think I’m getting a cavity over here…

 **[Milk]** : I’m in desperate need for some sugar, you hear me?

 **[Hyde]** : I feel like I’ve been listening to a broken record all day long…

 **[Hyde]** : say, did your amazing date involve a park at all?

 **[Nachos]** : that was only a part of it, but yes, of course!

 **[Nachos]** : I know my romance 101, nature is a GREAT place for lovebirds

 **[Rock]** : that’s painfully literal…

 **[Sweet]** : it sounds convincing enough to me!

 **[Sweet]** : I still had a great date without the park, though

 **[Sweet]** : well, it still feels a bit weird to call it a date

 **[Milk]** : why, are you also not used to being treated like you are desirable anymore?

 **[Hyde]** : wow, someone needs to get laid

 **[Milk]** : oh, grow up

 **[Milk]** : …

 **[Milk]** : I mean, maybe you have a point

 **[Rock]** : so sex and romance is the same now?

 **[Rock]** : got it, I'm doing amazing then...

 **[Sweet]** : uhm what?

 **[Sweet]** : Hard NO on that one

 **[Hyde]** : It’s a blurry line these days if you ask me

 **[Milk]** : Fine, fine

 **[Milk]** : maybe that’s not the _only way_ in which I want to be desired…

 **[Nachos]** : you’d be missing out if you would!

 **[Nachos]** : The sex stuff is okay and all, but ROMANCE is where it’s really at

 **[Hyde]** : sounds like virgin-talk, no offense

 **[Rock]** : and the world is just black & white to you, huh…

 **[Nachos]** : a virgin, yeah right…

 **[Nachos]** : I feel bad for you, **@Hyde**!

 **[Nachos]** : It must be hard to be all by yourself on Valentine’s day, huh?

 **[Nachos]** : no reason to lash out, though

 **[Hyde]** : who said I was alone?

 **[Milk]** : ...

 **[Milk]** : first you curse romance out, then you tell us you still went out on a date?

 **[Rock]** : Hypocrite.

 **[Sweet]** : your story does seem a bit inconsistent…

 **[Hyde]** : would you guys stop labelling everything like that?

 **[Hyde]** : Yes, I wasn’t alone

 **[Hyde]** : No, it was not a date

 **[Nachos]** : why are you making such a science out of this?

 **[Nachos]** : Do you like the person you hung out with more than a friend or not??

 **[Sweet]** : hmm, I don’t think that question is as easy as you think…

 **[Hyde]** : honestly, I’m not sure

 **[Rock]** : even if you like someone, you can still have a bad time with them, you know…

 **[Milk]** : guys

 **[Nachos]** : we were trying to settle the question whether **@Hyde** was on a DATE, not whether he enjoyed himself

 **[Hyde]:** oh, I enjoyed myself, alright

 **[Milk]** : GUYS!

 **[Sweet]** : what, why are you screaming?

 **[Rock]** : He’s not, it’s just capsl-

 **[Rock]** : oh, whatever

 **[Rock]** : what did you want to say, **@Milk?**

 **[Milk]** : don’t ask me why but

 **[Milk]** : I just noticed that our usernames are like, really weird tonight

 **[Milk]** : the whole thing feels off to me right anyway, but that…?

 **[Nachos]** : Hmm, now that you say it

 **[Rock]** : they might be a little unusual, but idk…

 **[Hyde]** : I feel fairly judged

 **[Sweet]** : uhm, but what does that mean?

 **[???]** : why, I’m glad you asked

 **[Milk]** : WTF

 **[Nachos]** : hot damn, this is spooky

 **[Hyde]** : I’d call it interesting…

 **[Sweet]** : guys, I have goose bumps

 **[Rock]** : who are you exactly…?

 **[???]** : doesn’t matter

 **[???]** : I’m here to tell you that you’ve been granted a special opportunity this Valentine’s day

 **[???]** : If you try hard enough, you’ll be able to find true love…

 **[???]** : you’ve each been paired up with a suitable candidate

 **[???]** : choose your words wisely, or you’ll miss your chance!

 **[???]** : Best of luck to all of you

 **[Sweet]** : wait wait WAIT wait

 **[Sweet]** : what is this even??

 **[Milk]** : I knew something was up, but this is way too weird

 **[Milk]** : Plus, I’m not exactly single? What is this weird match-up thing supposed to be?

 **[Rock]** : maybe our dates of the day will be considered…

 **[Rock]** : It’s hard to surprise me at this point

 **[Hyde]** : okay, I think you’re a bit _too chill_ about this but…

 **[Hyde]** : the whole thing sounds exciting to me

 **[Nachos]** : I’m nervous as hell

 **[Nachos]** : I’m pretty damn sure I didn’t take any of _you guys_ out on a date so…

 **[Nachos]** : how the hell do we even _know_ who we’ve been paired up with?

\- **[Cheese]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Cheese]** : Hi guys, what‘s up?

 **[Milk]** : oh wow, this is quite straightforward

 **[Rock]** : again, _way too_ literal…

 **[Sweet]** : aww, I don’t know guys, I kind of like it

 **[Hyde]** : it’s tacky, if anything

 **[Nachos]** : wait, what are you guys saying?

 **[Cheese]** : Yeah, what’s happening?

 **[Hyde]** : *sigh*

 **[Milk]** : …

 **[Milk]** : you asked how we would know who we were matched with, **@Nachos** , remember?

 **[Nachos]** : yes?

 **[Sweet]** : and then, **@Cheese** showed up…?

 **[Nachos]** : and now I’m hungry, what’s your point?

 **[Cheese]** : oh, so we’ve been matched up for Valentine’s day by some sort of supernatural entity?

 **[Rock]** : wtf, why are you so woke?

 **[Hyde]** : feels like they complement each other well, doesn’t it…

 **[Nachos]** : oh wow, okay, this is wild

 **[Nachos]** : so, uhm, **@Cheese** …

 **[Nachos]** : you enjoyed your date today, right?

 **[Cheese]** : Absolutely!

 **[Cheese]** : It was amazing, really

 **[Milk]** : but was there a park involved…?

 **[Cheese]** : yes, but that was only a small part of it, really

 **[Sweet]** : aww, they really found each other

 **[Sweet]** : I’m so touched right now

 **[Rock]** : well, good for you and what not…

 **[Nachos]** : Oh boy, I’m so happy!

 **[Hyde]** : okay, this is getting stale

 **[Hyde]** : if this is how the game works, then bring on the next one, please

 **[Milk]** : I don’t think that’s how it works, you can’t just –

\- **[Jekyll]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Hyde]** : looks like I can

 **[Hyde]** : It’s mine, too… how fun

 **[Jekyll]** : _Yours_? That’s a bit bold, don’t you think?

 **[Sweet]** : I don’t get it, _why_ does he think it’s his…?

 **[Rock]** : He has a bit of an ego, haven’t you noticed?

 **[Cheese]** : I’m sure he has a good reason, no need to be rude

 **[Hyde]** : do you guys ever bother to _read_ or…

 **[Hyde]** : ah, whatever

 **[Hyde]** : basically, I’ve been to school, so I know about _Jekyll & Hyde_

 **[Milk]** : right, right…

 **[Milk]** : no ego complex in sight

 **[Jekyll]** : what’s wrong with being confident?

 **[Jekyll]** : I like it… fine, I’ll be your match or whatever

 **[Jekyll]** : I don’t really care about this whole Valentine’s day thing anyway

 **[Rock]** : sure, why would you…

 **[Nachos]** : so you were alone too, huh?

 **[Nachos]** : you might care to know that your “match” wasn’t

 **[Cheese]** : you know, I don’t think I like this side of you **, @Nachos** …

 **[Nachos]** : aww no, I’m sorry!

 **[Nachos]** : **@Hyde** was just rude earlier and…

 **[Nachos]** : you’re right, I shouldn’t be this petty – my apologies, **@Jekyll**

 **[Jekyll]** : wow, okay

 **[Jekyll]** : aren’t you guys _delightful_

 **[Milk]** : I just wish they’d rub their happiness into someone else’s face

 **[Sweet]** : why can’t you guys just be happy for them?

 **[Sweet]** : Geez, y’all are true Valentine’s day grinches

 **[Rock]** : guilty as charged…

 **[Rock]** : the day just hasn’t done enough for me to like it

 **[Milk]** : believe it or not

 **[Milk]** : I actually love Valentine’s day

 **[Milk]** : but my romantic situation is a bit complicated right now…

 **[Rock]** : oh, get over yourself… whose isn’t?

 **[Nachos]** : mine!

 **[Cheese]** : you mean ours…?

 **[Nachos]** : aww <3

 **[Cheese]** : <3

 **[Hyde]** : I’m seriously about to throw up

 **[Jekyll]** : they are overdoing it, definitely…

 **[Sweet]** : grinch, grinch, grinch!

 **[Rock]** : we GET IT

 **[Rock]** : you love _love_ or whatever

 **[Milk]** : sometimes it still doesn’t work out, though, you know?

 **[Sweet]** : but that’s not a reason not to try!

 **[Sweet]** : I've had the most amazing date today just by being open to it so...

 **[Sweet]** : I’m ready, bring out my match, please!

 **[Milk]** : don’t make it look like it’s that easy to just –

\- **[Sour]** and **[Roll]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[Sour]** : Hi

 **[Roll]** : Hey there

 **[Milk]** : you’ve got to be kidding me…

 **[Sweet]** : it worked, guys, it worked!

 **[Sweet]** : This is so exciting…

 **[Jekyll]** : looks like a two in one package

 **[Nachos]** : whose matches are those..?

 **[Cheese]** : aww, sweety, use your head, okay?

 **[Hyde]** : stop, you’re seriously asking too much of him!

 **[Rock]** : *sigh*

 **[Rock]** : I guess you’re with me, **@Roll**

 **[Roll]** : What do you mean? What’s going on?

 **[Sweet]** : If the countless times I’ve had Asian food have taught me anything…

 **[Sweet]** : it’s that Sweet & **@Sour** go well together!

 **[Sour]** : Fair enough, but uhm

 **[Sour]** : what does that have to do with me

 **[Milk]** : you guys are on a date now

 **[Milk]** : deal with it

 **[Nachos]** : you can’t really call it a date, can you?

 **[Nachos]** : There are, like, so many people around

 **[Rock]** : and we didn’t even have a say in all of this…

 **[Cheese]** : but there are other people around when you’re in a restaurant too, right?

 **[Sour]** : but you don’t sit on the same table, usually

 **[Sour]** : or, well, talk to them?

 **[Hyde]** : group date, then

 **[Hyde]** : there are plenty of activities you can do as a group, you know

 **[Jekyll]** : I can think of a few, yes…

 **[Sweet]** : oh, fun!

 **[Sweet]** : Let’s play charades

 **[Roll]** : this is kind of a lot to take in at once…

 **[Sour]** : Yeah, I mean…

 **[Sour]** : I guess I don’t mind the idea of having another shot at this date thing

 **[Nachos]** : what do you mean?

 **[Nachos]** : **@Sweet** talked about you quite fondly, you know…

 **[Sour]** : uhm, what…?

 **[Milk]** : this old tale again, huh

 **[Milk]** : two people that feel completely different about their situation…

 **[Milk]** : It makes me sad, honestly

 **[Hyde]** : is there a thing that doesn’t make you sad today…?

 **[Cheese]** : everyone is so on edge, geez!

 **[Cheese]** : Just be nice to each other, people…

 **[Rock]** : well, easy for you to say…

 **[Rock]** : you just happen to have the _perfect_ relationship, don’t you…

 **[Roll]** : aww, that reminds me of two of my friends…!

 **[Roll]** : they are so cute together, it honestly makes me want to have the same so desperately

 **[Sour]** : something we can agree on

 **[Sweet]** : aww yes, I also know a couple like that, actually!

 **[Hyde]** : okay, I have to agree that seeing my friend so happy with his date also made me smile

 **[Nachos]** : and here I was thinking you didn’t have a heart…

 **[Nachos]** : sorry again!

 **[Cheese]** : aww <3

 **[Jekyll]** : you can be happy for your friend while still remaining a player, you know

 **[Rock]** : _a player_ …?

 **[Roll]** : I’m sorry, but who talks about themselves like that…

 **[Sour]** : isn’t that like, all of our jobs

 **[Milk]** : bold assumption

 **[Milk]** : but, sometimes, it does feel that way…

 **[Rock]** : uhm, okay, I don’t think you took that literally _enough_ , **@Milk**

 **[Nachos]** : well, let me just say that

 **[Nachos]** : I’m happy for my friends who had a great date

 **[Nachos]** : I’m happy for myself & **@Cheese** , obviously

 **[Nachos]** : I’m happy about –

 **[Cheese]** : honey, I think you’re being a bit insensitive towards people who are not as _fortunate_ right now…

 **[Milk]** : it’s fine, honestly… why don’t you just throw me off the cliff already?

 **[Rock]** : has anyone ever told you that you have the tendency to be kind of dramatic?

 **[Hyde]** : woah, now that’s _totally_ out of the blue for me…!

 **[Milk]** : dramatic? _Me?_

 **[Milk]** : I think you’re mistaken me for my boyfriend

 **[Jekyll]** : newsflash

 **[Jekyll]** : we don’t know who that is

 **[Nachos]** : I’m sorry… I feel like such a clutz right now

 **[Cheese]** : aww, it’s fine, babe!

 **[Hyde]** : yeah, go ahead and dry those virgin tears for him…

 **[Sour]** : that was a bit low, no?

 **[Rock]** : based on what we’ve heard, it’s fair to assume he’s _all talk_ …

 **[Roll]** : …no game?

 **[Milk]** : geez, look at you finishing each other’s sandwiches…

 **[Milk]** : *sentences

 **[Sweet]** : aww, that was so _cute_ – you wanna build a snowman with me, **@Milk**?

 **[Milk]** : shut up, that was autocorrect…

 **[Jekyll]** : wait, is that a thing around here?

 **[Cheese]** : Uhm, I’ll have you know that **@Nachos** has _great game_

 **[Nachos]** : yeah, exactly

 **[Nachos]** : … whatever that means

 **[Hyde]** : I TOLD YOU THEY HAVEN’T DONE IT

 **[Sweet]** : fair enough… but it’s kind of romantic, isn’t it?

 **[Rock]** : not fucking straight away sounds reasonable to me

 **[Roll]** : I agree

 **[Roll]** : but after a couple of dates…

 **[Sour]** : yeah, you can’t wait forever

 **[Nachos]** : you guys are so _mean_ …

 **[Nachos]** : we’re taking things slow, okay??

 **[Cheese]** : and there’s nothing wrong with that!

 **[Jekyll]** : what sound does a chicken make again, actually?

 **[Hyde]** : I believe the right term is PUK PUK PUKAAK

 **[Milk]** : In what kind of dictionary –

 **[Sweet]** : haha, I totally heard it in my head just now

 **[Roll]** : okay, that was mean

 **[Roll]** : but also kind of funny

 **[Nachos]** : I’m not just gonna stand here and listen to this…

 **[Hyde]** : _cockledoodle-don’t_ , then

 **[Jekyll]** : HOLY CRAP HAHA

 **[Cheese]** : I’m speechless…

 **[Cheese]** : we’ve already found what we were looking for, right **@Nachos**?

 **[Nachos]** : a long time ago, **@Cheese**

 **[Rock]** : *gag noises*

 **[Cheese]** : …

 **[Cheese]** : let’s get out of here, then

 **[Nachos]** : Gladly!

 **[Milk]** : nice try, but I’ve been wishing for an out since the beginning and you don’t see me –

\- **[Nachos]** and **[Cheese]** have left the DreamServer –

\- **[Stones]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Milk]** : you’ve got to be KIDDING ME

 **[Milk]** : am I the only one without any power around here??

 **[Jekyll]** : aww no, don’t forget about how _annoying_ you are

 **[Hyde]** : I couldn’t have said it any better…

 **[Sweet]** : you guys are terribly mean…

 **[Rock]** : no shit…

 **[Rock]** : at least they deserve each other, right?

 **[Milk]** : yeah, right, even those jerks get to have someone who’s there for them…

 **[Stones]** : Uhm, hello? What‘s happening around here?

 **[Roll]** : oh, right, the new guy!

 **[Roll]** : maybe he can be your match, **@Milk**?

 **[Sour]** : I’m not a chef, but I don’t think Milk and Stones go well together, honestly…

 **[Hyde]** : yeah, that’s a bit of a stretch

 **[Hyde]** : even though it would be nice to hear **@Milk** stop complaining about being lonely

 **[Stones]** : listen, I have no idea what’s going on

 **[Stones]** : but I’m kind of lonely myself at the moment so…

 **[Stones]** : it’s okay if you’re ugly, **@Milk,** we can be each other’s Valentines

 **[Milk]** : wow…

 **[Milk]** : no thank you

 **[Milk]** : I have a boyfriend, you know?

 **[Sour]** : and still, you keep saying you have _no one_ …

 **[Sour]** : I’d hate to be that guy

 **[Rock]** : some of us have _actual_ problems, you know

 **[Milk]** : yeah, I’m in a relationship…

 **[Milk]** : I still have the right to be unhappy, okay?

 **[Milk]** : the only thing my boyfriend gives me right now are snappy, jealous comments

 **[Milk]** : when all I want is some damn affection…

 **[Jekyll]** : break up with him if he’s that horrible, then

 **[Sweet]** : normally I would agree, but…

 **[Sweet]** : it’s not that easy to let go of someone sometimes, even if they’re bad for you, you know?

 **[Roll]** : yeah, I hear you…

 **[Sour]** : wait, you mean you thought about _another guy_ on our date, **@Sweet**?

 **[Hyde]** : oh wow, let the games begin…!

 **[Stones]** : I’d be okay with just ONE date, you know

 **[Rock]** : I mean, if it’s a crime to do that…

 **[Rock]** : then I’m sorry, **@Roll**

 **[Rock]** : then again, I’m guessing you did the same thing…

 **[Sour]** : I just hoped I was imaging things…

 **[Jekyll]** : see, romance is bullshit

 **[Milk]** : I bet this is what my boyfriend imagines ME thinking

 **[Milk]** : But I don’t _want_ anyone else

 **[Sweet]** : good for you

 **[Sweet]** : It’s not easy to be this torn

 **[Rock]** : right…

 **[Roll]** : right…

 **[Sour]** : right…

 **[Hyde]** : so what if you guys want to see other people, geez

 **[Stones]** : as I said before

 **[Stones]** : ONE IS FINE FOR ME

 **[Stones]** : This day just got me feeling like a complete loser… in and out of the rift

 **[Sweet]** : Uff, I REALLY don’t want to talk about our game today…

 **[Jekyll]** : agreed, let’s go back to **@Stones’** pathetic life

 **[Milk]** : pure evil, I swear…

 **[Hyde]** : what kind of person would you want to date, **@Stones**?

 **[Hyde]** : see, I can be nice, too

 **[Sour]** : who are you trying to fool, dude?

 **[Stones]** : hmm, let’s see…

 **[Stones]** : I’d definitely go for someone blonde, really hot and –

\- **[Sticks]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Milk]** : okay, but HOW does that keep working??

 **[Rock]** : obnoxious people getting their way… sounds normal to me

 **[Sour]** : that sounds a bit bitter…

 **[Roll]** : well, he’s got a point – some people just get what they want no matter what it seems

 **[Stones]** : AND I’M FINALLY ONE OF THESE PEOPLE

 **[Stones]** : did it hurt when you fell from heaven, **@Sticks**?

 **[Stones]** : because I think you are my angel sent from –

 **[Sticks]** : your WHAT? Don’ be RIDICULOUS

 **[Jekyll]** : oh my god, I’m already loving this

 **[Hyde]** : pass me the popcorn, would you?

 **[Stones]** : wait, no, this is wrong

 **[Stones]** : you’re supposed to be my _match,_ **@Sticks** …?

 **[Sticks]** : your MATCH? Do you need to light a FIRE, or what do you mean??

 **[Sour]** : did he just…

 **[Sweet]** : hahaha I think he did

 **[Rock]** : what’s up with people taking everything _literal_ today??

 **[Sticks]** : Oh CALM DOWN

 **[Sticks]** : I know what he meant

 **[Sticks]** : I’m just NOT interested

 **[Milk]** : This took a turn for the better

 **[Roll]** : it’s not nice to dwell on other people’s pain, you know

 **[Jekyll]** : aww, come on, everyone does it…

 **[Hyde]** : it’s only natural if you ask me

 **[Rock]** : ehm, in _your_ team, maybe…

 **[Rock]** : we’ve got a moral apostle in ours

 **[Sour]** : oh yeah, we’ve got someone like that for sure

 **[Stones]** : who cares about that crap

 **[Stones]** : I’m a fucking joke at this point

 **[Stones]** : not even this clown wants me

 **[Milk]** : oh boohoo, some stranger you just got randomly paired with doesn’t like you

 **[Milk]** : Imagine him being someone you actually care about…

 **[Hyde]** : okay, I’ve HAD IT with your whining…

 **[Jekyll]** : yeah, it’s getting old…

 **[Milk]** : well sorry – I told you I want to leave, okay?

 **[Milk]** : I just CAN’T somehow

 **[Sweet]** : it’s probably because your match hasn’t turned up, right?

 **[Sticks]** : what, the pairings are THAT serious??

 **[Sticks]** : leave me ALONE, **@Stones**! I’m with SOMEONE ELSE!

 **[Stones]** : god, you’re so annoying…

 **[Stones]** : I’ve changed my mind

 **[Stones]** : I won’t just take anyone if that means it’s you…!

 **[Sour]** : guys, please…

 **[Sour]** : let’s stick our heads together for a moment, okay

 **[Sour]** : what goes well with milk…?

 **[Roll]** : how about chocolate?

 **[Rock]** : wait, what?

 **[Rock]** : You _dip_ chocolate into milk?

 **[Hyde]** : think he means hot chocolate, big brain…

 **[Sweet]** : we could make a sweet milkshake with some strawberries, maybe?

 **[Jekyll]** : it could be any fruit then, really

 **[Milk]** : I don’t WANT just any fruit I –

 **[Milk]** : *sigh*

 **[Milk]** : it’s sweet of you to try, guys

 **[Milk]** : but at this point, I think he’s not coming

 **[Milk]** : just like always…

\- **[Milk]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[Sour]** : Holy crap…

 **[Roll]** : what was that…?

 **[Rock]** : I think he just… gave up?

 **[Sweet]** : that was too sad for me… quick, someone cheer me up :(

 **[Jekyll]** : the guy was a pain in the ass, but I have to admit

 **[Jekyll]** : that was pretty fucking rough

 **[Hyde]** : uhm uhm uhm

 **[Hyde]** : I’ve been dumped today, **@Sweet**

 **[Rock]** : wtf

 **[Rock]** : how is that supposed to cheer anyone up??

 **[Sour]** : weird taste…

 **[Sweet]** : gosh, I’m so sorry for you, **@Hyde** :(

 **[Hyde]** : no, no

 **[Hyde]** : it’s funny, see

 **[Hyde]** : I wasn’t even in a relationship, and yet I was dumped on Valentine’s day

 **[Hyde]** : just like **@Jekyll**

 **[Jekyll]** : EXCUSE YOU, I was NOT

 **[Stones]** : okay, that IS kind of funny

 **[Sticks]** : At least you have sense of HUMOUR, **@Stones**

 **[Roll]** : It’s a rough day to be left, relationship or not

 **[Rock]** : and seeing someone else on a date with the person you like is just –

 **[Jekyll]** : cruel, yeah, that’s why I didn’t fucking watch

 **[Jekyll]** : who in their right mind would just _watch_?

 **[Sour]** : right, that would be _weird_ …

 **[Sweet]** : but it’s not that easy to just _look away_ when… you know

 **[Roll]** : when they’re right in front of you?

 **[Sweet]** : that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy our time, **@Sour** , it was just hard

 **[Stones]** : oh man, you guys got issues

 **[Hyde]** : see, this is why it’s easier to just have fun

 **[Hyde]** : right, **@Jekyll**?

 **[Jekyll]** : something like that, yeah…

 **[Sour]** : I get that it was rough – I just wanted it to be us, you know…

 **[Sweet]** : me too

 **[Rock]** : wow, amazing…

 **[Rock]** : wish I had had a date like that

 **[Roll]** : what do you mean…?

 **[Sticks]** : is anyone HAPPY around here??

 **[Sticks]** : or is it just me?

 **[Rock]** : shut up

 **[Rock]** : You know, **@Roll** – I didn’t feel like either us were _really_ there

 **[Rock]** : there were always these other two people…

 **[Roll]** : I mean, yeah but – but I still enjoyed myself?

 **[Hyde]** : someone get the divorce papers

 **[Hyde]** : we need some FRESH BLOOD to lighten our mood, if you ask me

 **[Sour]** : would you just give us a minute here??

 **[Sweet]** : this day hasn’t been easy for SOME of us, okay?

 **[Stones]** : how about you make that EVERYONE

 **[Sticks]** : no, I’m good!

 **[Rock]** : I’m sorry, okay… I thought we were on the same page here

 **[Rock]** : It’s not like I don’t _want_ to be happy with you

 **[Rock]** : I really fucking do

 **[Jekyll]** : okay, things are really getting a bit too depressing around here

 **[Jekyll]** : I agree with **@Hyde** , let’s bring in some new people

 **[Stones]** : okay, since the last time hasn’t worked out…

 **[Stones]** : I’d really like to meet someone blonde, nice and –

 **[Sticks]** : BRING IN MY DATE OKAY

 **[Sticks]** : we didn’t get far yesterday, she was tired, and I was a gentleman and –

 **[Hyde]** : and you didn’t get laid, got it

 **[Sticks]** : HEY

 **[Sticks]** : we had an AMAZING date and I just didn’t want to RUIN it, okay??

 **[Sticks]** : it’s already enough that my teammates don’t support me with this…

 **[Sticks]** : PLEASE LET ME TALK TO HER

 **[Jekyll]** : I don’t have a good feeling about this…

 **[Hyde]** : oh, I wonder why…?

 **[Rock]** : oh, shut up… you know exactly why

 **[Sweet]** : If a new person joins our circle, I hope it’s someone nice…

 **[Roll]** : god knows we need someone nice…!

\- **[Bones]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Bones]** : Hi guys, happy to be here

 **[Hyde]** : oh boy, this will be good…!

 **[Sweet]** : Hi there! Happy to have you!

 **[Sour]** : wait, whose match is this…?

 **[Rock]** : well, as far as I see it, there are two options here…

 **[Jekyll]** : how about a good old death match to figure this one out?

 **[Stones]** : NO, this is MINE!

 **[Sticks]** : RIGHT, like anyone would want YOU over ME…!

 **[Roll]** : please, how about you just let **@Bones** decide that…

 **[Bones]** : decide what…?

 **[Bones]** : sorry, I’m sort of overwhelmed right now

 **[Bones]** : it’s been a while since I’ve been around this many people I think…

 **[Stones]** : It’s okay to be a little shy, don’t worry…

 **[Stones]** : are you a blonde, perhaps?

 **[Sticks]** : that wouldn’t be proof for ANYTHING! My date is also blonde, you know?

 **[Sweet]** : uhm, guys, you’re behaving like predators right now…

 **[Rock]** : it’s not a good look

 **[Hyde]** : there are TONS of classier ways to get with someone, just pointing that out

 **[Bones]** : uhm…

 **[Bones]** : I’m blonde, yeah

 **[Bones]** : I mean, this is kind of weird, but I guess it’s nice to feel wanted for a change

 **[Bones]** : I’ve been a bit lonely lately…

 **[Stones]** : THERE WE GO

 **[Stones]** : let’s be alone together, beauty

 **[Sticks]** : this is not OVER yet

 **[Sticks]** : you probably meant you WERE lonely before we went out today, right??

 **[Bones]** : uhm, no, I didn’t have a date today…

 **[Sour]** : that settles it then, could we please return to –

 **[Stones]** : me neither, but look how the tables have turned, **@Bones** …

 **[Stones]** : name a place, I’ll take you anywhere you want

 **[Jekyll]** : that’s kind of a bold statement to make here…

 **[Hyde]** : what, did this dude ever strike you as _reasonable_?

 **[Roll]** : hmm, any place, huh…

 **[Bones]** : If I could choose, I guess I would like to go on a date on the beach near my home town…

 **[Sweet]** : aww, that sounds really nice

 **[Hyde]** : until you get sand up your ass, at least…

 **[Stones]** : DONE

 **[Stones]** : without the last part, I mean…

 **[Stones]** : say, where are you from, **@Bones**??

 **[Bones]** : Denmark :)

 **[Stones]** : what, really??

 **[Stones]** : ME TOO!

 **[Stones]** : Oh, this is perfect

 **[Sweet]** : me three haha

 **[Sweet]** : … I don’t know why I’m trying to get in on this

 **[Sour]** : probably because our date wasn’t _all that great_ , right…

 **[Jekyll]** : oh, don’t be bitter, **@Sour**

 **[Jekyll]** : that’s like, a way different taste bud

 **[Hyde]** : lol

 **[Bones]** : so we’re both Danish, huh?

 **[Bones]** : That’s nice…

 **[Bones]** : I feel so far away from home right now, you know?

 **[Sticks]** : I guess you’re NOT my date after all…

 **[Sticks]** : But I could show you a thing or two as well!

 **[Sticks]** : You don’t have to settle for this prick, **@Bones**!

 **[Stones]** : would you finally let it go??

 **[Stones]** : This Danish princess obviously deserves a Danish prince!

 **[Roll]** : is this a reference I'm not getting?

 **[Roll]** : I didn't pay attention when we read _Hamlet_ in school...

 **[Rock]** : pff, right, just stick people from the same country together and call it a perfect match…

 **[Hyde]** : OH GOD haha my match would be fucking tragic then

 **[Bones]** : that’s sweet an all, **@Stones**

 **[Bones]** : …I’m not a girl, though

 **[Stones]** : wait WHAT

 **[Sticks]** : But, but, but….

 **[Jekyll]** : you didn’t _know_??

 **[Jekyll]** : how can you be this DENSE?

 **[Rock]** : it’s called wishful thinking, you know…

 **[Sweet]** : aww, this is not going to end well, is it?

 **[Sour]** : not gonna lie, this is really entertaining…

 **[Bones]** : I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make anyone upset…!

 **[Rock]** : don’t feel bad about this, **@Bones**

 **[Rock]** : these two were beyond saving before you arrived

 **[Stones]** : I can’t believe I’m this far gone…

 **[Stones]** : I guess I didn’t realize how serious the situation is

 **[Sticks]** : Oh, SAVE your blabbering, would you??

 **[Sticks]** : this is the WORST

 **[Sticks]** : I said I wanted to talk to my DATE, not another DUDE

 **[Stones]** : maybe my wishes just weren’t specific enough…?

 **[Stones]** : I’ll just try again!

 **[Stones]** : I want a GIRL, blonde and hot an –

\- **[Sticks]** and **[Stones]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[Sweet]** : ouch, haha, so much for that

 **[Jekyll]** : am I imagining things or

 **[Jekyll]** : did those two just get kicked?

 **[Hyde]** : where was that function when the Milk guy wouldn’t stop complaining…

 **[Roll]** : well, they were quite rude to **@Bones**

 **[Bones]** : I’m so confused… what did I even say?

 **[Sour]** : did they _break_ him? Is that how the saying goes?

 **[Rock]** : I don’t think the usernames work like that, honestly…

 **[Roll]** : and here I was thinking you were my ROCK…!

 **[Sweet]** : I don’t think you taste _sour_ though, **@Sour** …!

 **[Sour]** : but you can be quite _sweet_ sometimes…

 **[Hyde]** : people might argue that we are both monsters, **@Jekyll**

 **[Jekyll]** : and I wouldn’t care

 **[Bones]** : hmm, well

 **[Bones]** : I’ve never broken a bone I guess?

 **[Rock]** : okay, fine, you guys have a point

 **[Rock]** : I guess you did _roll_ with the punches well enough, **@Roll**

 **[Roll]** : that’s kind of a weird way to put it but… okay

 **[Bones]** : do you guys think it’s okay of me to ask for a new match…?

 **[Bones]** : I mean, I’m still alone…

 **[Sour]** : no harm in asking at least!

 **[Sweet]** : you deserve someone as nice as you!

 **[Jekyll]** : it wouldn’t be the worst decision of the day…

 **[Bones]** : okay, uhm

 **[Bones]** : I’d like someone who –

\- **[Cookies]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Cookies]** : Hi guys…

 **[Sour]** : Hi, uhm –

 **[Sour]** : I don’t think I get this one

 **[Sour]** : is it the language barrier again?

 **[Roll]** : no, I think it just doesn’t work…?

 **[Bones]** : I _do_ like cookies, so maybe…?

 **[Hyde]** : No guys, no

 **[Hyde]** : this is _so much better_ than that…!

 **[Roll]** : are you being mean again or…?

 **[Jekyll]** : oh, he is!

 **[Jekyll]** : It’s the Milk guy’s boyfriend, don’t you get it??

 **[Sweet]** : oh no…

 **[Sweet]** : the poor guy :(

 **[Sweet]** : now I’m sad again

 **[Cookies]** : What? Why?

 **[Cookies]** : What’s happening

 **[Cookies]** : How do you know about my boyfriend??

 **[Rock]** : Cookies go well with milk

 **[Rock]** : ez gg

 **[Bones]** : oh man… I guess you’re right

 **[Bones]** : If you have a boyfriend then I guess I don’t stand a chance…

 **[Jekyll]** : you’re way too late, **@Cookies**

 **[Cookies]** : WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON

 **[Hyde]** : wow, your sweetheart didn’t lie… you _are_ dramatic!

 **[Cookies]** : what did you just call me?? You little –

 **[Roll]** : UHM

 **[Roll]** : let me explain, okay?

 **[Roll]** : earlier, there was this guy…

 **[Sweet]** : your perfect match, Milk!

 **[Sour]** : but he wasn’t happy with his situation…

 **[Jekyll]** : not happy?

 **[Jekyll]** : That’s a serious understatement

 **[Hyde]** : he was so down on himself, it was the _worst_

 **[Rock]** : say, did anything happen today?

 **[Bones]** : oh man, I wasn’t here for all of that… that sounds bad!

 **[Cookies]** : …

 **[Cookies]** : this is embarrassing, honestly…

 **[Cookies]** : I don’t like to talk about my relationship with other people…

 **[Sweet]** : could that be a part of your problem, maybe?

 **[Sour]** : I mean, you don’t have to let the whole world know, but there should be some people to support you, right?

 **[Rock]** : not having anyone to talk to is the worst…

 **[Cookies]** : I guess he might feel that way, yeah…

 **[Cookies]** : I’m just not comfortable with people knowing that I’m gay

 **[Hyde]** : In 2020? Okay lol

 **[Rock]** : I think it’s reasonable, honestly…

 **[Rock]** : in our field of work?

 **[Roll]** : I don’t understand… I thought you said you _weren’t_ ashamed?

 **[Cookies]** : who said it was about shame??

 **[Cookies]** : …

 **[Cookies]** : fine, it might be

 **[Sour]** : at least your family should know…

 **[Cookies]** : god, I KNOW THAT

 **[Cookies]** : my boyfriend won’t shup up about it, okay…

 **[Cookies]** : today it was just… especially bad

 **[Jekyll]** : okay, let me guess

 **[Jekyll]** : just from the top of my head – you forgot it was Valentine’s day, right?

 **[Hyde]** : In 2020? Pathetic, man…

 **[Hyde]** : I couldn’t care less about this day and I still know my shit

 **[Rock]** : it might not REALLY be important, but yeah…

 **[Cookies]** : well… I’m just busy with work, okay?

 **[Cookies]** : I guess we haven’t really spend much time together lately…

 **[Roll]** : make time then, dude

 **[Roll]** : you don’t just let your love go to waste like that…

 **[Sweet]** : right, you can’t just give up!

 **[Sour]** : you’re right… we shouldn’t give up

 **[Sour]** : things might not be perfect, but I feel so close after the way we... ended our night

 **[Sour]** : we can make it work, right?

 **[Cookies]** : pretty sure this moment wasn’t about you…

 **[Rock]** : hold it for a moment, would you?

 **[Rock]** : I’m not ready to let go either, **@Roll**

 **[Rock]** : I’ll put in the work if you want to as well...

 **[Rock]** : I fucked up today and I feel horrible about it... but I promise it was the last time

 **[Rock]** : eventually, we’ll forget about the ghosts of our past too

 **[Roll]** : yeah but... I don't think you fucked up at all?

 **[Roll]** : no idea what you're talking about

 **[Rock]** : so you didn't hear me saying uhm...

 **[Rock]:** that's probably for the best **  
**

**[Bones]** : oh man, guys, being in the middle of all of this really got me thinking…

 **[Bones]** : I mean, there’s this one teammate I had a crush on but never had the guts to say anything

 **[Hyde]** : I’d say I’m shocked, but look around you

 **[Hyde]** : dong-lovers everywhere

 **[Jekyll]** : LOL

 **[Sweet]** : hihi dongs

 **[Sweet]** : I’m glad, **@Sour** – honestly, this Valentine’s day was still my best one yet

 **[Sweet]** : Right now, I just feel like our chemistry is unstoppable, you know?

 **[Sour]** : oh god yeah, we harmonized really well just now when we... you know ;)

 **[Sweet]** : uhhh?

 **[Cookies]** : I think you guys are just caught up in the whole “match-thing”

 **[Cookies]** : Sure, my boyfriend is the one for me…

 **[Cookies]** : But lately, I feel like things might just not _work_ , no matter how much I want them to…

 **[Hyde]** : right, right…

 **[Hyde]** : who’s even to say that you’ve been paired up with a real match, anyway?

 **[Hyde]** : **@Sticks** and **@Stones** were paired up, for god’s sake…

 **[Jekyll]** : god, that was hilarious

 **[Sweet]** : well, I choose to believe in love

 **[Roll]** : I choose to believe that _good things_ can happen to me for a change…

 **[Cookies]** : well, ain’t that sweet…

 **[Cookies]** : everything is just resolved like that

 **[Bones]** : well, not exactly…

 **[Bones]** : I’m still all alone

 **[Sour]** : at this point, I don’t think someone’s coming for you

 **[Sweet]** : I’m sure you’re a great guy though :(

 **[Rock]** : how about you just go ahead and text that old teammate of yours who –

\- **[Words]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Words]** : Hi guys, what’s up with –

 **[Jekyll]** : OHHHHHH

 **[Hyde]** : OHHHHH

 **[Sweet]** : oh wow, I didn’t expect that one!

 **[Sour]** : I’ll be damned…!

 **[Bones]** : is this real…?

 **[Words]** : what? WHAT?

 **[Words]** : Oh god, what have I gotten myself into this time…

 **[Cookies]** : welcome to the club, buddy

 **[Rock]** : you’ve been summoned, one might say

 **[Roll]** : right, right – please promise not to _hurt_ **@Bones**

 **[Hyde]** : woah, who taught you how to use word play, all of the sudden?

 **[Words]** : why would I…?

 **[Bones]** : I was a bit unlucky with my last matches, I guess…

 **[Bones]** : Anyway, good to have you!

 **[Bones]** : oh, right – you didn’t have a date today, did you?

 **[Words]** : why do people keep assuming that…

 **[Jekyll]** : I think a mirror might have an answer for you, dude

 **[Hyde]** : oh man, haha too real

 **[Sweet]** : come on, guys, be civil!

 **[Sweet]** : We don’t even know whether he’s _really_ ugly!

 **[Bones]** : I don’t care, really

 **[Bones]** : I like a guy with humour above anything else

 **[Rock]** : Humour? Can’t relate…

 **[Words]** : I have a joke for you, then

 **[Words]** : I spent my whole Valentine’s day babysitting – one drunk cry-baby after the other, to be exact

 **[Words]** : I just wanted to have a fun night with some friends, really

 **[Cookies]** : see, that’s what Valentine’s day does to you

 **[Cookies]** : it just ruins everything…

 **[Sour]** : or it just shows you what’s been wrong all along?

 **[Hyde]** : wait, I’ve definitely heard that one before…

 **[Bones]** : sorry to hear that you’ve had a crappy day, **@Words** :(

 **[Bones]** : you want a foot massage?

 **[Words]** : uhm…

 **[Words]** : that’s nice of you to offer, **@Bones**

 **[Words]** : I’m just not into guys…

 **[Words]** : I’d have tried to get with one of the guys crying on my shoulder if I was, probably..

 **[Bones]** : …

 **[Sweet]** : oh no, poor guy :(

 **[Sweet]** : I’ll give you a hug, **@Bones**!

 **[Jekyll]** : I’ll take the foot massage if that helps

 **[Hyde]** : hey, all you have to do is ask, okay…

 **[Sour]** : don’t go around offering other people hugs, **@Sweet** >:(

 **[Roll]** : come on, he just wanted to cheer the poor dude up…

 **[Rock]** : jealousy is never a good look, hm

 **[Bones]** : this is just too much for me right now…

 **[Bones]** : Even though this place felt like home for a second

 **[Bones]** : I think I’d like to leave if that’s okay

 **[Words]** : woah, dude, I’m sorry

 **[Words]** : I didn’t mean to make you –

\- **[Bones]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[Words]** : …upset…

 **[Cookies]** : well, that’s just how it goes…

 **[Cookies]** : no matter how hard you try, you can’t please them all

 **[Jekyll]** : who’s _all of them_ , huh?

 **[Jekyll]** : I thought you and your boyfriend were exclusive

 **[Sweet]** : oh god, please don’t tell me you cheated on him…!

 **[Sweet]** : not on top of everything else…

 **[Cookies]** : what??

 **[Cookies]** : of course not… if anything, he’s the one surrounded by temptation and I –

 **[Cookies]** : uhm, anyway

 **[Cookies]** : I meant my team… even though we won today, I feel like I didn’t even know what was up with them, you know?

 **[Words]** : oh, it’s certainly hard to keep an overview, I agree!

 **[Words]** : my team is full of knuckleheads, I might add…

 **[Rock]** : what a nice thing to say…

 **[Hyde]** : it ain’t rude when it’s the truth, right?

 **[Cookies]** : yeah, well…

 **[Cookies]** : Imagine how awkward things get when you find out they are screwing each other?

 **[Cookies]** : I found a condom wrapper in the office just last week and I’m just…!

 **[Jekyll]** : you’re shocked because…?

 **[Sour]** : Oh, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation here somewhere haha

 **[Words]** : oh haha that’s cute

 **[Words]** : I _wish_ that I’d only caught my players doing it in the office

 **[Words]** : I’ve seen some seriously disturbing stuff

 **[Roll]** : and you didn’t set up any new rules or confront them in a scary way?

 **[Roll]** : Weird how different things can be…

 **[Cookies]** : Okay, now I’m seriously worried…

 **[Cookies]** : what if that’s what my players do too? And I just haven’t found out yet??

 **[Rock]** : yeah, wouldn’t _that_ be the end of the world…

 **[Words]** : don’t sweat it…

 **[Words]** : most of my guys have some freaky ways to spend their free time, but at the end of the day

 **[Words]** : they are still unstoppable in the rift!

 **[Words]** : …well, until tonight…

 **[Hyde]** : ouch… do we have to talk about that now?

 **[Sweet]** : it is kind of a _bittersweet_ thing to remember

 **[Jekyll]** : yeah, no, let’s not do this

 **[Cookies]** : huh…

 **[Cookies]** : I mean, my team won so I can’t relate to whatever’s going on there but

 **[Cookies]** : my day was shit enough without a loss

 **[Cookies]** : on days like this, all you can do to release some steam is get drunk by yourself and –

 **[Words]** : …and get carried home by some innocent guy who just _happened_ to be in the same bar?

 **[Words]** : I just wanted to have a chill evening, god damn it!

 **[Words]** : I should have recognized your whining earlier…

 **[Words]** : you little…!

 **[Jekyll]** : I’d like to propose that death match idea again!

 **[Sour]** : uff, this is really uncomfortable right about now

 **[Cookies]** : wait, no, I can explain

 **[Cookies]** : that _couldn’t_ have been me, because I don’t even remember how I got home and –

 **[Cookies]** : oh oh

 **[Words]** : YOU PUKED IN THE BACKSEAT OF MY CAR YOU PRICK

 **[Sweet]** : guys, what should we do??

 **[Rock]** : someone better get in the middle of this…

 **[Hyde]** : just sit back and relax….!

 **[Hyde]** : I’ve been waiting on an actual fight all day long

 **[Jekyll]** : we’ve certainly teased enough people, someone was bound to throw a punch…!

 **[Cookies]** : wait, let’s just _talk about this_ , okay?

 **[Words]** : I’M IN NO FUCKING MOOD TO TALK I –

\- **[Cookies]** and **[Words]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[Hyde]** : NOOOOOO

 **[Roll]** : phew, thank god

 **[Roll]** : I’m not a fan of violence

 **[Sour]** : I like watching major crime shows, but that’s about it…

 **[Jekyll]** : I’m heartbroken…

 **[Rock]** : And you admit that NOW? Okay…

 **[Sweet]** : I’m just glad this is over

 **[Sweet]** : and no one got hurt

 **[Hyde]** : what makes you think no one got hurt??

 **[Hyde]** : My chest is aching

 **[Roll]** : right, right…

 **[Roll]** : I think I agree with **@Sweet** …

 **[Roll]** : I just want to leave this place with **@Rock**

 **[Sour]** : yeah, waking up next to **@Sweet** sounds nice to me right now..

 **[Sweet]** : aww, I’m so glad you feel this way

 **[Sweet]** : I wasn’t sure, you know

 **[Rock]** : same…

 **[Rock]** : it feels good to hear you say it, **@Roll**

 **[Rock]:** I promise I'll try harder..

 **[Jekyll]** : wow, isn’t that _romantic_ …

 **[Jekyll]** : how about you cheesy lovebirds go fly into the sunset together, then

 **[Hyde]** : I wouldn’t be so sure about that

 **[Hyde]** : You’ve got another thing coming if you think this place is _meant_ to be romantic…

 **[Sweet]** : don’t be so bitter, guys

 **[Sweet]** : It’s okay to be happy for others

 **[Rock]** : yeah, how about you deal with your own shit first…

 **[Sour]** : what a nice note to end on

 **[Sour]** : how about we have another go, @Sweet?

 **[Sour]** : Like last night... ;)

 **[Sweet]** : uh at what?

 **[Sweet]** : we didn't do anything I mean...

 **[Sour]** : what?

 **[Roll]** : I don't mind that we didn't do it, I'd be up for some more cuddles

 **[Roll]** : how about it, **@Rock**?

 **[Rock]** : cuddles?

 **[Rock]** : what are you talking about...?

\- **[Rock]** and **[Sour]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[Jekyll]** : HAHAHA OMG

 **[Hyde]** : see, I told you…!

 **[Roll]** : wait, what just happened…?

 **[Roll]** : why am I still here?

 **[Sweet]** : and why did **@Sour** leave without me?

 **[Sweet]** : I thought we talked about this I –

 **[Sweet]** : I don’t understand

 **[Jekyll]** : your sweetie wasn’t who you thought he was, lover boy

 **[Jekyll]** : and this is the best day of my life

 **[Hyde]** : mine too, oh lord

 **[Hyde]** : this was just what I needed to finish this day off

 **[Jekyll]** : fuck, let’s get out of here then, right?

 **[Jekyll]** : I'm dying to get some action now...!

 **[Hyde]** : I'll fix you up real good ;)

 **[Roll]** : wait, you guys!

 **[Roll]** : what did you mean with –

\- **[Jekyll]** and **[Hyde]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[Sweet]** : oh man…

 **[Sweet]** : this is so weird, I mean

 **[Sweet]** : did we talk to the wrong person this whole time…?

 **[Roll]** : well, how do we know who the _right_ person is?

 **[Roll]** : honestly, I’m even more uncertain about that now than I was before

 **[Roll]** : even though my date was really good

 **[Sweet]** : yeah, I feel the same way...

 **[Sweet]** : about uhm, our date I mean?

 **[Sweet]** : maybe we should just take things one step at a time?

 **[Roll]** : I’d like that

 **[Roll]** : wake up and see where we go from there

 **[Sweet]** : right…

 **[Roll]** : …

 **[Sweet]** : it’s not working, is it?

 **[Sweet]** : I’m lost, what do we do now…

 **[Roll]** : hmm… maybe we should start a fight?

 **[Roll]** : some of the people here were kicked because of that

 **[Sweet]** : okay, uhm…

 **[Sweet]** : I think you’re so DUMB!

 **[Roll]** : and you’re a, uhh, you’re an idiot!

 **[Sweet]** : my grandma could come up with better insults than you!

 **[Roll]** : well, I’m sure your grandma is a very nice lady!!

 **[Sweet]** : wait, what?

 **[Sweet]** : haha, that wasn’t even close to insulting!

 **[Roll]** : I’m sorry I just – haha I don’t know

 **[Roll]** : I guess I’m not really good at this?

 **[Roll]** : people call me a flamer all the time but somehow...

 **[Sweet]** : you’re just too sweet to start a fight!!

 **[Sweet]** : there, I showed you ;)

 **[Roll]** : you sure did…!

 **[Roll]** : Actually, this is kind of fun…

 **[Roll]** : for the first time since I’ve been here, I feel like things aren’t just shitty, you know?

 **[Sweet]** : yeah!

 **[Sweet]** : maybe we don’t have to leave after all…

 **[Sweet]** : Let’s just make the best out of this and –

\- **[Sweet]** and **[Roll]** have left the DreamServer –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on our Valentine's day special! What are your thoughts/feelings on this one? Did you find out who's who right away? 
> 
> Also, did you enjoy the "special event"? I already have some other ideas to keep the format fresh, hope that's in your best interest as well!
> 
> I'm excited to hear from you! And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	35. Part 9: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to Part 9, everyone! 
> 
> After finishing Part 8 - the Valentine's day special, I wasn't sure whether I could make the plot of Part 9 live up to that... but, as I've already finished writing it now, I think those concerns are gone. I hope you feel the same way, of course! I've started to give titles to the parts moving forward, but the name for this one might be a bit of a spoiler... maybe you can guess it? ;)
> 
> After yesterday's finals, I'd just like to say I'm deeply conflicted. On one hand, I was so happy to see the G2 boys lift the trophy (shorts, Wunder? Really?) - but on the other, my heart still beats for Fnatic, and is, therefore, broken. Writing this fanfic has really made my job of being a good fangirl much harder! I wonder whether you guys feel the same way?
> 
> Anyway, enough jabber - hope you enjoy this chapter!

It was the loud buzzing of his OnePlus that ended Tim’s slumber almost violently. Grumpily, the midlaner reached out to send whoever dared to call him this early on a Sunday morning straight to voicemail. After staying in the office until 2am the night before, he deserved and needed all the sleep he could get. Even though Fnatic had played extremely well this week, going 2-0 against quite challenging opponents, it was nowhere near the time to get comfortable. So Tim made sure to put in the hours, playing SoloQ when everyone else was already back home – even if that meant that he had to spend some nights on his own. It might have even been a blessing to give his body some time to rest in between the rough pastime him and Martin had pursued almost every single night of the week. Especially after the ADC had finally gotten a haircut and a shave, Tim had had problems with keeping his hands off of him. It might have not been the healthiest way to deal with their situation, but at least it didn’t impact their performance in the rift – something that couldn’t be said about a certain other ADC.

With a sigh, Tim slowly sat himself up, swinging his legs out of the bed. Sure, thinking about the three games G2 had lost in these last two weeks somehow lifted his spirits – but he didn’t like to think about Caps, because that led to thinking about the Dane and Oskar together, out on their date, laughing ever so blissfully… yes, that image kept haunting him. Of course, now that he had stayed a night in his actual bed, he also had to notice that Oskar never came home _. So what if he’s with him_ , Tim thought, taking a deep breath before reaching for his OnePlus, _I couldn’t care less_. As this was a tough act to keep up, the notification that popped up on the screen in this exact moment delivered the perfect distraction.

Mithy: Office, 2pm – EMERGENCY MEETING, no excuses!

Tim rolled his eyes hard – the amount of emergency meetings Alfonso had called them in for in his short time as coach was simply too damn high. If it was anything like the last couple of times, the discussion would probably end with the realization that the coach had blown things out of proportion again – still, the Spaniard was too scary too keep him waiting. Reluctantly, Tim got dressed and ready to head out. As he slouched towards the door of the gaming apartment, he noticed that Bwipo and Hylissang were already standing there, seemingly discussing something serious. But, as soon as they spotted Tim approaching them, they stopped talking immediately – which is as suspicious as it gets. Lately, that had happened quite a lot, especially when Oskar was involved in the conversation. Of course, Tim knew that they were talking about him, or them, or whatever. Still, there was no way he could simply ask them about it. In the end, he was probably better off not knowing.

After a dreadful walk filled with the noises of his toplaner complaining about not having any breakfast before the meeting, paired with the team’s support’s attempts to cheer the nagger up, Tim was more than happy when the three players finally arrived in the office. He just wanted a hug from Martin, at this point, not even caring what the others might think about that. Well, maybe he did care about what Oskar thought – but, as he realized that the team’s ADC was not sitting on the couch of the viewing area, Tim suddenly had something else to think about. Slowly, the midlaner sat down next to his support, as far away from his jungler as possible. He was still trying to consider the question himself when Hylissang asked it, almost as if he could read him like an _open book_.

“You don’t know where Martin is, do you…?” Zdravets asked carefully, seemingly already aware of the answer.

“Oh yeah, it’s weird that he’s not here,” Bwipo agreed, yawning without making the effort to cover his mouth.

“No, I don’t know where he is,” Tim shrugged, leaning back in an attempt to find a comfortable position.

In situations like these, he had a weird tendency to distort his limbs in weird ways – something that had already been called out by his fans in several of Fnatic’s YouTube videos.

“Maybe he’s just late,” Oskar mumbled, smiling in a way that could only be described as supportive and genuine.

 _How can he still be so nice to me?_ Tim wondered as he lifted his arm above his head, almost looking like he was about to dislocate his shoulder, _if Caps told him about my message, he must think I’m a monster_. Even though there had been no response or confrontation, Tim couldn’t shake the feeling that **Nemesisfan_69** must have seen the message – and why wouldn’t he have told Oskar about it then? After the jungler had explained his desperate need for someone to talk to during their last serious conversation, the fact that Tim had been petty enough to try to take even that away from him must have been devastating, right? In his mind, the jungler had every reason not to be civil, let alone act like a friend. _But maybe that’s just the kind of person he is,_ Tim thought, trying his best not to stare at the Pole too obviously.

“Think I’ve just heard the door, maybe that’s him?” Hylissang said, checking the time on his phone.

But it was not the team’s ADC - with the sound of his hard-soled, Italian shoes echoing through the hallway, clearly identifying him and announcing his arrival, Mithy stormed the office. Even though he was wearing an outfit that matched his sleek style, the coach’s face betrayed his perfect façade. It had taken Tim some time over the course of the week, but by now, he had realized that something was seriously off with Alfonso – and, right now, he looked even more concerned than before. It was weird, since the midlaner couldn’t think of a reason for this sudden change of character at all.

“Thank you all for coming,” Alfonso mumbled, sitting down stiffly, “you know I’d never call you in on a Sunday unless it was _important_ , so let’s get to it.”

 _Yeah right_ , Tim thought as he rolled his eyes.

“Uhm, what _exactly_ is this emergency meeting about…?” Hylissang asked hesitantly, seemingly not wanting to step on Alfonso’s toes.

“Yeah, we’ve been playing so well lately? And G2 is biting the dust, how could things be any better?” Bwipo joked, confidently crossing his arms.

“Sure, we’re playing well _now_ , but how long is that going to last? See, I’ve been informed that –“ Mithy began, but, to his own surprise, Tim cut him off.

“Wait, shouldn’t we wait until Martin gets here? If it’s really this important, he should hear about it too, right?”

If looks could kill, the midlaner might have been a corpse already by now, as the fiery Spaniard was giving him an almost fatal death stare. After a deep breath, the coach managed to return to his professional self.

“Yes, well, Martin won’t be joining us today… he has _other duties_ to fulfil.”

“Man, how come Martin always gets the modelling gigs?” Bwipo laughed, holding his belly with one hand while he put his other arm around Hylissang.

“I think you know why, Bwipo,” Oskar smirked.

But Tim knew that it wasn’t anything like that – and, instantly, he got worried for his ADC. He somehow felt the chances for a peaceful resolution of this emergency meeting shrinking continuously.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Alfonso continued, “I’ve been informed that there are some seriously unprofessional shenanigans going on in this team, and I am deeply disturbed.”

“What?” Bwipo giggled, a bit too obviously forced, “Who would have told you something that ridiculous I mean… I mean…”

But, despite the toplaner’s best efforts to avoid it, all eyes were suddenly directed at the team’s support. When it came to gossip, he was the first person that came to mind, after all.

“Why are you looking at me?” Hylissang asked, starting to look flustered, “I swear I didn’t say anything…”

“Well, who was it then?” Tim squinted at the support, seriously unable to think of anyone else who knew as much about the drama going on in the League.

“Yeah, no, he didn’t do it,” Alfonso sighed, “and I’m _disappointed_ if you knew about all of this and didn’t come to me, Zdravets, I thought us supports would stick together…”

Hylissang looked hurt, to put it into mild terms – he was clutching his chest, almost as if the coach had just driven a knife through his heart. But he was able to recover quickly as Alfonso continued.

“Anyway, you and Bwipo are off the hook. You have been open about your relationship, and it’s seriously weird to me just how _stable_ it is after only a week…”

“Two weeks today, actually,” the toplaner exclaimed with a wide smile, pressing the support a bit closer to his chest.

“Right…” Mithy shuddered, “that’s exactly what I mean. I doubt that you will cause any drama, but I still wanted you to be here for this meeting.”

“What is this about then, Alfonso?” Oskar asked, swinging one leg over the other.

Just as casually, Pete walked into the viewing area with a mug of coffee in his hand, beaming at the collection of players, “Hey guys, I just wanted to ask if you also want some cake, I just saw that we had some in the kitchen and –“

“You tell me what this is about, Oskar,” the coach mumbled, cutting Pete off as he turned towards the jungler, “I’m not the one _sleeping_ with our enemy, you know?”

Alfonso’s calm, but loaded accusation caused the team’s maid-of-all-work to stop in his tracks, mouth wide open in shock.

“Y-you know what? I’ll come back later!” Pete murmured, swiftly excusing himself and fleeing the room.

As the rest of the team already _knew_ about the situation with Oskar and Caps, they were rather concerned than shocked, nervously glancing back and forth between the jungler and the coach. It took a moment before Oskar finally spoke up.

“I don’t know what you’ve been told, but it’s not like that… and Rasmus and I would never do anything to sabotage each other’s teams, if this is where you’re going with this.”

“If anything, G2 is losing out right now because of it, right?” Bwipo snickered, desperately trying to lighten the mood – but, next to him, Hylissang sympathetically shook his head.

“You seriously think that this thing won’t affect our team? How you play, especially against him?” Alfonso remarked sharply.

“Yes – in fact, I promise it won’t,” Oskar explained calmly, not letting the coach’s anger intimidate him.

“That sounds nice, right?” Zdravets chimed in, smiling nervously, “Alfonso, please let Oskar continue seeing Rasmus – if anything, that has just made the both of them happier!”

“I agree! I’ll take the blame if it doesn’t turn out well too, since I set them up and all…” Bwipo added, sounding more serious now.

Seeing both the support and the toplaner jumping into the fight to defend Oskar's and Caps' relationship should have seriously caused the midlaner to worry. But Tim had only heard what he wanted to hear. _So, it’s not like that?_ He considered, zoning out of the conversation, _maybe him and Caps are just friends after all_? It was this kind of blind optimism that he normally wouldn’t allow himself to have, but after hearing those words leave the jungler’s lips, it didn’t feel as farfetched anymore. Friends that are awfully close maybe, yes, but that still left him a window of opportunity for – _for what?_ The midlaner tried to shake himself out of it, _what am I even thinking about right now?_

“…Tim? Are you listening to me, Tim?” Alfonso asked loudly, practically waving his hand in front of the midlaner’s face now.

“Sorry, what did you say…?” Tim replied hesitantly, realizing that he hadn’t been paying attention yet again.

“I asked you what you think about this whole situation, since you have been awfully quiet…” Alfonso said, eyeing the midlaner carefully.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do here, Alfonso, Tim has nothing to do this…” Zdravets pointed out, seemingly wanting to protect the midlaner from the interrogation.

“What I think about it? … I – I don’t know…” Tim stuttered nervously, avoiding eye contact with his coach.

“Yeah, how could you…” Alfonso mumbled as he crossed his arms, “it’s hard to judge someone when you’re doing the same thing, right?”

“What?” The midlaner mouthed in shock, unable to move an inch.

“Wait, what do you mean??” Bwipo exclaimed with a gasp, “Tim and someone from G2??”

“Uhm, no, Gabriël, I think he meant that –“ Hylissang tried to explain, but the toplaner was too agitated to listen to his support.

“I can’t believe this – is it _Miky_?? You’re both Slovenian, it can only be Miky, right??”

 _Wow, that’s offensive_ , Tim thought, still feeling absolutely petrified by the sudden accusation. Even if the toplaner was completely off with his guess, the midlaner feared that the coach knew the truth.

“Calm down, Bwipo,” Oskar sighed, putting his hand on the Belgian’s shoulder to stop his enraged bouncing, “that’s not it. You know he wouldn’t do that.”

“Exactly, because he’s with Ma-“ Hylissang started, then stopped himself right away as he realized what he was about to say.

“With _Martin_ , yeah, I know,” Alfonso said, tapping his fingers on the coffee table, “I realize it’s not the same as sleeping with the enemy, so forgive my figure of speech, but it can be just as fatal to our team.”

“I’m sorry,” Tim mumbled, unsure of how he should react to this sudden exposal.

“Well, you should have told me, okay? I felt like a fool when my... 'source' had to point out that you were going on a date with _each other_ last week…”

“Okay, but for real, who is that source?” Gabriël asked bluntly, just expressing what everyone was thinking.

“I’d never tell,” Mithy shrugged, turning back to Tim, “so, what are we going to do with you?”

“I promise it won’t be a problem…” Tim mumbled, staring down at his hands.

“Oh really? So you and Martin will be as peaceful as Gabriël and Zdravets over here?” Alfonso pointed towards the toplaner and the support, who had basically melted into one person by now, “…or are you calling it off?”

“What? I don’t – Oskar didn’t have to…” Tim stuttered helplessly, his mind suddenly spinning.

How could he possibly decide such a thing on the spot? The jungler had solely promised that it wouldn’t be a problem, so why did Tim suddenly have to make a life altering decision? Without Martin even being in the same room, on top of that? He didn’t see whatever they had as a possible problem for their team’s success – but determining whether they were basically going to spend their life together, like Fnatic’s old married couple, or break up immediately, was on a whole different level. He felt the laser beam shooting from Mithy’s eyes burning his skin when his jungler suddenly drew the coach’s attention away from him.

“Alfonso, stop… you’re being too hard on him,” Oskar mumbled, leaning forward to look at the Spaniard, “where is all of this coming from?”

“I told you that I’ve been informed that –“

“That can’t be all,” the jungler sighed, “is it because of Zven?”

 _Zven? What the hell?_ Even though a part of Tim was wondering about how Oskar could, yet again, jump into the waves to save him, the topic he had chosen to distract the coach with confused him. Why would Mithy’s former teammate have anything to do with the coach’s current distress? It didn’t make sense to the midlaner – but, judging from the way Alfonso’s expression had changed, the jungler must have been spot on.

“That’s just… ridiculous…” The coach mumbled, but he suddenly sounded a lot less convincing.

“Oh no, Alfonso,” Hylissang whispered, clutching on to Bwipo’s arm for support, “did something happen with Jesper…?”

“I – I don’t know why you would think that...!” Alfonso shook his head, seemingly angry about the support’s insinuation, “also, don’t make this about me! We were talking about Martin and Tim and –“

“But something seems to be going on with you,” Bwipo added carefully, “Oskar is right, you’re not acting like yourself today…”

“None of us are trying to judge you here, Alfonso,” Oskar clarified calmly, “but something’s eating you up _,_ and I think you would feel better after telling us.”

 _Judge him for what?_ Tim thought, desperately trying to follow the incredibly tense conversation. Right now, he felt about as useful for the team as the big house plant decorating the corner of the room. Then again, that plant was currently producing oxygen – maybe that was too much to compete with at the moment. The only thing he seemed to be able to do was listen, and watch, and wonder what the hell was going on.

“You guys think you know it all, huh? Do I really have to remind you that I am your coach, not the other way around?” Alfonso scoffed, his angry gaze now flashing back and forth between the players.

“You’re not less of a coach because you show emotions…” Zdravets whispered, “just more human.”

“Nicely said, Zdravets,” Gabriël nodded, giving his support an appreciative smile, “I agree, Alfonso – if something’s bugging you, you should tell us, just like you expect us to do.”

“God, you say that as if I had some serious problem I was hiding from you,” the coach grunted, rolling his eyes, “but it’s not like that at all! Things with Jesper are just… they’re just a little…”

“Well…?” Oskar hummed expectantly.

“Things are just… a little rough right now.” Alfonso’s face dropped, and he stared at the ground as he mumbled, “I just don’t like talking about it…”

“I’m sorry to hear that you are having problems,” Hylissang sighed, “but… If I may ask, did something specific happen today…?”

“Today, huh…” Alfonso swallowed hard.

Suddenly, it felt as if the hard front of the Spaniard started to crumble. It seemed as if he had held on to it for too long, covering up the cracks as much as he could – but, finally, he couldn’t contain his emotions anymore. Alfonso buried his face in his hand, obviously uncomfortable with being eyed by his teammates in this vulnerable state. Tim had never seen the coach even close to this broken down – but still, all that he could do was stare.

“Oh, oh this isn’t good,” Bwipo mumbled, quickly digging for some tissues in his sweatpants to hand them to Mithy.

“Stop that…” Alfonso muttered, looking almost offended by the toplaner’s kind gesture, “I’m not crying, okay?”

“But… it is that bad, huh?” Oskar sighed, shuffling a bit closer to the coach.

“I don’t know…” Alfonso sighed, “our fight last week was so bad and… I saw this picture of him and Vulcan laughing today and…”

“I really don’t understand – you guys haven’t played together in over a year, why is it weird of him to connect with a different support…?” Tim muttered, completely thrown by the odd situation.

Immediately, he caught some ugly looks from his teammates. He was apparently the only one who didn’t know why seeing Zven joking around with another support irritated their coach.

“Well, good to know there’s at least one person who hasn’t found out by now,” Alfonso grumbled.

“Jesper is Alfonso’s boyfriend, Tim,” Hylissang whispered behind the back of his hand, trying to inform the midlaner as subtly as possible.

“Yeah, thanks for clearing that up, Zdravets,” Mithy sighed, massaging his temples with his eyes closed.

 _The man has ears like a bat, I swear_ , Tim thought in astonishment, trying to process the news. It made a lot more sense now, of course – the whole drama, his coach being obsessed with relationships between players on the same team as well as others – still, the midlaner couldn’t help but feel bad about only finding out about this now. Oskar, on the other hand, knew straight away… somehow, it felt as if the jungler always knew exactly what to say.

“Have you asked him about the picture, Alfonso?” Oskar inquired carefully.

“No… we haven’t talked all week. I just can’t get myself to pick up the phone and… at this point, I don’t even know whether we’re together anymore? It’s stupid, I know…”

“Oh no, that’s not stupid, it’s terrible…!” Zdravets gasped, “but he wouldn’t just leave you like this, Alfonso, not after all this time!”

“Yeah, he loves you too much!” Bwipo blurted out, but it was quite obvious that he didn’t have quite as much information as the jungler and the support.

“Well, I’ve been pretty awful to him lately…” Alfonso whispered, “I guess I’m mostly mad at myself.”

“That’s never gotten anyone anywhere,” Oskar remarked, placing his hand on the coach’s shoulder, “you guys need to talk about this, you hear me? You need to be honest with him…”

“I know, I know… that’s not exactly something that comes _easy_ to me,” Alfonso sighed.

“You’re doing it right now,” Zdravets nodded supportively.

“I guess, yeah… I’ll try,” the coach said after taking a deep breath, now lifting his head again, “I’m sorry that I’m such a mess right now, I didn’t mean for all of you to see this.”

“But you really shouldn’t have to deal with it by yourself,” Oskar shrugged, “have a little faith in us too, would you, coach?”

“Exactly!” Gabriël exclaimed, shuffling a bit closer as well, “I think I’ve also got some more tissues if you do happen to need any…”

“You’ve listened to me when I needed it most – this is the least I can do to make it up to you,” Zdravets explained with a warm smile.

“Thanks, guys – I don’t know what to say…” the coach muttered, giving his team a soft smile – and, for a moment, Tim thought that he saw a single tear in the Spaniard’s eyes.

As the players kept lovingly comforting their coach, all Tim could do was watch and wonder why _he_ couldn’t come up with anything to say. He was paralyzed – in a sense, it felt like watching his own future. The midlaner had put up a front for so long, hoping that it would turn into reality at some point. But seeing his coach, who was one of the strongest people he knew, crumble in front of him, was a serious wake up call. He had already started to be more honest with himself recently, slowly and in a 'controlled' manner – but maybe that wasn’t enough. In this moment, Tim realized that he had to be honest with the people around him as well, even if that meant that he could be hurt all over again.

“I think I need a slice of that cake Pete has mentioned earlier now…” Alfonso remarked with a slight smile as he wiped his last tear away, getting up from the couch, “what do you guys think?”

“Oh, you don’t have to ask me twice,” Bwipo smirked, basically jumping up to hurry to the kitchen.

“I guess I’m in too,” Zdravets giggled as he followed the toplaner.

“I’m not hungry,” Tim mumbled, “but you guys have fun.”

“Right, what about you, Oskar?” Alfonso asked, already halfway out of the door.

“Uhm, I think I’m good,” the jungler smiled, rubbing his belly, “I’m trying to watch what I’m eating, you know?”

“It’s not like you have to, but alright,” the coach smirked before finally leaving the room.

“…you really don’t,” Tim agreed quietly, lifting his head to look at his jungler.

“Oh, I know,” Oskar replied, meeting Tim’ gaze, “I just had this… _feeling_ when you looked at me.”

“Uhm, what kind of feeling?” The midlaner stammered, wondering how the jungler managed to look straight through him all the time.

“Well, that you wanted me to stay. Am I wrong?” Oskar scratched his head, now looking less confident about his theory.

“No…I mean, maybe? I don’t think _I_ want to stay here.” The midlaner sighed, still feeling gobsmacked by the recent events.

“I get that… but where would you want to go then? The gaming room maybe?” Oskar grinned, clearly having some DuoQ games in mind.

“No… Hmm, I don’t know, would you maybe go on a walk with me…?” Tim asked hesitantly, suddenly feeling weirdly flustered.

“A walk? Like, outside?” Oskar blinked a few times in confusion, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, believe it or not, after all of this just now, even I’d like some _fresh air_ …” Tim mumbled, rolling his eyes ever so slightly, “and I want to talk to you so… please.”

“If it’s that important to you, how could I refuse?” Oskar laughed, slowly getting up on his feet again.

 _How could you not?_ The midlaner thought, not daring to question the jungler’s decision out loud. Without further ado, both of the guys got dressed to leave to apartment, heading to a park near the office that Tim had been completely oblivious to before. The sight of the open fields, paired with the blossoming trees and bushes all around, reminded the Slovenian of the walks he had taken with his family back home when he was younger. Even though he had never particularly enjoyed being in nature, his mother was quite particular about the healing powers of being outside, even if it was just to clear your head. Maybe that was the reason why she never really agreed with Tim spending all of his time in front of his computer. _Why am I thinking about this now?_ The midlaner wondered as he followed a passing pigeon with his eyes, _there’s a reason why we came here, right?_

“So, uhm, is this what you imagined?” Oskar asked after a while of walking silently beside Tim.

“I had no idea we lived near this place, honestly,” Tim shrugged, looking into the distance, “is that a lake…?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty OP already, but it’s even better in summer,” Oskar pointed out casually.

“How do you know?” Tim frowned, trying to count how many times he had been to a different place than the studio, the office or some sort of restaurant this past year.

“Hmm, guess I liked to come here when I was with SK,” Oskar explained, pointing towards the glistening lake, “there’s a nice bench over there, I used to sit there to get a clear head sometimes. More often after not making playoffs…”

“Hmm, I see…you’re so weird sometimes,” Tim mumbled, thinking about how his mother would appreciate Oskar’s coping mechanism for some reason, “or well, maybe I’m the weird one. Whatever…what I wanted to ask you was…”

“…yeah?” Oskar asked after Tim had taken particularly long to finish his sentence.

“I was wondering how you knew about Mithy’s… situation.” The midlaner explained after a pause – and, even though that was a cop-out, he was still curiously awaiting Oskar’s answer.

“That? Well, last week when we were alone in the lounge, he had already told me quite a bit about that fight he mentioned today – it was Valentine’s day after all, right?”

“Hmm, right,” Tim nodded, remembering how he had interrupted that particular conversation to get Martin’s hoodie.

The jungler shook his head, suddenly looking sad, “yeah, so it was hard to watch then already… I figured something similar must have happened today.”

“That’s amazing,” Tim sighed, “I didn’t even know he was in a relationship, let alone with a guy and LCS player… I felt so fucking useless.”

“Oh, uhm…” Oskar looked at the midlaner with worried eyes, “don’t worry about it, Tim. It was only a coincidence that I found out, really – it was just because I had to stay behind, you know…”

“To go out with Caps, yeah, I know,” Tim swallowed as the ADC’s face popped up in his head, “you told Mithy it wasn’t like he thought it was… what did you mean by that?”

“I’m not sure I understand…?” Oskar asked carefully, “ah, we should take a turn here. We’ll just get back to the entrance if we keep going this way.”

“Got it…” Tim nodded as he took a turn right towards a bunch of tall trees, “I meant… well, are you and Caps only friends? I felt like that was what you were saying.”

“Hmm… I don’t know,” Oskar muttered, pulling on his ear nervously, “we did go out on a date, and there was this… kiss and – no, I think it would be too easy to say we’re just friends.”

 _A kiss?_ Tim thought, and his heart dropped. Sure, he didn’t know what happened after he had gone to the restrooms on Valentine’s day, let alone what the guys did after they had left – but still, he had never imagined them kissing. He never imagined them doing more than laugh together – that was painful enough.

“I see… good for you,” Tim whispered, clenching his fists in the pockets of his coat.

“Is something wrong, Tim?” Oskar asked, slowing his speed until he finally came to a stop, “do you actually have a problem with me seeing Rasmus?”

“No… I mean, I know I shouldn’t,” the midlaner shook his head, standing a few meters away from his jungler, “if you’re referring to that message, I know I had no right to send it.”

“What are you talking about?” The Pole asked, looking genuinely confused.

 _Wait, did Caps actually not tell him about the message?_ Tim thought, wondering whether he should still come clean about his petty attempt to keep the ADC away from Oskar.

“It was, uhm, something I said to **Nemesisfan_69**? From my server?” The midlaner asked carefully, trying not to disclose all of the information just yet.

“Wait, what? Did you just say 69?” Oskar laughed loudly, “that’s quite some fans you got there, huh?”

“Uhm, yeah…” Tim stared at the laughing jungler for a while, “so you don’t know anything about that?”

“I admit it would be a funny idea to _invade_ your server, but I swear it wasn’t me…” Oskar chuckled, and Tim believed that he sounded genuine.

“What a relief,” the midlaner muttered, a slight smile gracing his lips.

 _So he really didn’t tell him_ , Tim thought as both of the guys resumed their walk. It was hard for him to understand why the Dane could have chosen not to tell on the midlaner – at this point, it was hard to deny that Caps did, after all, seem to have a good heart. But this realization didn’t magically cause all the frustration that had built up inside of Tim to just disappear. To his relief, the jungler walking beside him decided to change the topic.

“Enough about this, right? How did you feel about Mithy questioning you earlier…? That was rough, no?” Oskar asked, looking up towards the blue sky.

“It was rough alright…” Tim sighed, remembering how stressed out he had been during the interrogation.

“Yeah… you didn’t give an answer to his last question, though” Oskar pointed out, sounding weirdly serious.

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm, well, I’ve answered your questions, I think it’s your turn now, no?” Oskar smiled softly, “Mithy asked whether you and Rekkles could be as … _peaceful_ as Bwipo and Hyli, I believe.”

“That or call it quits, yeah…” Tim swallowed, not feeling any wiser now than the first time he had been asked about this, “I honestly don’t know.”

“Are you happy with him?” Oskar almost whispered, not smiling anymore.

“I want to be…” Tim bit his lip, “I mean, he’s the first guy I’ve ever been with… well, the first person, in general…”

“So he’s like, your first love? Hmm, I see, that’s special…” Oskar nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I guess..." The midlaner hummed - he couldn't say that he had ever spelled that out in his head before.

“But it doesn’t have to be the end of the line, Tim.” The jungler added in a serious tone, "if you're unhappy, I mean."

“What do you mean…?”

“How do I explain this… when I was 16, I fell in love with this guy in my hometown, and, don’t ask me why, but we actually ended up becoming a couple,” Oskar shrugged, almost as if he was still in disbelief about that.

“I had no idea…” Tim mumbled, his eyes fixated on the jungler’s face, “what was that like…?”

"He was..." Oskar smiled crookedly, seemingly lost in thoughts for a moment.

"Yes...?"

“Hmm, well, it doesn't matter, right? Things went south really fast… when we broke up, I thought I could never be serious about anyone again – not even that I could fall in love again…” Oskar explained with a sigh.

“But you did…?” Tim whispered, and, suddenly, he came to a stand.

The jungler followed his midlaner’s lead, and, for a moment, the both of them stood there, facing each other under the huge branches of an old oak. This time, there was barely any distance between them. Tim looked at Oskar with big eyes, eagerly awaiting the jungler to say what he already knew.

“Yeah, I did…” Oskar replied softly, and he didn’t avert his gaze this time.

Tim’s heart was racing by the time he realized that he wanted to kiss Oskar – right here, right now. Normally, he never allowed these kinds of thoughts and desires to come out if he had not been physically restricted – but, right now, he seemed to be on the verge of losing self-control. There was nothing holding him back from going through with it - he certainly felt like the piercing blue eyes staring back at him were reciprocating his desire. _But Martin_ , Tim thought, barely able to breathe, _I can't do this to Martin_. Still - was there any way to come back from this now? Suddenly, the charring sound of a grating ringtone interrupted the emotional chaos raging in Tim’s mind.

“Sorry, let me just…” Oskar mumbled as he fished for his phone in his pocket, quickly sending the caller to his mailbox – but Tim caught the jungler’s smile as he saw who it was that had called.

 _He’s happy_ , Tim thought, thousands of metaphorical punches raining in on him, _who am I to burden him with this now?_ He knew how many times the jungler had sacrificed his own happiness for the midlaner’s sake. He knew that he could never repay him – still, Tim was determined to at least try to act with this purpose in mind right now.

“It’s okay, Oskar,” Tim mumbled, his hands buried deep in his coat’s pockets again, “thank you for the walk, you can head back now if you want – just don’t tell Martin about this, okay?”

“Wait, I didn’t want to – what do you mean, why shouldn’t I tell Martin?” The jungler asked with an irritated look on his face.

“Well…” Tim plaintively kicked a small rock with his foot, turning away again, “He doesn't like us spending time together like this.”

While the midlaner knew that this was probably the case, the real reason why he’d rather have the jungler remain silent was something else – but he couldn’t quite put that into words just yet.

“That’s just…uhm, I’m not sure how to feel about that,” Oskar muttered in a grumpy manner, “you’re right, we should get going…”

“No, uhm, I want to stay,” Tim shook his head, “I think I have some catching up to do when it comes to… being outside.”

“You sure? Aren’t you cold, thirsty...?” Oskar asked hesitantly, now looking worried.

“Don’t mother me, okay, we have Hyli for that,” Tim said, slightly grinning now, “I’m wearing a big coat, I’ll be fine. Just go, okay?”

“If you say so…” Oskar sighed, “I’ll see you in the office?”

“Probably… take care,” Tim said as he gave his jungler a wave goodbye.

Oskar gave Tim a huge smile before finally walking off. _Now, why in the hell did I wave_ , the midlaner thought with a sigh as he turned to walk into the opposite direction of his jungler, _we could have hugged, at least_. The talk with Oskar had been long overdue, that was for sure – but, still, Tim wasn’t really sure how it would impact his path at the moment. More time to think seemed to be an absolute necessity – and the perfect place for it had already presented itself. Tim loosely rubbed his hands against each other to warm them up a bit as he reached the lake, letting his gaze wander over the smooth surface of the water. Somehow, the sight reminded him of a saying that was often used to describe him: _still waters run deep._ Even though it was a gross generalization, in Tim’s opinion, he had to admit that he mostly thought a lot more than what he actually said out loud.

Tim never really considered that to be a bad thing before – but, today, as he had found himself unable to express his feelings when it really mattered, he might have changed his mind. The midlaner bent down to pick up a flat stone, tossing it onto the water to make it hop on the surface like he had used to do as a kid. It didn’t work, sadly – but it was enough to get him thinking about something else. _Letting go, huh?_ As he continued to roam around the lake, the jungler’s words about losing his first love echoed in the midlaner’s mind. And, even though he didn’t have a lot of information on his coach’s situation, Tim figured that Alfonso must be suffering because he tried his hardest to hold on to his love, too. Why else would anyone want to have a long distance relationship with an NA LCS player?

It seemed to be the common denominator – not being able to let go. Maybe he had also tried to convince himself to hold on for too long at this point. Yes, maybe Martin truly was his first love - the person that had opened the door to a whole new world to him. But was he more than that? Could he ever be the Bwipo to his Hyli or, well, the other way around? Suddenly, Tim spotted a bench on his path. _That must be the one Oskar talked about_ , he thought with a smile, walking towards it curiously. As he sat down, Tim felt as if the storm in his mind started calming down. Somehow, it felt as if he had found an answer. With a wave of courage crashing in, Tim quickly pulled his OnePlus out of his pocket. To his surprise, there were plenty of missed calls, all from Martin – and, just as he was about to call back, like he had planned on doing anyway, the ADC called again.

“Hey, oh, I’m so glad that I reached you,” Martin said, sounding as if he was out of breath, “I really need to talk to you…”

“Yeah,” Tim mumbled, “me too.”

“Where are you? I’ll come to you.”

“I’m in a park near the office,” Tim explained casually, scratching the wood of the bench he was sitting on.

“You’re in a …park? Outside?” Martin asked, sounding utterly shocked.

“Yeah, I’m in a park, why is that so weird to everyone…” Tim grunted, scrolling to find Martin’s chat, “I’ll send you my location right now, okay?”

“Sure, yeah… I’ll be there soon,” Martin agreed, hanging up the phone right afterwards.

With a sigh, Tim returned to staring into the lake’s dark water. Part of him was glad that the ADC was willing to come to him this time – the other part was freaking out about what he was actually going to say to him. He had been so determined a second ago, right? Hearing the Swede’s voice might still be a gamechanger, in a sense. A family of ducks waddled near the water’s edge in front of the midlaner, catching his attention for a moment. As he watched the ducklings stumbling over each other, trying to follow their mother, Tim wondered where Martin had been while the rest of the squad had obediently attended the emergency meeting earlier that day. And why on earth did he call the midlaner so many times? Wasn’t the fact that the both of them suddenly wanted to talk alone already scary enough? It felt like no peaceful lakeview in the world could have calmed down Tim’s heartbeat in this moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Tim's POV! What are your thoughts and feelings? 
> 
> How many puns/references to past chapters did you catch? I noticed there were a couple as I uploaded this one...
> 
> I'd be excited to hear from you - and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	36. Part 9: Martin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Welcome back! 
> 
> Now, many of you have suggested that Martin's POV wouldn't be up next... I've even been called evil as a justification for this guess. To that, I only have one thing to say...
> 
> ... you're absolutely right ;) I am and will always be an evil author, just not for the reason you expected in this case. I wonder what else could be lurking in the shadows of Part 9?
> 
> The chapters just keep topping each others scores. This one is the first one to hit 10k words, and I even considered dividing it into 2 parts (for the drama of it all!) - but I decided against it, so that you can enjoy all of it at once now ;)

When Martin slowly opened his eyes, he was surprised by how unusually quiet his hotel room was. There was no annoying alarm clock, urging him to leave the bed – there was no birds’ twittering coming from outside – and, most importantly, there was no one snoring next to him. The ADC turned to his side, pulling the unused pillow in to cuddle with it as he looked out of the window. It had only been a bit more than two weeks at this point, but he had already grown used to sharing the bed with someone again. Of course, he understood Tim’s ambition when it came to grinding SoloQ oh too well, so he had no problems with the midlaner sleeping in his own bed for a change. But that didn’t make the bed feel any less empty.

It was exactly this feeling of emptiness that Martin hadn’t missed. Back when he was with Rasmus, he had felt this way a lot when the two of them couldn’t be together for some reason – back then, it was almost as if the Swede had slowly grown dependent on the Dane’s company. It had scared him, and maybe it was part of the reason why he had slowly pulled away from his former midlaner, to the point where they barely even spent more time with each other than with the rest of the team. But, of course, there were plenty of other reasons that had led to this development – none that the ADC wanted to think about at the moment, though.

 _I have to focus on the good things_ , Martin thought as he clutched the pillow even tighter, _things like my Penta_ …Yes, adding another Penta-kill to his score this past Friday in his match against Rogue had felt particularly satisfying for the ADC. It had almost been two, if you looked at the Quadra that had followed in an optimistic light. Now more than ever, Martin felt as if he was back to playing at the top of his game. It was hard to say whether that was because he had finally gotten a grip when it came to his personal life or not. He had even taken the chance to get a haircut and shave his awfully lazy looking beard, after all. But immediately, he couldn’t help but think about his rivalling ADC, who had seemed to be quite happy lately, and yet, had performed incredibly poorly during his last few games.

Even though he had told himself to stop thinking about Rasmus just a second ago, Martin started wondering what the reason for the sudden transformation from Claps to Craps could be. _Maybe he finally called things off with Miky_ , he considered for a moment, slowly sitting himself up, _but if he really did, then why for Oskar and not for me…?_ That was, of course, not really a fair question to ask, as the ADC had never given the Dane a chance to end things with his support after finding out about it to begin with. Martin wasn’t even sure whether that would have influenced his decision at all – right now, it just felt like another reason to be mad at his jungler.

 _But I’m with Tim now_ , the ADC thought with a sigh as he got out of bed, _I shouldn’t be thinking about anyone else._ As he walked towards the bathroom to get himself washed up, Martin noticed a forgotten silk-tie, previously used as a blindfold, lying on the floor near the bed. He picked it up slowly, reminiscing in the memories of using it on Tim the night before. As surprised as he had been by the midlaner’s sudden offer to spice up their sex life, the ADC had thoroughly enjoyed himself this last week. It had been a while since he had used any of his gadgets with anyone else, mostly because he hadn’t been able to be open about his desires with his recent partners. The one who had first introduced him to these kinds of kinks had been brutally open about what he wanted at all times, but the same couldn’t necessarily be said about Rasmus, and even less about Tim. The both of them had been virgins before they met Martin, after all.

 _Well, I haven’t been completely honest with them either I guess_ , Martin considered as he carefully put the blindfold back into his stash. Admitting that he’d like to be pushed down every once in a while was not something that came easy to the ADC, probably because he had always tried to put up a strong front as the team’s captain in his professional life. Martin hadn't told Tim that he had basically no experience as a dom either, since the midlaner had put himself into his hands so naturally. He had tried his best to channel the tight grip of his former lovers during their playtime, but it still didn't really feel right. He certainly didn't have this problem with the guy he had hooked up with before Rasmus – but, by god, that guy was just effortlessly dominant, so he never really had to explain what he wanted to begin with. Suddenly, shame overcame Martin as he realized that what Rasmus had accused him off during their last confrontation held more truth than he’d like to admit – all of the guys that had just crossed his minds had played the part of his midlaner at some point of his career, after all. But it was not like that was something he had consciously _chosen_ – right?

In a desperate attempt to clear his mind of all these troubling thoughts, Martin put on his gym attire, aiming to _sweat it out_ yet again. The path to happiness was right in front of him, waiting for him to take it – all the ADC had to do was to finally stop getting drawn back in by Rasmus like a moth being attracted by the faintest source of light. _And, while you’re at it, just stop thinking about all of your previous midlaners,_ Martin thought grumpily, swinging his gym bag over his shoulder. But, before he could finally leave his cave to go about his Sunday, a loud knock on the door caught his attention. As he had told the hotel’s staff to clean his room in the evening to let him sleep in on the weekends, he was surprised to find anyone knocking on his door when it was barely the afternoon – still, Martin decided to open the door.

“Took you long enough,” Perkz casually remarked as he walked into the ADC’s room without waiting for a response, let alone an invitation.

“Yeah, are you deaf or something?” Miky grinned, shaking his head as he followed his midlaner inside.

“What the…?” Martin mumbled, following the intruders with his gaze in complete disbelief, “what the hell are you doing here?”

“Well, it’s not like you’d come back to _our_ apartment, right?” Perkz shrugged, sitting down in one of the armchairs near the window.

“Not after the way you left the last time,” Mihael agreed, leaning against the wall near the closet, “I’m still disappointed when I think about it…” 

“You guys are unbelievable…!” Martin grumbled, closing the door reluctantly, “you just show up here, walk into my room without even _asking_ me, and now you expect me to, what, listen to all of this and offer you something to drink??”

“Some water would be nice, yeah,” Mihael replied, looking absolutely free of shame.

“GOD you’re pissing me off!” The ADC cursed, angrily pointing towards the door, “you think I wouldn’t throw you out immediately?”

“I’d like to see you try…” Luka laughed, “you’re not really in the shape to carry the both of us out of here, don’t you think? That tank top is looking awfully tight to me…”

“No complaints, though,” Miky added, bending down to look into the room’s minibar.

“Are you kidding me?” Martin mumbled, quickly putting on his training jacket with flushed cheeks, “how did you clowns even get my address…”

“Hmm, that’s a secret,” Perkz smiled, putting his index finger up to his lips.

“Let’s just say we were sent by someone…” Mihael explained, grabbing two bottles of water out of the fridge.

“Oh, let me guess, this was Caps’ idea…” Martin grunted, finally giving up on throwing the wannabe-mafiosos out and sitting down on his bed, “look, I have _no idea_ what he told you, but we are going our separate ways now and –“

“Wow, would you get over yourself?” Perkz sighed, cutting the ADC off mercilessly, “it wasn’t Rasmus, and you should really stop making everything about him if you ask me…”

“Yeah, you’re sounding pretty toxic right now,” Miky hummed in, joining his midlaner in the armchairs as he handed him one of the water bottles, “let it go, would you?”

“I have…!” Martin hissed, blushing even more in embarrassment, “have you really come all this way just to make fun of me again?”

“I’d go much further to do that, so don’t test me,” Luka snickered, “but no, we’re actually here on a mission.”

“But let’s be clear about this, we _also_ want you to stay away from Rasmus,” Mihael added casually, taking a sip of the overly expensive water.

“Stay away from him…? Are you his parents or what…” Martin grumbled, crossing his arms sullenly.

“Pff, well, I don’t know how you handle things in your little team, but we at G2 look out for each other,” Luka remarked mockingly.

“Plus, Oskar is really _hot_ , so I prefer having him around at our place,” Mihael grinned as he pushed up his glasses.

“Disgusting…” Martin shuddered, doing his best not to imagine Oskar and Rasmus sitting at the breakfast table with the rest of the G2 squad, “don’t you have better things to do…? Like working on your _synergy_ or whatever…”

“Are you looking at me?” Miky laughed, “no, Rasmus and I are done with that.”

 _Interesting_ , Martin thought, trying his best to hide his curiosity.

“Whatever – I’m with Tim now, so you’re wasting your time, okay? If that’s all you wanted to say, you might as well leave now…”

“I already told you what I think about _that_ ,” Luka shook his head theatrically, “you’re with Tim, yeah, and you’re just _sooooo happy_ with each other… or are you?”

“What is _that_ supposed to mean now…” Martin sighed, letting all of his annoyance show on his face.

“Oh, let me show you, okay, this is gonna be good….” Miky cleared his throat, almost as if he was about to deliver some sort of theatrical performance, “okay, imagine I’m Tim right now, okay? And you are… hm, I don’t know, let’s say Rasmus? Here we go…"

"What..." Martin huffed, staring at the support, who was getting into position for his scene, in complete disbelief.

After clearing his throat, Mihael turned to stare Martin down with evil eyes before hissing, " _Stay away from Oskar, you’ve messed up enough people’s lifes!_ ”

“Bravo!” Perkz applauded the support in amusement, “that was perfect, Miky.”

“Okay, I hate to repeat myself, but what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Martin grunted, absolutely over the dumb Duo’s shenanigans.

“It was a re-enactment, try to keep up a bit, would you?” Mihael shook his head dismissively as he took a bow.

“Yeah, would you believe sweet little Tim would threaten Rasmus like that?” Perkz added, pretending to be shocked.

“This is another one of your tricks, hm…?” Martin mumbled, but the thought of the sick joke being true caused his stomach to turn.

“Not at all…” Miky smirked, rewarding himself with another sip of water, “well, I guess he technically didn’t text it to Rasmus…”

“You’re right!” Perkz laughed, following the support’s lead and chugging on his water before continuing, “… but he _thought_ he was telling Rasmus when he texted **Nemesisfan_69**.”

“Fucking hell, Perkz…!” Martin hissed, staring at the midlaner with fire in his eyes, “I thought you were just trying to mess with me the last time but… but it’s actually _you_??”

“Me? Allegedly…” Luka shrugged, “I am neither a fan nor do I want to shag your twig of a midlaner, don’t worry.”

“Of course, we didn’t share this information with Rasmus,” Miky explained as he played with his empty water bottle, “we didn’t want to hurt his feelings, you know? Those were some awful words…”

“Oh, how considerate of you…!” The ADC glared at the G2 troublemakers, “who cares about my feelings though, right?”

“We do, naturally,” Perkz grinned from ear to ear, “that’s why we’re telling you – to see you suffer.”

“Wow, you’re so fucking evil…” Martin hissed, covering his face with his hands in an attempt to soothe his nerves.

“Pff, you have to try harder if you want to insult us,” Miky laughed, swinging one leg above the other, “see, I believe in such a thing as karma. If you’d ask yourself whether you really deserve your boyfriend lusting over someone else, just think about how you cheated on him with your ex without telling either one of them about it, hm?”

“You little – I didn’t…” Martin mumbled, his head practically steaming in rage – but what could he say?

As hard as it was to take in these words, they were nothing but the truth. He had done awful things to both Tim and Rasmus, and maybe he did deserve being treated just as badly. Tim actually holding feelings for the jungler he had been more and more furious about lately would truly be an accurate punishment. But who likes to admit something this horrible to themselves? It was way easier to curse the G2 scoundrels out for having no consciousness.

“What is it?” Luka inquired slyly, “cat got your tongue?”

“What? No… I just have nothing to say to you pricks,” Martin snorted, pointing towards the door, “if all you’re here for is to fuck with my head, then you might as well go now.”

“While that is the most fun….no, that’s not all.” Perkz dramatically let his empty water bottle fall onto its side, “since you're thinking about Rasmus all the time, I guess you haven’t been worrying about your own team as much as you should have…”

“My own team? Why in the hell would I –“

“Because they’re having a meeting without you right now,” Miky shrugged, sipping on his water again.

“What…?” Martin breathed, overtaken by shock, “how do you know that?”

“Ah, fine, I guess I might as well tell you,” Luka playfully turned the water bottle in his hand, “it was your coach that told us to keep an eye on you.”

“He didn’t want you there, it seems,” Miky pointed out, only adding to the ADC’s pain, “you must be a pain in the butt to deal with, huh?”

“You’re lying…” Martin mumbled, staring down at the floor, “even if Alfonso did ask you, which is already a stretch, you have no reason to help him… we are _rivals_ , remember?”

“Maybe… but have you seen him?” Luka laughed, running his fingers through his buzzcut, “I’ve never been able to say no to Mithy, he’s simply too adorable, especially when he’s mad.”

“Right, right, but also,” Mihael nodded knowingly, “just to remind you, we really like to see you suffer.”

“No kidding…” Martin grumbled, lifting his head again in resignation, “so, is there anything else you want to torture me with or are you done now…”

“Done? Oh, never,” Luka chuckled, grabbing his phone out of his pocket, “I’ve made a list for this very occasion… let’s see – ah yes, let’s start with the way your boyfriend’s nose reminds me of a stork’s beak…”

“Oh, that’s a good one,” Miky giggled.

“Wow, you’re the worst _,_ ” Martin rolled his eyes, “you can’t get to me with shit like that.”

“You think? Just wait for the next one, that might change your mind…ah yes, _your stork-beaked boyfriend would rather meet up with your jungler at Gromp than_ –” Perkz chuckled, but, suddenly, he became silent.

“…than what, Luka?” Mihael asked carefully after noticing the midlaner’s sudden change of mood.

“It will have to wait,” Perkz mumbled, “I just got a message from Alfonso, we need to go.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Miky pouted, “we just got here… I have a thing or two to say as well.”

“While I want nothing more than the two of you to leave,” Martin sighed, “I really want to know what happened with Mithy…”

“Right, as if I’d just tell you that,” Luka rolled his eyes as he got up, “have fun figuring it out, hm?”

“Well, what makes you think I wouldn’t just go over to the office to attend the meeting anyway once you’re gone?” Martin blurted out.

“Pff, please, the meeting has been over for a while now,” Perkz snorted, lazily stretching his arms and legs after coming to a stand, “we just wanted to make sure that you _knew_ about that.”

“What… god, you’re not making any sense, I swear…” The ADC whispered as he stared at the two players casually walking away from the situation.

“Just think about how you can be less of a nuisance for Alfonso, would you?” Luka said as he patted the ADC’s shoulder on his way out, “oh, and stay away from Rasmus, remember?”

“That again…? Go to hell _,_ asshole…” Martin hissed at the passing midlaner who looked completely unbothered.

“Can we continue this another time…?” Mihael sighed as he followed Perkz to the door, “I was really starting to get into the roast…”

“Sure we can, Miky,” Perkz swung his arm around the support as he opened the door.

“Don’t say that as if it was only up to you!” Martin yelled after them, but the door had already fallen shut.

And, just as fast and unexpected as _Team Rocket_ had appeared, they were gone, leaving the Swede on his own and in heavy distress. Even though he had pretended the opposite, the digs of the G2 boys had gotten to him quite badly. The thought of their stupid act about Tim threatening Rasmus to leave Oskar alone seriously caused the ADC to doubt his own worth and appeal to the midlaner. But he was able to push his insecurities aside to think about the more concerning matter: why in the hell would his team hold a meeting without him? On a Sunday, on top of that? It must have been another one of those _emergency meetings_ Alfonso had been famous for by now. If it really was about him being a nuisance for his team, like Perkz had pointed out, then Martin was in serious trouble. But, still, he couldn’t think of a reason why he would be troubling the coach – he had been playing exceptionally well this week, after all.

With his nerves getting the best of him, Martin crammed out his OnePlus to call Tim. The midlaner must have the information he was looking for – but, unfortunately, he didn’t reach the Slovenian. Instead, he had to listen to the grating mailbox voice every time he tried to call. He didn’t even get a response from his support after texting him repetitively, which seriously caused him to worry. _Maybe the fact that I can’t reach them just means the meeting is still on?_ Martin considered as he hastily got dressed. He looked at the room’s clock on the wall next to his closet: it was almost 4 pm now. For most other people, the day would have felt close to wasted by now, but for gamers, it was still early enough to have breakfast. _Maybe I can still make it_ , the ADC tried to convince himself as he reached for his key card and wallet, lying on the side table near the door. But, before he could finally head out, there was another knock on the door.

“What do you want now??” The ADC grunted as he opened the door violently, expecting to see the annoying faces of Perkz and Miky again – but he couldn’t have been more wrong with his assumption.

“Oskar…” Martin mumbled, staring at his jungler for a moment, “what are you doing here…?”

“I figured it was time to pay you a visit,” Oskar said in a weirdly serious manner, “may I come inside?”

“Uhm, sure, why not,” Martin replied, stepping out of the way to let his jungler roam inside.

But, in his mind, Martin was not okay with this development at all. The thought of being alone with the Pole caused him to panic – they hadn’t been alone in a long time, and there were plenty of reasons for that. The tension in the room was already off the charts, and they hadn’t even started talking yet. The jungler somehow looked a lot more grim than usual, which was another reason for Martin to worry. Surely, this couldn’t end well.

“So, uhm, heard there was a meeting?” The ADC asked, trying to mask how nervous he felt.

“Yeah, there sure was,” the jungler sighed, leaning against the desk instead of sitting down, “where were you, anyway?”

“I was held up,” Martin stammered, and saying it this way certainly felt less embarrassing than the whole truth.

“Is that so? I think you should have heard what we discussed, honestly…”

“What’s that? Was it about my performance this week or…the week before?” Martin asked carefully as he slowly walked over to one of the armchairs.

“Why do you always think everything’s about you?” Oskar murmured, and the ADC could have sworn he saw the jungler roll his eyes for the first time ever.

“Ehm – sorry, what?” Martin stuttered, unable to process how oddly blunt the jungler was.

Oskar averted his angry glare to look out of the window before continuing, “Tim needed you there… that’s why you should have come. He had to take all the heat by himself…”

“I don’t understand…” The ADC shook his head, “the heat for what…?”

“For you! For what you two are doing…” Oskar clutched the side of the desk, still not willing to sit down, “Alfonso found out and he freaked out. He gave Tim an ultimatum while you were doing… _god knows what!_ ”

“What…? I had no idea… god, this is bad,” Martin mumbled, nervously tapping his fingers on the table, “what did Tim say…?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” Oskar scoffed, “I managed to solve the crisis before he had to make a choice… but you bet he would have needed you there.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly have a say in this,” Martin tried to explain, “Alfonso didn’t want me there, he didn’t even tell me about the meeting! He even sent Perkz and -”

“Sure, sure... that’s easy enough to say now,” the jungler grumbled, reluctantly walking over to the window side, “just as easy as telling Tim not to hang out with me anymore, right?”

“What – why would I do that?” The ADC mumbled, completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of anger and frustration rolling his way – he was not used to the Pole acting this way at all.

He had never told the midlaner anything like that – but, now that he remembered Tim’s alleged message to Rasmus that sounded awfully similar, a part of him wished he would have done that. Of course, he had no interest in telling the jungler that he had an actual reason to be jealous – there was certainly no reason to give the Pole any hope. So Martin settled on sticking with ‘ _I don’t know’_.

“God, would you stop acting like you’re fucking _Jon Snow_??” Oskar grunted, letting himself fall into the other armchair, “ _I don’t know this, I don’t know that_ – it’s getting old, okay?”

“What…?” Martin breathed, feeling gobsmacked by the overly aggressive tone of the jungler, “Oskar, what’s up with you today…?”

“What’s up with me, right…” Oskar sighed, leaning back in the chair, “because it’s weird of me to be angry at you? After all you’ve done to my… best friend?”

“What I’ve done to him? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Martin snorted, suddenly feeling his own rage cooking up.

“Oh, where do I begin… you’ve treated him like an object, tossed him aside like a broken toy, then somehow got him to agree to get back with you, only to isolate him from everyone around him even further…” Oskar’s furious stare now rested on Martin, “you’re fucking _playing_ with him, Martin. And I’ve had enough.”

“You’re being ridiculous… honestly, I don’t know where you’re getting any of this from,” Martin mumbled, crossing his arms, “you’re just mad because he’s happy with me… ‘ _best friend’_ my ass…”

“You really wanna test me right now?” The jungler grumbled angrily, leaning in closer threateningly, “god knows it’s not easy to make me mad… but I’d advice you not to talk to me like that.”

“Pff, are you serious? Are you just here to threaten me or what?” The Swede barked back, feeling as if he was slowly but surely being driven into a corner.

“No, Martin, I’m here to tell you to get a fucking grip…!” Oskar exclaimed furiously, almost shouting as he jumped up, “you can’t just continue messing with everyone like this!”

“Yeah, especially not when that prevents you from getting into Tim’s pants, huh?” Martin hissed as he got up to meet Oskar on eye-level.

Suddenly, the jungler grabbed Martin’s shoulders, forcefully shaking him as he yelled, “stop it Martin, you have to STOP! First you fucking mess with Rasmus’ head, and now with Tim’s? You think anyone in our team will respect you once you break him too??”

Still shocked by the way he was being shaken by the Pole’s strong hands, Martin stared into Oskar’s raging eyes – and he couldn’t help but see past the anger, right into the _desperation_. Sure, a big part of him was eager to use this attack as an excuse to punch the other guy, like he had fantasized to do for so long now. He wanted nothing more than to find out that the jungler really was the villain he had made him out to be ever since he had first met him. But he knew that he wasn’t – he knew that the guy currently roughing him up was nothing more than a hurt soul. Sure, the ADC could have probably taken Oskar on in a physical fight if he had to – but, as things were looking, that probably would have made him feel like a jerk. With gritted teeth, Martin decided to take a step back.

“I’m sorry _,_ okay?” He mumbled almost inaudibly, placing his hands on the jungler’s to carefully loosen his grasp, “let’s just talk about this – I know you don’t really want to hurt me, right?”

There was a slight pause before a long sigh escaped the jungler’s lips, and, slowly, he let go of Martin’s shoulders and sank back down.

“Of course I don’t,” Oskar whispered, burying his hands in his face, “do you have any idea how much I’ve idolized you in the past, man? I bought your freaking merch for god’s sake…”

“Uhm, no, I mean… really?” Martin mumbled, hesitantly sitting back down as well.

“That’s exactly why this is so damn hard… I wanted us to be friends, but how could we? I just can’t watch how you treat Tim and… you’ll never stop thinking that I want to take him away from you, huh?”

“I mean, what do I treat him like…” The ADC murmured sullenly, “and you can’t exactly blame me for thinking that, can you?”

“Sure I can,” Oskar sighed, “he’s incredibly important to me, but he’s a human, not a possession… if he wants to be with you then I’d never do anything to change that.”

“I – I never said he was a _possession_ ,” Martin mumbled, realizing that he had kind of insinuated that in embarrassment.

“Right… so listen, when we were out on our walk today I had the impression that you –“

“You were doing... what?” Martin panted with rage – or was it more like his eyes flashed green in jealousy?

“This is exactly what I meant…” Oskar remarked, crossing his arms, “do you have any trust in Tim? Anyway, what I was saying was that I had the impression that you guys don’t talk. It’s just like Rasmus said…”

“Sure we talk, I don’t know why you’d _–_ wait, did you just say Rasmus?” The Swede stuttered, suddenly feeling his heart drop.

“I mean, yeah, he told me all about how you guys had –“

“No,” Martin shook his head firmly, balling his fists, “don’t talk about me and Rasmus like you know anything about us…”

“Uhm, but he did tell me these things, so I think I’m not making anything up and –“ The jungler tried to explain, but Martin didn’t want to listen.

“NO!” He exclaimed, unsure of what exactly this topic made him feel, “I don’t care what he told you – you don’t know anything, okay?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to trigger you or anything…” Oskar mumbled, looking genuinely surprised by the ADC’s overly emotional response.

“Trigger me? That sounds so… bad.” Martin sighed, trying to calm down as he turned his head to look out of the window, “I just don’t think you understand, okay?”

“I understand that he’s important to you,” the jungler nodded knowingly, “even more now. And you’re still important to him, you know?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Martin said quietly, almost whispering the words as the shame he felt concerning his last interaction with Rasmus overcame him.

“Maybe I do know some things that you don’t, then… He told me, you know.”

“You know, even though you are kind of saying a nice thing, I still feel like punching you for knowing more about him than me – does that make sense at all?” The ADC remarked with a nervous smile.

“Oh, definitely,” Oskar huffed, scratching his head, “there’s a huge part of me that just wants to shake you again for the way you’ve treated Tim, actually…”

“That is… weirdly _relieving_ to me? I don’t know…” Martin smirked awkwardly, “you… you really love him, huh?”

“It’s not like it really matters now but… yeah,” Oskar smiled, looking both tortured and somehow resigned, “I still feel like I can be happy as long as I know that he is, too.”

Even though there was still a surprising amount of anger and jealousy raging in the ADC’s mind, Martin now mostly feeling sympathy as he looked at his jungler. It was weird to think that, during all this time, he had never stopped to consider the Pole’s feelings – almost as if he had been a one-dimensional character solely designed to make him suffer. But it was painfully obvious just how multi-dimensional and genuinely good the guy in front of him truly was. He wanted to be just as selfless and considerate in this very moment – but _wanting_ to be a bigger man and actually _acting_ like one are two very different things. And there was something that Martin still needed to know, no matter what.

“So… that leads to you and Rasmus, huh?” He asked as calmly as possible.

“Yeah, he told me quite a lot about your… shared past.”

“That’s not what I meant…” Martin’s head felt heavy as he started thinking about Rasmus again.

The jungler nervously bit his lip, waiting for the ADC to go on.

“So, uhm… are you and Rasmus really…?” Martin asked carefully, staring down at the coffee table.

“Are we what? _Dating?_ Tim asked me the same thing today,” Oskar said slowly, seemingly thinking about the question for a while, “I don’t think it’s my place to say, but I guess it’s not quite that easy.”

 _Why did Tim ask him about that?_ Martin wondered, trying his best to remain reasonable. He wasn’t sure whether he understood what Oskar meant by saying things were ‘not that easy’ – then again, he wasn’t sure about what answer he had hoped for. Now, thinking about these things quietly instead of actually addressing them out loud put a magnifying lens on what the ADC technically knew already. If there was one problem that had haunted him for a long time now, it was not talking enough – to his partners, his teammates, even his family. Martin was painfully aware of that already, maybe that was why he had reacted to particularly defensive when the jungler had accused him just now. But it’s not like one can just change a pattern like that overnight – what did Oskar expect him to do?

“Martin…?” Oskar asked carefully as he realized that the ADC had zoned out.

“Yes – yes, sorry,” Martin stuttered, “I was just thinking about… uhm, I don’t know.”

“This is a lot at once, I know,” Oskar sighed, “look, I’m sorry I jumped you like that – Tim was just off today, I can’t help but feel like he’s hurting… could you just go and talk to him?”

“Uhm, yeah, of course,” the Swede nodded slowly,.

“Thank you,” Oskar mumbled, taking a deep breath, “I needed to hear that.”

“Well, uhm…I think I might have… needed this whole briefing?” Martin hesitantly stammered.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but I’m glad that I could _shake some sense_ into you,” Oskar said with a half-smile, still looking incredibly beat down.

Martin shook his head, not quite ready to laugh at the joke out loud, mumbling, “look, I don’t know if we can really be friends after all this… we’ve had rough start at least.”

“That’s a nice way to put it,” the jungler grinned, “as far as I’ve understood it, we still kind of want to punch each other…?”

“Yep, yeah, that’s still on the table,” Martin nervously laughed it off, “I mean, we could just go box it out at the gym or something…”

“Like, now?” Oskar blinked a couple of times before smiling again, ”oh, that was a joke, right? Very funny!”

“Don’t act so surprised…” Martin flinched slightly, “I can make jokes… but, uhm, we could also actually do that I mean…”

“Uhm, how about we talk about that another day?” Oskar scratched his flushed cheek, seemingly embarrassed about this topic, “I ambushed you with this whole thing after all…”

“Maybe a little, yeah, but you were right… we should get along at least. Without the punching, I mean…” Martin nodded slightly, trying his hardest to finally let go of his grudge.

“We can try,” the jungler agreed with a slight grin, carefully reaching out his hand, “let’s bury the hatchet.”

“Right,” Martin said, shaking Oskar’s hand loosely, “sorry that it took us this long…”

“A series of unfortunate events…” The jungler chuckled with a shrug, “just forget about it.”

“Hey, isn’t that like, a show on Netflix?” The Swede wondered as he got up to guide the Pole outside.

“Oh, is it? I guess I haven’t been watching enough lately,” Oskar laughed as he walked out of the door, “see you tomorrow, Martin.”

“Yeah, until then…” The ADC gave the jungler the slightest smile imaginable, but it somehow felt genuine for the first time.

As he closed the door, Martin considered that him and Oskar were not that different, after all. In another life, they might have become close friends right away – if only there wasn’t all this baggage. Only time would tell if there was a way for them to be friends in the future. For now, there were more urgent matters for Martin to consider. If the jungler had told the truth, then Tim might be in serious distress – the fact that he hadn’t been able to reach the midlaner earlier suddenly seemed even more alarming. After getting dressed to head out, the ADC pulled his OnePlus out of his pocket and called Tim again, feeling like it was the one hundredth time by now. This time, the Slovenian picked up.

“Hey, oh, I’m so glad that I reached you,” Martin said as he realized that he could hear Tim breathing, already halfway out of the door, “I really need to talk to you…”

“Yeah,” Tim mumbled, “me too.”

“Where are you? I’ll come to you.” Martin said as he hurried down the hotel’s stairs.

“I’m in a park near the office,” Tim replied, sounding way too casual for such a weird remark. 

“You’re in a …park? Outside?” Martin asked, wondering whether that was some sort of a weird joke or yet another reason to worry about the midlaner.

“Yeah, I’m in a park, _why_ is that so weird…” Tim grunted, “I’ll send you my location right now, okay?”

“Sure, yeah… I’ll be there soon,” Martin agreed, hanging up the phone to check his messages.

 _So he’s really in a park_ , he thought in disbelief as he stared at the screen, which clearly showed the red pin needle, which represented the midlaner's location, near some sort of lake surrounded by green fields. Even though it wasn’t particularly cold on this day, Martin decided to pick up some hot chocolate in a to-go cup for his midlaner, as he knew that Tim didn’t like coffee, and a Cappuccino for himself to warm up. When the driver finally dropped him off near the entrance of the park, which Martin had never been to in his life, the ADC fidgeted with the Google Maps app to get to Tim’s location. He had to stop several times on the way, as it was incredibly challenging to carry two cups with boiling hot beverages while somehow navigating through unknown territory simultaneously. At last, he spotted Tim sitting on a bench near the water, staring out into the distance as if he was part of some sort of music video. The midlaner turned his head to look at his ADC as he noticed him approaching.

“This is a beautiful place,” Martin said as he sat down next to the midlaner, “I brought you something to drink, you must be freezing, no?”

“I’m good, but thanks…” Tim nodded, carefully taking the cup out of the Swede’s hand to give the hot chocolate a taste.

“Is it not too…hot?” The ADC asked, surprised by the sturdiness of the midlaner’s tongue as he had just burned his own minutes before.

“No, it’s fine,” Tim shrugged, enclosing the cup with both of his hands to enjoy the warmth.

“Okay, I’m glad…” Martin hummed, slowly attempting to take another sip himself.

The both of them sat there for a while, on the bench that somehow felt idly magical, staring out on the water as they enjoyed their drinks. Although he had a thousand things to say, Martin found himself enjoying this moment of peaceful silence, despite knowing that it was only temporary. He had been fully entrenched in stressful conversations all day long, after all.

“Why do we never do this _…?_ ” Tim asked quietly.

“What do you mean?” Martin asked, blinking a couple of times as he found himself pulled back into reality.

“Well, just being together without talking all the time,” the midlaner mumbled as he put his cup down beside him.

“Uhm, I don’t know…” Martin took a moment to consider the question before continuing, “I guess I always feel like things get awkward when there’s silence, you know?”

“I don’t _,_ no,” Tim shook his head slightly, “I hate feeling the need to talk when there’s nothing to talk about… sure, we could discuss League all day long, but do we have to?”

The ADC swallowed, glancing over at the blank expression on the midlaner’s face. In moments like these, the Slovenian seemed so cold – if he hadn’t known it any better, Martin would have thought Tim had just told him off completely. But he knew that was not his intention – even though the midlaner certainly could have put his concern into nicer words.

“I understand what you mean,” Martin sighed, putting down his cup as well to look at Tim, “I know I tend to chat about… small stuff.”

“Yep… but, uhm, that’s actually not why I wanted to meet up today – I don’t know where that came from,” Tim explained, looking down at the ground as if he was searching for the real reason hiding in the tall grass.

“It’s okay… I guess we actually do have something important to talk about today, hm?”

“Right…” Tim nodded reluctantly, seemingly not very excited about moving away from the ‘small stuff’ this time.

“So…uhm,” Martin stuttered, trying to figure out how to start this heavily loaded conversation, “this meeting today – I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there.”

“I was wondering where you were,” Tim sighed, “you could have texted me at least…”

“I would have, but the circumstances didn’t exactly…uhm, _allow_ it,” Martin tried to explain, “Perkz and Miky kind of ambushed me in the hotel.”

“Perkz and Miky…?” Tim mouthed, eyes wide open in shock – suddenly, he was looking straight at the ADC.

“Yeah, it was absolutely crazy – turns out Alfonso sent them over to distract me or whatever?” Martin said, still in disbelief about all of that not just being some sort of whacky dream.

“Sounds like a conspiracy theory…” Tim grumbled, taking a sip of hot chocolate in between thoughts, “…but I guess it does make sense that he wanted to divide us.”

“That makes Alfonso sound like some sort of evil schemer,” Martin smirked at that ridiculous sentiment, “I mean, he still wants the best for all of us, right?”

Tim looked away again, taking some time to answer. “Yeah, well, he was kind of out of it today… looks like he projected his own relationship drama onto us.”

“His what…? Did something happen with Zven?” Martin blinked a couple of times in confusion.

“How does everyone know about that…” Tim grunted, “yeah, they fought or something… it was seriously weird to find out about the whole thing in this setting, though.”

“I can imagine…damn, I hope they’re fine now,” the ADC murmured, glancing at the slowly dawning sky.

“Yup… well, that’s not all we discussed. Mithy also found out about the thing with Oskar and…Caps.”

“Ah, right…” Martin swallowed – he didn’t expect this particular topic to come up quite as quickly.

When he turned his head to look at the midlaner, his facial expression still looked mostly indifferent. Then again, it wasn’t easy to spot Tim’s emotions solely based on a quick look – it was things as subtle as a glistening in his eyes, a twitch of his brows or the slight curve of a smile that the ADC was looking for. He could only imagine how sad the thought of Oskar and Rasmus together must have made Tim – even though he wished he didn’t know about that.

“Ehm, by the way,” Tim added quietly, “do you have any idea who Alfonso’s ‘secret source’ could be…? He must have gotten the information from somewhere, but he wouldn’t tell…”

“Secret source, huh…” Martin nodded, taking a moment to think about the question, but also to thank the gods for this change of topic, “it must be Perkz, right? That shithead would do anything for Mithy…”

“Perkz? That would be bad, he knows too much for his own good…” Tim mumbled, sounding slightly angry now, “…but I guess it adds up.”

“Yet another reason to resent that bastard _,_ ” Martin snorted, still feeling poked the wrong way by their recent encounter.

“He must have really pissed you off today, huh?” Tim asked unenthusiastically.

“He said some awful things… about me, our team – but also you.”

“Me?” Tim suddenly looked the Swede straight into his eyes again, “what did he say about me?”

“Well, it was both him and Miky – not that that matters, uhm –“ Martin stuttered again, trying to find the right words, “anyway, they said that you… and it’s ridiculous, and I’m 99% they were just trying to mess with me and –“

“Spit it out, okay… I can take it.” Tim remarked calmly, looking dead serious about having tough skin.

“Yeah, I know,” Martin sighed, “they said that you sent Rasmus a message, telling him to stay away from Oskar... but that’s obviously made up, I mean, why would you do something like that, right…?”

It was a last, desperate attempt of Martin to push his fears out of sight – or maybe it was blindly optimistic hope that caused him to downplay the situation. In reality, he thought that there was only about a 1% chance that the G2 villains had lied to him, however evil they might be. But, if that unlikely scenario came true – if Tim really held no feelings for Oskar, after all – maybe then, they wouldn’t have to walk the painful path they were heading down now. But, as he saw all the signs for agitation popping up in Tim’s expression, Martin knew.

“Please, Tim…” he whispered, his eyes staring deep into the midlaner’s, “please just tell me it’s not true…”

“I wish I could,” Tim swallowed, “but… I did send that message. I deleted it basically right away, but I guess Rasmus saw it before that…”

“He didn’t,” Martin shook his head, which suddenly felt almost too heavy for his neck to hold up, “Perkz did… don’t ask me why, but I’m guessing it’s his account.”

“What?” The midlaner huffed, seemingly shrieking up in his seat, “that… that bastard…”

“We can agree on that,” the Swede sighed, leaning against the back rest of the bench, which was covered with graffiti, “but… it was meant for Rasmus, right? Why did you do it…?”

“I… I don’t know how to say this,” Tim bent forward, clutching his cup with both of his hands, “I… think I really suck at this talking thing.”

“I feel the same way, trust me,” Martin shuddered, “I’d rather go back to League small talk right about now but… this is important, isn’t it?”

“I hate that you’re right,” Tim mumbled, taking a deep breath, “it was on Valentine’s day. We had just found out about their date when we were in the office, remember? You stormed out and I did… _this_.”

“Oh…” The ADC closed his eyes, the images of him running out of the hallway and being reeled back in by Hylissang flooding his mind.

“It fucking sucks, but I guess we both felt the same way in that moment, right?” Tim whispered as he pulled one of his legs up to rest his head on his knee.

“I don’t know, I mean, did we…” Martin mumbled, but he realized that he was just beating around the bush again.

 _Don’t be a Jon Snow_ , the Swede told himself, _you know exactly what you felt._

“Yes – yes, you’re probably right,” he said, revising this time, “at least, I can imagine what you were feeling like because when I ran away I was mad and… jealous.”

Tim flinched, turning his head away, and Martin felt like doing the same. Even if they both knew what was going on in their heads right now, or rather what had been right in front of them for weeks, it was still painful, nonetheless.

“What are we doing, Martin…?” Tim whispered, still looking away awkwardly, “can we even be happy together with all of this… stuff?

“ I-“ Martin started, reminding himself not to say he 'didn’t know' right after, “I – I want us to be…”

“Yeah, me too…” Tim said solemnly, hugging his leg a little tighter, “every time I see how stupidly cute Bwipo and Hyli are around each other, I wonder whether we could have the same thing.”

“You mean, like, being a _married couple?_ ” Martin chuckled nervously.

“Something like that…” Tim mumbled, “you know, Alfonso asked me whether we’d be _like them_ or break up today… it kind of felt like an ultimatum.”

Martin shuddered – even though Oskar had basically told him about the way in which the coach had urged the midlaner to make a final decision, hearing about the specifics sent shivers down the ADC’s spine. He regretted to have left Tim alone in that scary situation, even though it had not exactly been his choice.

“Yeah and… I didn’t have to make a decision in the end, but it made me wonder.”

“It’s good that you didn’t have to, it’s a ridiculous thing to ask,” Martin nodded with conviction, “if anything, it should be something between us two, no one else.”

“Sure, that too, but still – are we like Bwipo and Hyli? Or, _a couple_ at least…?” Tim still stared into the distance, his cheeks looking flushed.

“Uhm… you’re right, I guess that’s another thing we’ve never talked about?” The ADC scratched his head, “I’m not sure, what do you think?”

“How would I know?” The midlaner turned back hesitantly, “Bwipo and Hyli were a couple like, right away – but I’ve never done any of this before – was I supposed to ask you or…?”

“Uhm, no, I mean…” Martin smirked nervously at the Slovenian’s cute reaction, “there are no rules or whatever – I guess I feel like we are a couple? At least I didn’t mind it when Perkz – _that son of a bitch_ – called you my boyfriend.”

“Really?” Tim’s eyes lit up a bit, almost as if he hadn’t expected Martin to say these words out loud – but, only seconds later, it looked like he was riddled with shame again.

“What’s wrong? Do you disagree…?” Martin asked carefully, tilting his head a little.

“No, uhm, you are the closest thing to a partner I’ve had and… did stuff with.” The midlaner mumbled as he played with his hands.

“Yeah, we got a great thing going on there,” Martin agreed with a slight smile.

“Right – but our date just made me wonder whether you really _… like_ me?”

“What? Of course I like you, Tim,” Martin reassured the Slovenian, shuffling a bit closer to him, “I always have. Don't you remember what I told you the first night we... you know...?”

“Well yeah, you say that but… I just can’t shake the feeling that you’re trying to change me… you want me to be talkative, you bring me to noisy places and – ugh, I don’t know…” Tim sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, “this talking about your feelings thing is exhausting.”

“It’s awful, yeah…” the Swede muttered as he put his arm around the backrest of the bench, “I don’t think I want to change these things about you – I mean, yeah, you’re rather quiet and like to stay in… those are things I like about you.”

And, as the words came out of his mouth, Martin realized what was wrong with them. He looked at Tim, whom he had just called his boyfriend for the very first time, and he simply couldn’t continue saying what he had tried to express just a moment ago. With the image of the team’s toplaner and support as a goal in mind, these words simply wouldn’t do. All the awful things that had been thrown at him, first by the G2 hooligans and then by his own jungler, had forced him to end up where he was now. Even though he knew the risk that he was taking, Martin decided to tell Tim what he had realized anyway. By now, the midlaner had turned back to face him, staring at the ADC with both curiosity and fear in his eyes.

“That’s not right…” Martin said, taking a deep breath.

“…so you don’t like these things about me…?” Tim asked softly, biting his lip.

“No, no I do,” the Swede added quickly, “but that’s the problem – I _like_ them about you, but I don’t think I… _love_ them.”

“Oh….” Tim mumbled, slowly letting his leg sink down again, “I don’t know if I’ve even thought about things that way…”

“Yeah, I get that it’s a bit… weird, or even too fast. But the reason why I’m saying this is because I _know_ someone who _does,_ you know?” Martin explained, ignoring how much it hurt.

“What are you saying…?” Tim asked, and, somehow, Martin felt like the midlaner already knew.

“God, Tim, are you really gonna make me say it? After all this time you spent looking at him and… all that.” The ADC mumbled, nervously biting on his lower lip.

“I don’t understand what you want me to say,” Tim shook his head softly, “I mean, why would you mention him now…?”

“I think you know why,” the ADC said with a tormented smile, “and you also know that I’ve _hated_ Oskar since the first time I saw you with him.”

Martin swallowed hard before continuing, “I _hated_ him because you were so close, I _hated_ him because I thought he wanted to take you away from me… but mostly, I _hated_ him because I felt like he could give you something that I couldn’t.”

Next to him, Tim was breathing calmly, seemingly waiting for Martin to go on. He didn’t look particularly surprised at first, but the last part of the Swede’s elaboration seemed to have caused some question marks to pop up in the midlaner’s mind.

“Right, so, what I mean is that… I always thought that it was a bad thing that we didn’t have the same… _connection_. Maybe that was what I wanted to change? Maybe I just wanted you to be meant to be with me, not with him.”

“I didn’t think you believed in something like fate,” Tim murmured, raising one eyebrow in surprise.

“I don’t know if I’d call it fate… I just want you to be happy, Tim,” Martin sighed, running his fingers through his freshly cut hair nervously, “be honest with me, okay? Are you _happy_?”

“Uhm…” The midlaner hummed, taking way too long to think about the question.

“That’s what I thought…” The ADC whispered, looking away for a moment to keep his composure.

“It’s just not that easy, okay?” Tim replied quietly, “it’s not like you’re completely happy with me either, are you?”

Martin opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again as he couldn’t think of anything better than _‘I don’t know’_.

“See, there are just too many things going on, but that doesn’t mean that I just want to _give up_ …” Tim said with unusual force.

“But maybe we should,” Martin breathed in sharply, “I don’t think ‘giving up’ is the right way to put it but… if we want what’s best for each other, maybe we need to …?”

“Let go…” Tim repeated the words slowly, almost as if they spoke to him on a completely different level, “…you know, I’ve never felt anything like this before I met you.”

Martin nodded slowly, understanding the weight of that remark instantly. He had been the first love of someone before, and everyone knows that that’s something you never forget, after all.

“I wish I could have done a better job at being your first…” he sighed, turning to look into his midlaner’s eyes.

“…I don’t think you’ve ever said stuff like this before…” Tim whispered, blushing slightly as he felt Martin’s gaze on him, “something really must have shaken you up today, huh?”

“Or _someone_ …” Martin shrugged a little before reaching out to stroke a long strand of hair out of the midlaner’s face, “I really wanted this to work out, Tim…”

“Me too,” Tim whispered back, sadness filling his eyes, “but this is it, isn’t it?”

“…Fuck, I wish this didn’t have to feel so damn terrible,” Martin sighed, lovingly stroking the midlaner’s cheek, “it’s bad that I still want to kiss you right now, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Tim murmured, slowly bending forward to lean his head against the Swede’s shoulder.

Almost out of instinct, Martin wrapped his arms around the smaller guy, fully enclosing him in a tight embrace. He felt Tim breathing out of rhythm against his shoulder, but he didn’t want to ask, or look – he just held him. If he could have done so earlier, maybe things would have been different now. But, as the ADC felt his midlaner’s hands on his back, he realized that this was not the beginning of many more loving hugs – it was a painful, but necessary goodbye. Maybe that was the reason why neither of them wanted to let go, to let the moment find it’s end – but, after all, it had to, eventually.

“This sucks…” Tim mumbled, staring out on the dark water again, “what do we do now…?”

“Let’s just take some time and see where that takes us…?” Martin suggested, still unsure about that himself, “I mean, we’re teammates and…friends, regardless, right?

“Right…” The midlaner nodded slightly.

“It’s okay for you to say it now, you know…” The Swede remarked, fully aware of the fact that it would sting, “…that you love Oskar, I mean.”

Tim shook his head plaintively. The midlaner looked even frailer now, showing just how much the troubles of the day had chewed him up and spit him out. He took a deep breath.

“You talk about me loving someone else… but that wasn’t what our problems started with, was it?”

“I mean… I guess I…” Martin stuttered, but he didn’t dare to finish his sentence.

“If you want me to say it, you should too,” Tim nodded slowly, “that you couldn’t be happy with me because you… you still love Caps… or Rasmus, or whatever.”

“But it’s not that easy – I _chose_ to be with _you_ ,” the Swede tried to explain.

“And now it’s over.” Tim looked at Martin sorrowfully, “you might as well stop lying to yourself, Martin.”

The Swede wanted to say something, but he simply couldn’t. What had seemed to be a sad, yet peaceful goodbye just a second ago felt a lot more loaded now. _This is the right thing, isn’t it?_ Martin thought as he looked at his midlaner, fighting off the urge to hug him again for some comfort. He knew that he should have said the words that popped up in his mind in this very moment a long time ago.

“I just… never meant to hurt you, Tim,” Martin whispered, “with any of this.”

“Yeah…” Tim sighed, slowly getting up from the bench, “I know.”

“Where are you going…?” The ADC asked carefully, surprised by the midlaner’s sudden action.

“I guess I’m starting to get a little cold now, I’ve been here for some time and… I don’t know, today has been a lot.”

“You’re right,” Martin agreed, but he remained seated, “you should go home to warm up… It’s just like always, hm? That I can’t seem to let you go…”

“Are you not coming? I wanted to go to the office for some SoloQ…” Tim murmured, cramming out his OnePlus to check the time.

“No, I think I want to stay a bit longer… I don’t know, I feel like I need a moment to digest all of…this.”

“It is a great bench to do things like that,” Tim shrugged with the hint of a smile, “see you later or… tomorrow?”

“Definitely,” Martin replied, giving Tim a half-smile before he waddled off into the darkness.

By now, the evening had almost fully swallowed up the sun, leaving the park solely illuminated by the few lanterns scattered along the footpaths. _Where has the day gone?_ Martin thought as he gloomily looked up at the sky. Just this morning, the ADC had woken up in a world that seemed to be going up waters for him. He was with a great guy, completely crushing it in the rift – hell, he had even recently gotten a haircut! Everything seemed to be going his way. Things could hardly feel any more different now. Even though Martin knew that he did the right thing, he felt so empty and devastated after ending things with Tim – it was almost bad enough to make him question the decision. _But I deserve to feel this bad now, don’t I?_ Martin thought grimly as he let his hands slip into his pockets to warm them up. More than anything, it made him wonder what the hell he was supposed to do next. Maybe that was why he chose to keep sitting on the bench for now, hoping that some sort of idea would pop up and light up his world again like one of the lanterns along the waterside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's a wrap on Martin's POV! It was quite a lot, wasn't it? What are your thoughts and feelings?
> 
> As this chapter was incredibly long and packed with action, I might give you an extra day or two to digest it before uploading the next chapter. Also, I'm curious to know whether you've figured out the name of Part 9 yet...? ;) 
> 
> Hope to hear all about it in the comments! And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	37. Part 9: Gabriël

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! What's this, another guest POV? Isn't that odd... 
> 
> I originally planned to delay this upload a little to give you guys some time to collect your thoughts on the last chapter, partially because it was incredibly long, but also because it is especially close to my heart. I don't think there's another chapter I've rewritten quite as many times, which is why I was so stoked to hear all of your reactions! But I also just can't say no when it comes to your wishes, so I've decided to compromise and upload the new chapter regularly while waiting a bit longer to answer the comments on the previous POV. So, if any of you still want to share your thoughts on Martin's POV, I'd be incredibly thankful :)
> 
> Anyway, I've been waiting for the right part to put in a Bwipo POV, so here goes nothing - enjoy!

Gabriël had already been awake for a while when the first rays of sunshine started to hit his face, somehow managing to squeeze past the blinds on his window. Under different circumstances, the toplaner might have fallen asleep again right away, as there was no real reason _not_ to sleep in on a Sunday. But, since no dream could feel better than reality for the Belgian right now, he remained wide awake. Zdravets was still sleeping, all cuddled up with his head resting on Gabriël‘s chest – it was, therefore, no surprise that the toplaner didn’t dare to move. He just laid there, silently marvelling at the peacefully snoring support in his arms. Even though the both of them had been sleeping in a bed together for a while now, waking up like this still felt surreal to the toplaner – just a couple of weeks ago, things had looked so different, after all. When Gabriël had found out about Zdravets feeling the same way about him, he felt like the happiest man in the whole world – a feeling that, to this day, persisted.

 _Isn’t it insane how lucky I am?_ Gabriël wondered as he reached out to run his fingers through the support’s messy black hair as cautiously as possible, being mindful about not waking him up. Sure, it had been tough back then when he had first realized his feelings for the Bulgarian – but, now that they found their way to each other, the toplaner wanted nothing more than to just _shout it out_ for the whole world to hear. He had never been this happy, after all. But Gabriël knew that Zdravets _didn’t_ want to let the news slip out. _I know it’s for the best to hide it from the public_ , Bwipo thought, admiring the support’s long lashes _, I just wish it was different_. With a small sigh, Gabriël tried to push these thoughts aside, attempting to sync his breathing with the calm in- and exhales of his support. Some time had already passed by now, but the toplaner felt as if he could just _look_ at Zdravets for hours. _He’s so beautiful_ , Gabriël pondered with a smile as he let his fingertips travel up and down the Bulgarian’s back. Even if this moment was meant to be for him alone, the toplaner was more than determined to cherish it.

When Zdravets started to wake up, grumbling as he rubbed his face against the toplaner’s chest a couple of times, Gabriël was reminded about the fact that the support’s beard was quite scratchy, despite its marvellous aesthetic. The rubs did, hence, twinge a little, but Bwipo took it like a champ. With both arms fully wrapped around the support now, Gabriël gave Zdravets a soft squeeze in the hopes of making him feel as safe and at ease as possible. His eyes were still closed, but a smile flashed across the support’s face.

“Morning,” Zdravets mumbled, blinking a couple of times to let his eyes adjust to the light, “have you been awake for long…?”

“Me? Nooo,” Bwipo lied, silently wondering whether it had already been over an hour already, “I just woke up too.”

“I see…” The support whispered, his eyes slowly falling shut again.

The toplaner’s hand found its way back to stroking through the support’s hair, with the sight of his dozy lover making his heart flutter.

“Did you sleep well…? Any _pog_ dreams?” Gabriël asked softly.

“Hmm I don’t know, I had this weird dream where G2 just kept losing after beating us?” Zdravets yawned, moving his arm up to clutch on to the toplaner a bit tighter, “…wait no, that’s real, isn’t it?”

“Yup, but it’s also really _weird,_ ” Bwipo grinned, “let’s just hope they keep losing, right?”

“Don’t be so mean _,_ Gabriël,” the support huffed, pulling on the toplaner’s ear, “Rasmus is on that team, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah….” Bwipo smiled, burying his face in the Bulgarian’s messy hair, “I don’t think he’s too sad about the losses, he’s got some great things going for him at the moment, right?”

“Hmm…” Zdravets hummed, sounding quite pleased about the thought of his former midlaner and his current jungler exploring their feelings for each other.

“Hey, don’t doze off again now,” Bwipo chuckled, playfully rocking the support back and forth a little, “we should do something nice today, don’t you think?”

“But this _is_ nice…” Zdravets mumbled, snuggling up with a satisfied expression on his face.

“Mhm, I agree…” Gabriël sighed, smiling happily again, “but I thought maybe we could go out for breakfast?”

“Go out? I don’t know, couldn’t we just have some pancakes or something..?” The support yawned again, slowly turning his head to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand, “what, it’s only 1pm…? Let’s just stay in bed a while longer…”

“I know, I know… normally I’d agree, but today is not just any day, remember?” The toplaner explained with a wide grin on his face.

“Not just any day…?” The support repeated the words slowly, and his eyes suddenly flashed open when he realized what they meant, “aww, Gabriël, you didn’t…”

“Of course I’d remember our two-week-anniversary,” the Belgian beamed, pressing a soft kiss against the Bulgarian’s forehead, “…well, I guess it would technically be a _week-o-versary_?”

“Who cares about the details,” Zdravets smiled brightly, pushing himself up to kiss the toplaner lovingly, “it’s so sweet of you to remember!”

Gabriël returned the kiss passionately, holding Zdravets close. Not even his _horrible_ morning breath could ruin this moment for him. In the past, the toplaner might have considered the words that crossed his mind to be too cheesy to be said out loud – but, right now, he felt like the love he felt for Zdravets had changed that.

“Every day with you is a gift, you know? But let’s still celebrate our first two weeks together…!”

“Aww, stop it!” The support blushed and turned away, burying his face in the toplaner’s neck, “you can’t just _say_ stuff like that all the time…!”

“But it’s the truth!” Bwipo laughed, sitting himself up a bit straighter, “why shouldn’t I say it?”

“I’m just not used to it, okay?” Zdravets smiled shyly, getting up to sit as well, “…but I feel the same way.”

“Holy poggers… if you ask me, hearing that feels pretty great,” Gabriël said with a goofy grin, “come on, let’s go have some fancy breakfast! Or brunch, or whatever…”

“Fine, fine!” The support chuckled as he reached for his glasses on the nightstand, “let’s go then, I don’t want you to be hungry on our, uhm, special day…!”

Feeling as if he was the king of the world once more, the toplaner jumped out of bed to get dressed. He had never enjoyed leaving the house as much as he did when he went out with Zdravets, after all. In an effort to get ready as fast as possible, Gabriël almost fell flat on his face as he hurried over to his wardrobe, causing the support to break out in laughter once more.

“Hey, what’s so funny?” The toplaner asked, snickering at his clumsiness himself.

“Oh, it’s nothing… so, uhm, are you going to dress up for me today?” The support giggled coyly as he slowly got up from the bed as well.

“Why, of course!” Gabriël beamed, opening his closet to search for some outfit options, “would you prefer black sweatpants or…hmm, let’s see… black sweatpants?”

“That’s a tough choice…” Zdravets laughed as he started to get dressed.

“Yeah, I mean both of these go _so well_ with my black hoodie,” the toplaner explained.

“I think I’d prefer it if you –“ the support started, but the loud chiming of his phone suddenly interrupted him – swiftly, he went to check the new message.

“…if I just went outside like this?” The toplaner proudly put his hands on his hips, still wearing nothing but his colourful underwear, “I mean, sure, I don’t work this hard for my body for no reason, hm?”

“Sure, sure,” Zdravets replied, playfully poking Bwipo’s belly, “but I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone our plans… Mithy just called in a meeting in half an hour.”

“What?” Bwipo grunted, crossing his arms in discontent, “but our _breakfast_ …! Don’t tell me it’s another one of those emergency meetings?”

“I’m afraid it is…” the support pressed a soothing smooch on his grumpy boyfriend’s cheek before finishing getting dressed.

“No fair…” Gabriël sulked, pulling up his pants as well.

“Let’s just go, hm? Maybe we can go out afterwards, it can’t take too long…” Hyli tried to cheer him up as he opened the door to the hall.

“Fine… but I sure hope it’s important!” Bwipo exclaimed as he followed the support’s lead.

“Hmm, well, maybe Alfonso found out about Martin and Tim?” Zdravets suggested, his usually stern detective-expression returning to his face.

“Uff, okay, that would be bad…” Gabriël sighed as the both of them made their way through the hallway.

“Wait, there’s still time to brush teeth, right?” The support said as he stopped in front of the bathroom.

The toplaner turned away and breathed against the back of his hand discretely, shuddering at his absolutely terrifying morning breath.

“Uhm, yeah, let’s do that first,” he mumbled in agreement, holding the door open for his support.

“You know, if he really found out about them, Alfonso might try to do something about it…” Zdravets sighed as he put some toothpaste onto both of their toothbrushes, handing one of them to the toplaner who shoved it into his mouth eagerly.

“What would he do about them? He can’t exactly forbid it, can he?” Gabriël said, feeling as if the Bulgarian was on the wrong track with this one.

“I don’t know, you remember how upset he was about the condom, right…?” Hylissang explained, carefully beginning to brush his teeth.

There was a pause and, for a moment, only the scratching and squealing noises of the toothbrushes doing their work filled the bathroom. After carefully considering the impact of Condom-Gate 2020 again in his mind, the toplaner felt as if he had found his standing.

“Yeff, bud ai don fink dad –“ Bwipo spit into the sink as he noticed that he couldn’t speak with his mouth full of toothpaste-foam before trying again, “but I don’t think he’d go that far, still…”

“Hm, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” the support replied, smiling at the silliness of his toplaner as he bent down to rinse his mouth with some water.

“I at least hope he wouldn’t? Uff, what if he found out about Oskar and Rasmus, actually?” Gabriël thought out loud, putting his toothbrush back into its holder.

“Oh no, I haven’t even thought about that…” Zdravets whispered with wide eyes, walking out into the hallway again, “but you’re right, that’s even worse!”

“Maybe, but we might be worrying about nothing here,” the toplaner tried to reassure the support as he swung his arm around him, “let’s just wait and see, hm?”

“Yeah, you’re right…” the support leaned his head against the Belgian’s shoulder, taking a deep breath, “I just love that we can talk about these things, you know?”

“There’s no one I’d rather gossip with,” Gabriël smiled, turning his head to kiss his lover’s head.

“Ah, geez…anyway, I think Alfonso would probably tell them to –“ Zdravets began, suddenly pulling away when he spotted the team’s midlaner approaching them, “ah, shoot, there’s Tim…!”

“My lips are sealed, then,” the toplaner mumbled, pretending to zip his mouth shut.

“Let’s continue later,” Zdravets whispered before turning his attention to the midlaner.

And, with that, their walk to Fnatic’s office, that somehow felt dreadfully long, began. Despite his best efforts, his grumbling stomach soon made the toplaner incredibly snarky and, admittingly, hard to stand. But Zdravets stayed calm and tried his best to soothe him, which was heart-warming to say the least. It made the toplaner wonder why Tim looked so grim, staring at the ground without seeking any sort of contact, like always. _If he really spent most nights with Martin, like Zdravets suggested, then he should be just as happy as me, right?_ Bwipo wondered as he looked at the gloomy guy beside him. His love might not have made him blind – but, as of right now, he was at least unable to understand how someone in such a similar situation could not be overflowing with joy.

It was probably because Gabriël was seeing the world through these love-induced, rose-coloured glassed that he couldn’t comprehend why Alfonso kept throwing harsh accusations at both his jungler and his midlaner at the infamous emergency meeting. No matter how you looked at it, from his point of view, love was a good thing that should be fostered and treasured – why would the coach try to prevent it? Why would it have any sort of negative effect on the team’s success? If anything, the toplaner felt as if his recently found happiness had boosted his performance in the rift immensely. It was only when Oskar pointed out that the whole discussion might have rooted in an entirely different problem that Gabriël realized that it was, in fact, not about the possible repercussions of the new love-affairs surrounding the team – it was about an old one slowly going sour. He didn’t know too much about his coach’s long-distance relationship, but the toplaner was aware of how deeply invested Zdravets was when it came to Alfonso’s love life. It was, therefore, no surprise that the support attempted to come to the coach’s rescue. Except for offering some tissues, there was not much else Gabriël could think of to help, but at least he had the spirit.

It felt weird to the toplaner that the storm raging in Fnatic’s office had disappeared so abruptly, washed away by a single tear gracing Alfonso’s cheek. Of course, when asked to move towards the kitchen, Gabriël appreciated the change of pace since cake was involved – but he didn’t doubt that this was far from over, since he knew Zdravets and his tendency to snoop around in other people’s business better than anyone else. With the water already gathering in his mouth as he hurried to get to the cake, the toplaner only worried about his jungler for a short moment before shaking it off, telling himself that Oskar knew what he was doing when he stayed behind with Tim. It already felt like his stomach had started to digest itself, so more urgent matters demanded Gabriël’s attention. A whole baking tray full of butter cake greeted the two players and their coach in the kitchen, causing the toplaner’s eyes to light up in excitement. Zdravets reached up to get some plates out of one of the cupboards and passed them out to his toplaner and coach eagerly, with a warm smile on his lips.

“Holy poggers, this cake looks _so good!_ ” Gabriël exclaimed as he picked out an extra-big piece for himself.

“Yeah, I wonder who brought it?” Zdravets pointed out, choosing a slightly smaller piece.

“Hmm, we just have a great team…” Alfonso sighed, looking weirdly sad again.

 _Well, it’s not like we really managed to cheer him up_ , Bwipo thought as he started to stuff his face with the delicious baked goods. The coach didn’t quite look like he was on the verge of tears anymore, but his facial expression was still solemn, and the way he just stared at the cake on his plate instead of eating it could only be described as gloomy. The Spaniard sighed a couple of times, almost theatrically. Gabriël felt as if he should say something – but, since he had already been at a loss of words during the whole conversation before, that only caused him to grow more uncomfortable instead of wiser. He nervously glanced over to Zdravets when he reached for his next piece of cake, in the hopes that the support would know what to say.

“So, Alfonso,” Zdravets began, to Gabriël’s relief, “I was wondering about that picture you mentioned… could you show it to us, maybe?”

“I don’t know… I mean, if you insist…” the coach mumbled, putting his phone on the table – conveniently enough, the picture was already on the screen. “Here it is – you see how they’re _smiling_ at each other?”

 _He really wanted us to ask about it, didn’t he_ , Gabriël wondered as his eyes scanned the picture. Surely, it would have been easier to just express the need to talk about the situation himself – but, in the end, the toplaner knew that the Spaniard was a proud man. Why would he have hidden his relationship troubles from them until now if he wasn’t?

“Hmm, that looks harmless if you ask me…” Zdravets said, leaning forward to examine the evidence even more closely.

“Yeah, isn’t that just a normal stage picture? I’m sure I’ve smiled at Oskar like that a couple of times,” Gabriël shrugged, considering whether that would make people think they were more than just friends.

“That’s _different_ ,” the coach murmured, pointing out the tall Dane’s eyes in the picture, “he always looked at me this way, okay?”

“Well, Vulcan does look a little like you, maybe?” Bwipo tilted his head and squinted a little, making out the similarities between the support and the coach.

Immediately, the toplaner felt Zdravets’ angry glare on him. As he repeated the words in his head, Gabriël realized that he had just fired up a storm that was already raging on in epic proportions. Next to him, Alfonso’s expression turned sour, sort of resembling a serial killer that was about to snap.

“He does, hm…” Alfonso grumbled.

“I – I mean, no, not at all, sorry,” the toplaner desperately tried to back-paddle, “he just looks like a, uhm, boring support, really, nothing special about him…”

“Boring support? Really?” Hylissang sighed, shaking his head in disappointment before turning to Alfonso again, “I think what Gabriël meant to say was that he doesn’t see a connection between them, and neither do I. What makes you think that Jesper would even consider getting with anyone else, Alfonso…?”

“Things are just bad right now… I feel like I’ve let him down one too many times.” The coach took a deep breath, letting his phone slip back into his pocket, “forgetting about Valentine’s day was really just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Wait, you did _what?_ ” Zdravets blinked a couple of times, seemingly surprised by the coach’s confession.

“Dude, that is bad,” Bwipo flinched, remembering just how important the romantic holiday was to him and Zdravets.

“Don’t you think I know that now? I was just busy, trying to get us back on track after our loss against G2 and… I just forgot.” Alfonso mumbled, fidgeting around with his hands.

“So that’s what that fight last week was about then? I mean, I don’t think I’d be happy about that if I was Zven…” Zdravets remarked, looking quite agitated.

“It started that way but… all these other things kept bubbling up. He feels as if I’m not trying anymore I guess…” the coach admitted.

“This long-distance thing sounds tough,” Gabriël sighed, not really knowing what else to say.

“But there are ways to make it work…” the support pointed out, and the toplaner suddenly remembered that Zdravets had, in fact, maintained a long-distance relationship for several years.

“I know that, and I do feel like I try to do that, okay?” Mithy crossed his arms, and, for a moment, it seemed as if he felt like he was being attacked.

“Just trying to help here…” Zdravets mumbled, starting to count with his fingers as he listed the coach’s options, “you could call, send him a letter, prepare a package with romantic gifts, write a poem, set up a special dinner via video call – you know, these kinds of things.”

“Well I have… called a couple of times.” Alfonso said, looking down at his hands, “okay, fine, maybe I haven’t put in that much work.”

“But why not?” Gabriël wondered, putting his third piece of cake on his plate.

“I’m just trying to do my job well…” the coach explained, but it was obvious that that was only half of the truth.

“…and the situation scares you, maybe?” the support inquired.

“Why would I be scared? We’ve been together for… gosh, is it five years already? I didn’t think anything could change that by now… maybe I’m not scared _enough._ ” Alfonso sighed.

“Wow, that’s a really long time,” Gabriël said in astonishment.

“And everything has been working out until now…?” The support asked carefully, and the toplaner knew just how determined he must have been to get to the bottom of this.

“Yeah, sure… I mean, well,” Alfonso stuttered, blushing slightly, “I guess we’ve had some issues when it comes to being public… to anyone. He also brought up the fact that I’ve never met his family when we fought last week…”

“What?? Five years and you’ve _never met them?_ ” Gabriël blurted out, almost spitting some of the cake in his mouth across the table.

“Gabriël, that was not very nice,” Zdravets gave him a concerned look, “I understand where you’re coming from, Alfonso. I’m sure you’ve told him you’d do it once you’re ready..?”

“Uhm, sort of? Well, maybe not,” the coach admitted, looking defeated by now.

“What do you mean you understand where he’s coming from?” The toplaner asked with a frown, turning to his support, “do you feel the same way, Zdravets?”

“What?” The support mumbled, “this is not about me, Gabriël.”

“So you don’t mind meeting my family? Because I wanted to introduce you to them after the Split…” the Belgian explained.

“Uhm, well… I think it makes me a bit uncomfortable, but…” the support said hesitantly, suddenly avoiding eye-contact with the toplaner.

“I can leave if you want to discuss this in private,” Alfonso shrugged as if he didn’t mind, but his facial expression told a different story.

“No, no it’s okay,” Zdravets quickly added, turning to the coach, “just – just call Jesper, okay? I really feel like he just needs to hear what you’ve told us, hm?”

A part of Gabriël wanted to encourage the team’s coach to do so as well – but who could blame him for still being hung up on the bomb his boyfriend had just dropped on him? The toplaner had been so busy hovering on _cloud nine_ that he hadn’t even stopped to consider that they could run into problems this soon. He didn’t really know what to do with his frustration right now – the most obvious choice was to reach for another piece of cake.

“I don’t know, it’s still really early in NA… god, I can’t believe he used to get up at 6am just to call me before we had our scrims,” Alfonso whispered, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment, “I really have to try harder…”

“You could start with a message, maybe?” Zdravets gave his coach a soft smile, “let him know how sorry you are…”

“Yeah, I think I will,” Mithy agreed slowly, getting up in the next moment, “I’ll be at my PC – thanks for the talk, guys.”

“Anytime!” Zdravets chirped, beaming at his coach enthusiastically.

All Bwipo managed to do was nod. Sure, it was nice that the both of them had managed to help their coach – _well, let’s be honest, it was mostly Zdravets,_ the toplaner thought _._ But Gabriël was still in his feelings, sighing dramatically as he dropped his fork onto his empty plate. As soon as Alfonso had left the room, Zdravets wrapped his arms around the toplaner’s shoulders, pulling him in close.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you feel like that had anything to do with us,” he whispered.

“Are you really uncomfortable with meeting my family?” Bwipo mumbled, feeling beat down by the thought.

“Maybe a little bit more than back when I was with my ex-girlfriend, yeah… but I’m not ashamed of my feelings for you, Gabriël. And it doesn’t _matter_ that the idea of meeting them makes me a little uncomfortable because…” Zdravets leaned his head against the toplaner’s shoulder, breathing against it, “because I would do _anything_ for you.”

And, as his heartbeat began to race, Gabriël realized that that was the most important thing. He was caught off-guard by the big words the support had just ushered, mostly because these sort of cheesy confessions were his thing, normally. Softly, he turned in his seat to embrace Zdravets tightly. Oddly enough, the toplaner found himself at a loss of words – so he just held the Bulgarian close to his heart before his ability to string a sentence together returned.

“I feel the same way, Zdravets,” he whispered, gently lifting the support’s chin with his free hand to look into his eyes, “there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you – for _us_.”

With flushed cheeks and glistening eyes, Zdravets leaned in to kiss Gabriël. It would have been an exaggeration to call this their first fight, in Gabriël’s mind at least – but, still, the kiss they shared in the middle of Fnatic’s kitchen felt particularly magical to him.

“Hey, how are you guys liking the cake? I think it’s –“ Pete hummed as he casually strolled into the kitchen, stopping in his tracks right as he spotted the two guys kissing.

“Oh, hey Pete,” Bwipo grinned as he slowly pulled away from Zdravets’ lips, still holding the support in his arms as he continued his chatter, “the cake was pog, thanks for that!”

“Uhm, mhm, okay, I’m glad,” Pete stuttered, looking awfully flustered as he fled the kitchen again as fast as he could.

“Poor Pete,” Zdravets laughed, giving Gabriël another peck on his cheek, “he just keeps walking in at the wrong time today…”

“Well, he should get used to it, don’t you think?” The toplaner snickered, checking the time on his phone, “hmm, it’s already past three… how about we go play some DuoQ?”

“Yeah, good idea,” Zdravets smiled as he grabbed the plates, attempting to clean up a little.

“You wanna play on botlane with me? Like in the good old times?” Bwipo grinned, hugging the support from behind.

“That sounds like a blast…!” The support whispered, leaning back against the toplaner’s embrace.

Maybe sitting in front of their PC’s, playing as a Duo on the botlane like they had back in 2018, really was the ideal way to spend their two-week-jubilee, after all. It felt like the both of them were in perfect sync today, carrying seemingly hopeless teams to victory one after the other. Not even the fact that none of their other teammates were occupying their spots in the gaming room, which was beyond unusual, could pull Gabriël and Zdravets down. It was almost dark outside already when the noise of the front door swinging open caught the toplaner’s attention.

“Did you hear that?” Zdravets remarked, almost as if he could read the Belgian’s mind, “it’s probably Tim, right? Don’t think I’ve ever seen him not stream on a Sunday…”

“Yeah, I guess,” Gabriël nodded, leaning back in his chair to look down the hallway, “but he left with Oskar, right? Shouldn’t they come back together as well?”

“He left with Oskar? I didn’t even realize that…” the support mumbled, suddenly looking worried, “you think something’s up?”

“Uhm, why would there? Tim is with Martin, Oskar is with Rasmus – this is the first time that everyone’s in a good place, right?” The toplaner pointed out – but, next to him, the Bulgarian shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s that easy, Gabriël…” Zdravets mumbled, taking off his headphones to be able to listen a bit more closely, “ah, I guess it’s not Tim.”

“What do you mean?” The toplaner asked, feeling confused about the support’s weird hint.

But, before Zdravets could respond, Oskar poked his head through the doorway. He strolled inside when he spotted the toplaner and proceeded to sit down next to him. Normally, he probably would have given him a big hug to greet him – but, somehow, the jungler looked as if he was in distress.

“Uhm, hey Oskar, what have you been up to?” The toplaner asked cautiously.

“Nothing special…” Oskar replied, glancing over at the support.

“Oh, uhm, I think I’ll go see what Alfonso is doing, actually,” Zdravets smiled as he got up – he had clearly understood the jungler’s hint better than the toplaner.

“Uhh, why? Don’t you think he’s talking to Zven now?” Gabriël squinted at the support, who was already halfway out the door.

“No, no I think I should go check – you guys catch up, hm?” The support excused himself with a wave, closing the door behind him.

“Okay…?” The toplaner mumbled, turning back to the jungler, “don’t know what that was about… you missed out on some more drama with Alfonso, actually.”

“I don’t think I’m the one who missed out on the drama…” Oskar said with a sad smile.

By now, Bwipo was really worried about his jungler. The Pole looked pale, almost as if he had lived through hell after parting ways with them when the meeting had found its end. In an attempt to give Oskar some comfort, the toplaner rolled up a bit closer with his gaming chair, reaching out to put his hand on the troubled guy’s shoulder.

“What happened, Oskar…?” Gabriël said meaningfully.

“I don’t even know where to begin…” Oskar scratched his head, “things were fine when I took a walk with Tim…”

“A walk? Like, outside??” The toplaner gasped, clapping his hands together, “wow, what a banger…!”

“A bit unexpected maybe, yeah,” the jungler smiled softly, “it was… nice, actually. We haven’t spent much time together lately, so I was… glad.”

“But?” Gabriël frowned.

As unfortunate as it was, the toplaner had a hunch where the jungler might be going with this. Of course, he hoped that he was wrong – that Oskar had not, somehow, gotten hopeful again when it came to Tim. During these last couple weeks, Gabriël had done his best to help the jungler move on from his unrequited love. When he had successfully set Oskar up with Rasmus, he thought that his feelings for the team’s midlaner would be off the table for good – that Tim would never hurt the jungler again. But, alas…

“But… he said some weird things. And there was this one moment where I felt like… like there was something between us, you know?” Oskar mumbled, nervously playing with his hands.

“No, no Oskar,” Gabriël sighed, giving his jungler a concerned look, “you can’t do this again… you know he’s with Martin…”

“Yeah, trust me, I know,” Oskar huffed, leaning back to rock back and forth in his gaming chair, “where do you think I’m coming from?”

“Uhm? Outside?” The toplaner guessed, suddenly feeling a little naïve.

“No… After the moment – which definitely felt like _something_ – anyway, after it had passed, Tim said Martin didn’t want us hanging out anymore…”

“What? That’s just…” Gabriël snorted, but, on the second thought, “okay, I guess it does sound like something he would say… I’m sorry, man.”

“Don’t be… I went over to the hotel to tell him how I felt about that and, uhm – we sort of got into a fight.” Oskar sighed, looking embarrassed about his impulsive action.

For a moment, the toplaner didn’t know how to respond – he just stared at the jungler in shock. Even though he had heard stories from Oskar’s past, he had never even thought about the possibility of him being physically violent now, especially not with one of his teammates.

“I – I don’t know what to say, Oskar,” Gabriël finally started, “are you hurt? Is he hurt?”

“Not physically, no… but I said some harsh things I guess.”

“Things he deserved? Things that are true?” The toplaner inquired with a nervous smile.

“Yeah… but I still could have done it in a nicer way. Well, I was nice enough not to tell him about the… moment I had with Tim.”

“Uff, man, I really think you should forget about this _moment,_ whatever it was… it’s not good for you, is it?” Gabriël asked carefully, searching eye-contact with the jungler.

“You don’t understand,” Oskar shook his head vigorously, “we talked about falling in love again, and then we stopped walking, and he looked at me like… like he wanted to kiss me.”

The toplaner took a deep breath, trying to sort out his thoughts. On one hand, he had to admit that this ‘moment’ the jungler had just described did sound kind of suspicious – on the other, he felt as if he just had to keep his dear friend from getting hurt again. And, of course, there was this other friend of his that could be hurt by this, too.

“That does sound… a bit weird. But what does it matter now? Aren’t you happy with Rasmus…?”

“Rasmus…” Oskar swallowed hard, “I don’t know… I mean yeah, we get along really well but…”

“But… you don’t feel the same way you do about Tim?” Gabriël sighed.

“I’m awful, right? I am…” Oskar whispered, looking absolutely defeated now, “he’s so great and yet I just… can’t.”

“Oh man…” the toplaner said softly, patting the jungler’s back sympathetically, “but… well, I guess Rasmus has a similar problem, right? Maybe you can still be good for each other?”

“Right…” Oskar nodded slightly, glancing over at the Belgian, “I mean, the ship with Tim has sailed now anyway… I basically explained to Martin how he can treat him better…”

“You did? Before or after roughing him up?” Gabriël joked with a slight grin, “I can’t decide whether that makes you really mature or, I don’t know, _masochistic?_ ”

“Weren’t you the one who said I should finally get over Tim?” Oskar remarked, his half-smile looking oddly forced, “I guess it still feels a little like I’m causing my own pain…”

“Well, let’s look on the Brightside,” Gabriël said with a reassuring smile, “this was the last time, right? If Martin actually uses your advice, he should be set and you… gosh, I just really feel like you should be with Rasmus. You know I wouldn’t lie to you about this!”

“Yeah…” The jungler smiled, his eyes looking almost hopeful again, “I know you wouldn’t you’re… really my best friend right now.”

Bwipo inhaled sharply, almost feeling as if the tears started gathering in his eyes. It was the second time of the day that he was at a loss of words for a moment, caught completely off-guard by the genuinely touching words of his jungler. Even though he hadn’t known him for a long time now, their friendship had grown so quickly – and now, he wouldn’t want to live in a world without it.

“And you’re mine,” Gabriël said, pulling Oskar in for an awkward hug with the both of them remaining seated.

“Don’t let Zdravets hear that,” the jungler chuckled as he hugged the toplaner back firmly.

“Oh, I think he knows,” Bwipo grinned as he slowly let go again, wiping his eyes quickly before the jungler could see just how touched he was, “anyway, uhm… about Rasmus…”

“Yes, yes, Rasmus…” Oskar mumbled, fishing for his phone in his pocket, “he… he called me, actually. Shoot, I totally forgot I promised to call him this morning…”

“Oh, pog… I already forgot you were with him last night!” Gabriël playfully nudged the jungler’s side when he caught him smile at his screen, “see, it’s good for you!”

“I guess, yeah,” Oskar laughed, and Bwipo was so glad to see the joy return to the jungler’s face.

“So, how about you call him back right now? Ask if you can come over again?” Gabriël suggested.

The jungler nodded slowly, seemingly thinking about it for a moment. There were two reasons why the toplaner was urging Oskar to act here – for one, he just wanted his friend to be happy and, as he remembered his mood from the morning, spending the night with Rasmus did that for him. But also, the chances of Tim and, possibly even Martin, returning to the office to play some League were quite high – at least for the rest of the day, Gabriël wanted nothing more than for the jungler to catch a break.

“Yeah… yeah, I’ll do that.” Oskar finally exclaimed, rising from his gaming chair, “I’ll go call him right away – thanks, Gabriël…!”

“Not for that,” the toplaner smirked, “have fun in the _enemy’s jungle_ , huh?”

“Oh, I will,” Oskar chuckled as he made his way to the door, “see you tomorrow!”

“Oh, heading out already, Oskar? See you tomorrow!” Hylissang chirped as he passed the jungler in the hallway, strolling back into the gaming room.

“Now you missed everything,” Gabriël snickered, opening his League client again.

“You big dummy…” Zdravets smiled as he wrapped his arms around the toplaner from behind, giving his wild hair a soft kiss, “I _meant_ to leave you two alone, you know…”

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense,” the toplaner replied softly, “I think they’ll be okay, you know? All of them, I mean…”

“So Oskar is on his way to Rasmus now?” Zdravets asked curiously.

“Exactly! Gosh, it never fails to surprise me just how much you know…” Gabriël mumbled with a smile.

“I try,” the support remarked with a wide grin, “Alfonso talked with Jesper, by the way… I think we can add those two to the list of people who’ll be okay.”

“Really? That’s amazing! Man, this day has turned into a real banger, hasn’t it?” Bwipo chuckled.

“I guess you could say so, yeah… anyway, you wanna play some more games?” Zdravets asked, walking over to his own PC.

“Sure! Wait… was that the door again?” Gabriël turned around to look down the hallway, “you think Oskar forgot something?”

“Uhm, no, doesn’t sound like Oskar,” the support shrugged as put his hand up to his ear to listen closely, “I think it’s Tim.”

“Wait, you can tell just by the sound of his steps?” The toplaner mumbled, feeling absolutely baffled by the support’s weird skills.

“You can’t? He tends to drag his feet along the floor a little when he –“

“Hi…” Tim murmured as he stepped into the gaming room, not even looking at his teammates as he was headed straight towards his PC.

But, from what Gabriël could tell, the midlaner looked even worse than Oskar had when he had arrived earlier. His face was chalk-white, and the toplaner couldn’t decide whether that was caused by agitation or just being outside in the freezing cold for too long. His eyes looked incredibly sad, and the fact that the Belgian was able to tell was already concerning enough, as the Slovenian’s face normally didn’t give off much information about his emotional state.

“Hey Tim,” Zdravets greeted the midlaner with a smile, “what have you been up to?”

“Not much… I was in the park until just now, Martin came by too.” Tim explained, his eyes now fixated on his illuminated screen.

“R-really?” Bwipo asked, trying his best not to sound too surprised, “did you talk about anything special…?”

“Not really. I’ll start streaming now, okay?” The midlaner asked, his voice sounding as monotonous and indifferent as ever.

 _No, that’s not okay_ , Gabriël thought, his curiosity almost seeping out of his pores now, _I need answers_. The toplaner got up to walk over to the midlaner’s desk – he just needed to ask more questions, didn’t he? After the whole conversation he just had with Oskar, he needed to make sure to find out what caused the Slovenian’s distress, right? But, before he could actually open his mouth, Zdravets got up as well.

“Hey, Gabriël, can I talk to you in the kitchen? I think we should give Tim some space to stream.”

“But he –“ the toplaner started, turning to the midlaner – to his surprise, Tim had already put on his headphones.

“No, I don’t think he’ll mind,” the support smiled, guiding the toplaner outside.

“I don’t understand, how could you not notice how _upset_ he looked?” Bwipo exclaimed when they arrived in the kitchen.

“Of course I noticed… but do you really think it’s any use to _confront_ Tim about that now?” The support sighed, leaning against the fridge, “if he doesn’t want to tell us, he won’t. Now, please, shoot.”

“Huh?” Bwipo huffed, unsure of what Hylissang wanted him to do.

“I mean, start talking… what did Oskar say? Any idea why Tim could be upset after talking to Martin?” Zdravets asked, his expression looking quite serious now.

“Uhm… I don’t know…” Gabriël mumbled, sitting down pensively, “from what I’ve gathered, Oskar told Martin what he needed to do to treat Tim better _,_ so that doesn’t make any sense…”

“Wait, when did Oskar talk to Martin? Does he know where he was when we had our meeting, because I’d really like to know what –“ Zdravets began to ramble, quickly stopping himself to get back to the topic at hand, “anyway… there must be something else.”

“There is one thing but… I don’t know, it would be bad news if it was true.”

“What is it…?” Zdravets’ eyes started glowing - the spiciness of the gossip was obviously getting to him.

“Well… Oskar said that he had this _moment_ with Tim like he felt like they, uhm, were about to kiss?” Gabriël explained hesitantly.

“Today? In the park?” The support asked, staring at his toplaner in disbelief, “oh god… if he was really right about that…”

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions here, right,” Bwipo tried to laugh it off, “I mean, even if it was true, which I doubt, then that doesn’t have to mean that…”

“That Tim broke up with Martin?” Zdravets whispered, grabbing the kitchen counter for support, “because that would be really, really bad for us, Gabriël…!”

“No, hey, no…” Bwipo got up, hurrying to comfort his distressed boyfriend, “I’m sure that’s not it… besides, Oskar is with Rasmus, right? This won’t turn into some sort of soap drama, okay?”

“Aren’t you worried about Oskar…? Not at all?” Zdravets sighed as he leaned his head against the toplaner’s shoulder.

“A little bit, maybe… but that’s why I want him to be with Rasmus, you know? I feel like that’s the right thing for him…”

“Yeah, me too,” the support agreed, “which is exactly why we can’t tell him about how agitated Tim is after talking to Martin.”

“You want me to lie to him?” Gabriël mumbled, feeling uncertain about the Bulgarian’s suggestion, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

“I didn’t say you should lie to him – just tell him that Tim talked to Martin and leave out the… part about him being sad about it.” Zdravets explained as if it was the only logical thing to do.

“You really think that’s for the best…?” Bwipo sighed, grabbing his phone out of his pocket, “wouldn’t that make me a bad best friend?”

“I think it would just show that you care about his happiness…” Zdravets shrugged, “you know Oskar, he’d crack if there was even the tiniest chance that Tim could love him back... and chances are that we are just misinterpreting this whole thing, too.”

“And he could be so happy with Rasmus…” Gabriël flinched, fighting with his consciousness.

“Exactly… this is for the best, Gabriël,” Zdravets whispered, enclosing Bwipo’s hands, which were shakily holding his phone, with his, “you trust me, right?”

“Of course I do,” Gabriël smiled, opening his chat with Oskar, “you’re right, I’ll do it. For him.”

But, as he typed out his message, the toplaner still couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. No matter how small the chances might have been, if the jungler’s hunch about Tim turned out to be true, Gabriël had just dismissed his intuition and, to top things off, he was now actively working against a possible future where Oskar and the midlaner could be together. It was easy to say that he was only doing this to make the jungler happy – but did that make it right?

Bwipo: Hey Oskar, looks like Martin went to the park to talk to Tim right away! He took your advice! Thought you would like to know, have fun with Rasmus ;)

He sighed, re-reading the message a couple of times before hitting send.

“You’re amazing,” Zdravets smiled, placing a soft kiss on the toplaner’s forehead when he put his phone away again, “you know… we could still go out to celebrate if you want.”

“Uff, that sounds great… I already have something in mind,” Gabriël smirked as he rubbed his growling belly.

“I thought so!” The support giggled, pulling the toplaner closer, “we could go out for some Pizza? Vesuvio, perhaps?”

“God, you really have no idea how happy you make me,” Gabriël laughed wrapping his arms around the Bulgarian to give him a tight hug.

Soon after, the both of them left the office to end the day of their two-week-jubilee as festively as it began. The evening was truly blissful, with the warm, fuzzy feeling in Gabriël’s guts persisting until long into the night. Even though they had taken things incredibly slow so far, the toplaner felt as if they were approaching the point where they got comfortable enough to go a step further – in the bedroom, that is. But, even if tonight wasn’t the night they would go all the way for the first time, Gabriël still felt like the luckiest man alive. That made it even harder to shake the feeling that, all around him, the luck of teammates was crumbling – he tried his hardest to push these thoughts to the back of his head to enjoy his special dinner date. But, in the end, Gabriël simply couldn’t let go of his weird sense of foreboding. _Maybe it’s really true?_ He thought as he walked the dark halls of Fnatic’s gaming apartment, hand in hand with Zdravets, _maybe they won’t be okay…?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming in to give us a guest POV, Bwipo - what are your thoughts and feelings on this one?
> 
> You might have noticed by now that this part follows the day of one particular character very closely... last stop, you-know-where!
> 
> Anyway, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	38. Part 9: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! 
> 
> Welcome everybody - this chapter is, yet again, one quite close to my heart! Writing about G2's dynamics is always fun, and there's a lot of that in this POV. I hope you enjoy it just as much!
> 
> Side note: since many of you were slightly disappointed that there was no actual PUNCH in Chapter 36, you might be interested in reading Cavshti's fabulous AU of the scene where that actually happens! Check it out in the comments of Martin's POV :)

It was supposed to be a relaxed Sunday morning, but for Rasmus, it started with a bang – quite literarily. It was the sudden, sharp pain of a slap in the face that woke the Dane up. Rasmus squirmed in confusion, slowly opening his eyes in order to figure out what had just happened to him. Even though Miky had woken him up with a similar element of surprise in the past, it had never felt quite like _this_ – and, after all, he had called their arrangement off the week before, so it couldn’t have been one of the support’s schemes. But, as Rasmus sullenly rubbed his cheek, he realized that he had, in fact, _not_ been the victim of a vicious attack. The loud snores of Oskar, who was lying beside him peacefully in what seemed to be the most uncomfortable sleeping position of all time, were enough to flip the ADC’s mood around again. Slyly, he let his hand slip under the sleeping jungler’s arm to tickle him. Oskar’s body reacted immediately, twitching and fidgeting, and, soon after, his laughter filled the room.

“What – haha, what are you doing, Rasmus?”

“This is payback for you slapping me in your sleep!” Rasmus exclaimed dramatically, bending down to tickle both of Oskar’s sides simultaneously.

“Why would I – hahaha, oh god, stop it!” Oskar stuttered, wheezing helplessly.

“ _Feel my fury with your skin and face!_ ” The ADC chuckled as he continued his offense mercilessly.

“Pff, calm down _, Rumble_!” Oskar smirked as he grabbed the ADC’s wrists, effortlessly pulling him down into his arms.

“Hey, no fair” Rasmus wiggled around, trying to free himself out of the jungler’s tight grip, “I was punishing you!”

“And I’m still shaking in fear,” Oskar snickered, squeezing the ADC even tighter.

“You – you better!” The Dane huffed, gasping for air.

“Oh – sorry, too tight?” The jungler murmured, letting go a little to allow Rasmus to find a comfortable position on his chest.

“Ahhh….” Rasmus exhaled after he had been freed, rubbing his face against Oskar’s scarce chest hair with a smile, “I sure showed you, huh?”

“You sure did…” Oskar smiled, caressing the Dane’s brown hair, “did you sleep well? If you count out how you woke up, I mean…”

“I think so, yeah,” Rasmus nodded, closing his eyes again, “I don’t wanna get up, though.”

“Well, it’s Sunday, isn’t it? I think it’s fine for us to just stay in bed…” Oskar chuckled.

“But I’m _hungry_ …!” Rasmus moaned, cursing out his overly eager stomach in his mind.

“I see… we better do something about that,” Oskar nodded softly, “I don’t know if I’m mentally prepared for another breakfast with the whole G2 crew, though…”

“Aww, but they _love_ you!” Rasmus smirked, patting the jungler’s chest in acknowledgement.

“Haha, well, it’s still a lot, you know?” Oskar chuckled into Rasmus’ messy head of hair.

“I get that, but you’ll get used to it in no time!” Rasmus exclaimed enthusiastically as he got up, still straddling the jungler.

“Hmm…” Oskar hummed, seemingly distracted by the sight of the ADC on his lap.

The suggestive looks of the jungler made Rasmus blush – but the loud grumbling of his stomach was enough to make the Dane switch courses. He took a deep breath, bending down to place a soft kiss on Oskar’s forehead as he gathered his strength for the next step. With another groan, he got up and fished his sweatpants from off the floor.

“It’s that bad, hm? Will you make it to the kitchen?” Oskar joked as he got up as well.

“Uff, we’ll have to see…” Rasmus shrugged, clumsily putting on his shirt, “if everything fails, you’ll carry me, right?”

“In the end, jungle always has to carry,” Oskar grinned as he pulled up his pants.

“Oh, whatever,” Rasmus laughed, strolling out of the room.

With the jungler right behind him, the ADC made his way to the kitchen. Now that he thought about it, Oskar had really stayed over on most nights this past week – and he didn’t even have to ask him to do so. Naturally, due to his complicated past with the Fnatic squad, the Pole had not asked him to stay at their gaming apartment. It was yet another thing that they didn’t have to talk about – like with most other stuff, it just _worked_. Rasmus had never experienced something this uncomplicated in his entire love life, which was, admittingly, not very hard to do. But still, he found himself amazed by Oskar every day. The only weird thing about it was that he couldn’t exactly explain how he felt about the jungler, even though it should be as easy as everything else when it came to the both of them.

“Is everyone still sleeping or what?” Oskar hummed as they walked into the empty kitchen.

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” Rasmus mumbled as he reached up to grab some bowls, “I think there’s someone in the living room…?”

“Ah, yes, I hear it too,” Oskar nodded as he got some spoons out of one of the drawers.

Rasmus smiled as he noticed their effortless morning flow – he already had his favourite box of cereal in the other hand as he decided to change it up a little.

“How about we go eat on the couch, then? I’m curious now…” The Dane asked with big puppy eyes, feeling certain that the jungler would not be able to refuse.

“Sure, why not,” Oskar shrugged as he grabbed some orange juice out of the fridge, “we might as well find out what they are going on about so… go on ahead.”

Rasmus was still walking on clouds as he made his way through the hallway, approaching the voices coming from the living room. The way in which Oskar not only respected, but also shared his interests felt almost surreal to him – even though the jungler played for their rivalling team, he had never really minded spending time with the G2 squad. It made things so much easier for the Dane, especially compared to that one time Martin had stayed over at the gaming apartment. _But I really don’t want to think about that now,_ Rasmus thought, shuddering slightly as he entered the viewing area. On the big couch, Miky and Sam were chatting casually, not even noticing the ADC and the jungler approaching them at first. It was a rather unusual sight, as the two of them usually didn’t have much to do with each other as far as Rasmus was concerned; well, except for their continuously matching wardrobe in the mornings, which was a mystery that the Dane had not yet given up on solving. The ominous aura surrounding the Blonde and the support only caused the curiosity in the ADC’s eyes to glow brighter.

“Morning guys, watcha doing?” Rasmus beamed as he let himself fall onto the couch.

“Good morning,” Oskar nodded as he carefully sat down beside Rasmus.

“What a nice surprise!” Sam smiled brightly, sitting herself up a bit straighter, “we’re just having a chat, nothing special, really.”

“This and that,” Mihael shrugged, turning his attention to Oskar, “I’m sure _you_ have some much more interesting things to say, right?”

“Uhm, what?” Oskar mumbled as he filled the bowls on the couch table with cereal, “why would I?”

“I don’t know, I can only imagine how fascinating what’s going on in your head might be…” Mihael grinned as he leaned forward suggestively.

“Good call! Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself, Oskar?” Sam giggled next to the support.

“Guys, I know I’m not one to talk, but your flirting is kind of cringy…” Rasmus chuckled, reaching for the orange juice to take a sip.

“I’m flattered,” Oskar smiled as he started munching on his cereal, “but I don’t think I’m interesting enough to live up to your expectations.”

“Aww, now you’re just being too humble,” Rasmus said as he tilted his head to look at the jungler.

“Fine, fine, you don’t have to say anything,” Miky sighed, “but you could at least stop wearing your street clothes in the morning, that just looks uncomfortable…”

“Right, I was wondering about that too!” Sam chirped in, demonstrating how loose and comfortable her large T-Shirt was by flopping it around a couple of times, “I’m sure Mihael could provide you with something if Rasmus’ comfy wear doesn’t fit you.”

“Uhm, I don’t know about that,” Oskar said, scratching his head nervously.

“Stop it guys, we really don’t need a third person wearing the same outfit every morning,” Rasmus smirked, looking directly at his support, “I still want to know what’s up with that… come on, just tell me!”

“Honestly, telling you could _never_ be as much fun as not telling you is,” Mihael said with an evil grin, “it just cracks me up how much it bothers you.”

“I’ve just stopped wondering about it at this point – it’s sort of cute, right?” Sam shrugged, playfully swinging her arm around Miky, “it just makes us look like _besties,_ doesn’t it?”

“I’m not sure whether that’s a club I want to join,” Oskar joked, looking a bit more at ease again.

“At least consider joining G2 though, okay?” Miky suggested, “we’d sign Jankos over to Fnatic in a heartbeat.”

“Yikes Miky…!” Rasmus laughed, almost choking on his cereal.

“You’re always so hard on Marcin…” Sam tilted her head slightly, “why’s that?”

“He just makes it too easy,” Miky shrugged with a smug grin.

“Where are the other guys anyway?” Oskar asked casually, “breakfast is usually such a big event around here…”

“Well, for starters, it’s past 1 pm… it was already a stretch to say, _‘good morning’_.” Miky explained as he leaned back.

“Oh, come on, we’re gamers, Miky,” Rasmus smirked as he put his empty bowl down, “you can’t expect us to wake up before noon on a Sunday…”

“I’d say that’s accurate,” Sam smiled, swinging one leg above the other, “Luka is still sleeping… I guess he needs his rest after what went down last night!”

“Ayooo!” Mihael exclaimed, enthusiastically giving Sam a high-five.

“Wait, what do you mean…?” Rasmus blinked a couple of times, “did you guys…together…?”

“No, Rasmus – but what’s wrong with getting excited when people openly talk about their sexual encounters?” Mihael remarked, rolling his eyes.

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility though…” Sam slyly winked at the support, causing the both of them to break out in laughter again.

“You two oddly suit each other…” Oskar mumbled, refilling his bowl with some more cereal.

“I don’t know if I want to know more about this so – uhm, do you also happen to know where Wunder and Jankos are?” Rasmus asked, sipping on another glass of orange juice.

“Martin and Marcin… now that’s a really odd couple!” Sam exclaimed, clapping her hands together in awe.

“Gross thought,” Mihael shuddered, “but they did go out together, to the gym or something.”

“Really? Since when do they get along…?” Rasmus wondered, remembering their confrontation on Valentine’s day the week before.

“Oh, they don’t,” Miky explained with a grin, “that’s why Grabbz told them to spend some time together – to get over their differences.”

“Daddy Grabbz has spoken,” Sam nodded, crossing her arms knowingly.

“Oh god, I won’t be able to get that image out of my mind,” Oskar laughed. 

“To be fair, they do act like children around each other,” Rasmus remarked, shaking his head dismissively as if he wasn’t the youngest member of the team.

“Well, let’s hope they somehow manage to grow up and move on today, hm?” Mihael said, attempting to look serious about it.

“Ah, just let them be…” Sam smiled softly, “I’m much more curious about something else… Rasmus, Oskar – what do you two have going on…? Are you official yet?”

“Oh my god, yes, please tell us…!” Mihael added quickly, looking more than just excited about this switch of topic.

“Uhm…” Rasmus hummed, nervously glancing over at Oskar, “I don’t know…?”

“We haven’t really talked about the specifics but… I thought _labels_ weren’t a thing in this household, honestly,” Oskar grinned, putting his arm around the ADC, “we’re just getting along well, that’s all that matters, right?”

“Oh, good point – otherwise, I’m sure you could tell us whether you and Perkz are dating, right Sam?” Rasmus added.

“I guess that’s fair,” Sam sighed, “but some details would still be nice…”

“Yeah, I’d even be fine with Baseball-terms at this point… I would bet on third base at least, what do you think, Sam?” Mihael asked, nudging the Blonde’s side playfully.

“Hmm, I don’t know, they’re just so cute – I think second?” Sam wondered, eyeing the Dane and the Pole carefully.

“You guys are impossible, I –“ Oskar started, being interrupted by a loud alert from his phone, “…oh, damn. I guess we’ll have to postpone this, I have to go.”

“What, where do you have to go on a Sunday…?” Rasmus asked, barely able to hide his disappointment. He was hoping on spending the day with the jungler, after all.

“Looks like there’s another emergency meeting today… wait, in 30 minutes? Damn, I have to hurry,” Oskar mumbled as he jumped up.

“Mithy sure has a tight grip on you guys,” Rasmus sighed, “maybe we can see each other afterwards?”

“No promises, Mithy is particularly strict with us lately,” Oskar explained, already heading towards the door, “but I’ll call you!”

“Bye jungler of my dreams,” Mihael waved with a cocky grin.

“Come back soon!” Sam exclaimed, shooting the jungler some smooches.

“You guys…!” Rasmus smirked after Oskar had left the room, “would you cut it out already…”

“Come on, Rasmus, you can’t blame us for _shipping it_ ,” Sam shrugged, “look at him, would you?”

“Exactly… why don’t you go for it, man? Don’t tell me he’s bad in bed…?” Mihael inquired, pushing back his glasses.

“What? No!” Rasmus shrieked, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, “I mean… I don’t know, we haven’t really done…much.”

“Second base, _right_? Was I right?” Sam whispered with wide eyes.

“Uhm, if that’s kissing and some… touching? Then yes,” Rasmus mumbled, staring down at his feet.

“Dude, I really thought you were better than this,” Mihael sighed, running his fingers through his hair, “it’s been over a week since your first date, and he’s stayed over several nights – what have you guys even been doing?”

“Well… we talk, play games, watch movies… it’s just chill, you know? The other stuff just hasn’t really come up…” the Dane explained quietly, somehow feeling weirdly embarrassed about it.

“And that sounds very sweet,” Sam reassured Rasmus with a wide smile, “I’m sure you’ll move on to the next base once you both feel comfortable, right?”

“I don’t know, I just feel like things get awkward as soon as we start making out?” The ADC sighed as he put down his glass.

“Probably because you still think about Rekkles all the time, huh?” Mihael said mockingly, laughing at his own joke right after.

But Rasmus didn’t laugh.

“….no, Rasmus, that can't be right,” Miky mumbled, now sounding much more serious, “it was a joke, a JOKE!”

“I can’t help it,” Rasmus explained with a sad smile, “I just can’t seem to forget about him…”

“Oh sweetie…” Sam mumbled, shuffling closer to the ADC to give him a soft hug, “I’m so sorry, that must be terrible…”

“No kidding, he’s like, the biggest jerk,” Miky grumbled, crossing his arms sullenly, “I know people say that about me all the time, but still.”

All of the sudden, almost as if the word _jerk_ had been his cue, Luka casually strolled into the living room with a big yawn. He proceeded to look at the collection of people sprawled out on the big couch, blinking a couple of times to take in the weird scene in front of him.

“Uhm, morning guys, what’s going on here…?”

“Morning hun,” Sam smiled as she turned to look at the midlaner, “would you help us with this, actually?”

“Rasmus still has the hots for Rekkles,” Miky rolled his eyes hard, “which just sounds like a bad joke at this point…”

“Mikyyyy…! Don’t make it sound like I want this, okay?” Rasmus wailed in frustration.

“Rasmus, I have to admit, Rekkles is clearly the wrong choice here,” Luka sighed as he sat down in between Sam and Miky, “what speaks against Oskar, exactly?”

“Nothing…” Rasmus moaned, covering his eyes with his hands, “it’s not something I can just decide _,_ okay? It’s not my fault that my heart still wants… Martin.”

“Your _heart_?” Mihael shuddered, looking absolutely aghast, “I knew it was bad, but that’s just… fucking cheesy, man.”

“Mihael, that’s not very nice,” Sam mumbled, shooting Miky an angry glance before turning back to comforting the ADC, “I understand that you still have feelings for him, but you understand that he’s not good for you, right?”

“Of course I do…” Rasmus murmured, burying his face in the Blonde’s locks.

It was probably the closest he had ever been to a girl, now that he thought about it – since he had never really been interested in his female classmates back in school, the possibility had never really come up. But Rasmus found himself enjoying the comforting warmth of Sam’s body, combined with her soothing words. Suddenly, he noticed that both Miky and Perkz were staring at him, almost as if they envied him for the way he was being pressed to the Blonde’s bosom. The midlaner crossed his arms and started to look weirdly grim.

“Oh Luka…” Sam laughed as she noticed as well, slowly letting go of Rasmus, “you’re not jealous again, are you?”

“Jealous? Don’t make me laugh,” the midlaner murmured, seemingly forcing himself to grin.

“Yeah, why would a living legend like you need to be jealous of anyone? Especially not some _low-life jungler_ , right?” Miky smirked, ruffling Luka’s buzzcut playfully.

“Is this about Sam’s date with Jankos again?” Rasmus asked carefully, jumping at the opportunity to change topics immediately.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Luka said firmly.

“Come on, boo,” Sam smiled, moving closer to the midlaner, “Mihael just told me that you had a hard time with it, you might as well admit it…?”

Immediately, Luka turned to his support, glaring at him angrily.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, it was too funny not to share…” Miky shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the furious Croatian.

“Besides, Mihael found a way to distract you, didn’t he?” Sam whispered, running her finger down the midlaner’s chest suggestively.

“That’s just… uhm…” Luka mumbled, but the sudden change of mood seemed to have robbed him of the ability to enunciate.

“Don’t you think there’s an easy fix for this…?” Mihael smirked, mirroring the Blonde’s movements.

“I think this is something that you should discuss in _private_?” Rasmus asked carefully as he noticed how weirdly heated up the situation was getting, slowly trying to get off the couch.

“Don’t go, Rasmus!” Luka exclaimed nervously before quickly reeling himself back in, “I mean – you can stay, it’s no big deal, right?”

“Hmm, not even when I say that we could…” Sam leaned in to whisper into Luka’s ear, causing the midlaner to blush in an instant.

“You can’t just do what you want all the time…” Luka mumbled, grabbing his phone out of his pocket in an obvious attempt to distract himself, “… what’s this?”

“What, is your consciousness calling or something?” Miky snickered, still sitting awfully close to the midlaner.

“Worse, it’s Mithy…” Luka sighed, scanning through the message, “he’s totally out of it lately… looks like he needs a favour.”

“Oh, let me guess – he wants you to be the surprise guest for his emergency meeting!” Rasmus grinned, imagining Luka jumping out of a giant cake.

“Very funny, Rasmus… no, he says that he needs me to keep Rekkles from coming to the office…weird, but okay,” the midlaner shrugged as he got up from the couch.

“You’re not even going to ask him _why_ …?” Sam inquired curiously.

“Nah, I can already imagine what he had in mind… besides, I’d probably do anything for that feisty dude,” Luka laughed, stretching out his arms and legs a little.

"It's a bit suspicious though - why would Rekkles go to the office on a Sunday?" Mihael pondered, scratching his chin.

"It's because he's on top of his game," Rasmus explained with a sad smile, "after the scoring that penta, he'll put in extra hours because he doesn't want to come back down."

After all this time, it almost hurt Rasmus that he still knew Martin better than anyone else. _You'd think I would have forgotten after all this time_ , he thought with a sigh, sinking deeper into the couch by the second. But he still remembered every mole on the Swede's body, every doubt he had ever expressed, and every silly remark that had ever made him laugh. Around Rasmus, the others were still surprised by his sudden theory, but not enough to doubt or question it.

“Okay, fair enough, but anyway... would you mind me coming with you, Luka?” Miky asked, looking quite eager to go out on a mission as well.

“You want to be a part of the show, don’t you?” The midlaner chuckled, “sure, the more the merrier.”

"Awesome! God, I've been waiting to roast him for so long...!" Miky chirped in excitement, jumping up from the couch.

"Roast him?? I - I can't imagine that's what Mithy had in mind!" Rasmus stammered, feeling weirdly agitated by the thought of the chaotic Duo attacking his former lover.

"Maybe not... but there's some room for interpretation if you ask me," Luka snickered, "besides, a mission like this just calls for drama, doesn't it?"

“Drama? Oh boy, I also want to –“ Sam started, but before she could finish, she caught a glimpse of Rasmus’ solemn expression.

“I mean… I’ll stay here with Rasmus, you guys have fun, hm?” She said, rubbing the ADC’s shoulder lovingly.

“Please just don't overdo it... and don’t make it about me, okay?” Rasmus mumbled.

“Yeah, right… see you guys later!” Luka said, waving lazily as him and Mihael left the room.

And, for the first time ever, Rasmus found himself alone in a room with Sam. The Blonde was certainly not shy when it came to body contact, as she was still caressing his shoulder long after he had actually needed any comfort. Then again, it was not like he really minded – coming from her, it just felt genuinely nice, nothing more than that. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t really know much about her at all, even though she had been a regular visitor for several weeks by now. Maybe this was the perfect time to get to know her a little better.

“So, Sam,” Rasmus began, turning to look at her more closely, “I always wondered where you’re from? I don’t think we’ve talked about that.”

“Hmm, right, I know where all of you are from, so it never really crossed my mind – I’m from the UK.”

“Oh, right, I should have known that,” Rasmus scratched his chin, feeling slightly embarrassed for not figuring this one out judged on Sam’s obviously British accent.

“It’s fine, really – I grew up in this awfully small village, so it was a real treat to move out to a big city like Berlin for my work.” The Blonde smiled.

“Oh really? What do you do for work, anyway?” Rasmus wondered, feeling as if he really knew nothing about the girl sitting next to him at all.

“I work in software engineering,” she shrugged slightly, “it’s not as exciting as your job, if you ask me…”

 _Wow, what?_ Rasmus thought, feeling genuinely surprised.

“I didn’t think you’d –“ he began, stopping himself right after.

“That I’d what?” Sam asked, looking back at the ADC in confusion.

“Nothing…I was about to say something sexist, I think – forgive me,” Rasmus mumbled with a crooked smile.

 _Of course a beautiful woman can work in IT – why wouldn’t she? Come on Rasmus, it’s 2020_ , he thought, pinching himself in his mind.

“Oh, it’s fine… most people are surprised about my work. I don’t see it as an insult, really,” Sam chuckled, placing her hand on the ADC’s for reassurance, “you should have seen Luka’s face when I told him – he probably thought I was just another self-proclaimed influencer or something, you know?”

“I can imagine… what’s up with you and Luka anyway?” Rasmus asked carefully, remembering the heated discussion from before.

“Hmm, I’m not sure… I really like him though.” She explained, nodding slightly.

“And Jankos…?” Rasmus continued, feeling as if now was the time to gather some information.

Sam took a deep breath, leaning back against the couch’s fluffy cushions. She seemingly needed some time to think about this one.

“Marcin is a funny guy, and I had a lot of fun with him last week… but I think we agreed that that’s about it.”

“Oh really? But he really _fancies you_ , doesn’t he?” The ADC remarked, thinking about the jungler’s eager attempts to get the Blonde’s attention at all times.

“Yeah, but it didn’t take me long to realize that he fancies most women that are easy to look at,” Sam chuckled, playing with her locks, “I don't think it's about me, really. I promised him to hook him up with a friend of mine, that made him more than happy, you know?”

“Hmm, yeah, that does sound like Jankos,” Rasmus agreed with a wide grin, “you don’t happen to have another friend for Wunder, do you? He hasn’t been on a date in a while now…”

“You’re so sweet, Rasmus… I’ll ask Martin the next time I see him, okay?” Sam patted the ADC’s head in appreciation.

“Thanks, I try…” He mumbled, feeling slightly flustered by the nice compliments the Blonde kept showering him with,"wait - have you told Perkz about any of this? He still seems so tense around Jankos most of the time."

"Hmm... no, I guess I haven't," she admitted, "I'll try to soon - I feel bad about keeping it to myself, but he's just too cute when he's jealous..."

"Jealous, yeah..." Rasmus mumbled, staring up on the ceiling as his mind suddenly jumped to a whole different topic, “see, Sam, there’s something else I’ve been asking myself for a while now…”

“And what’s that…?”

“Well, since you seem to know about the thing with Perkz and Miky, I was wondering how you felt about it? I’m not really involved anymore, but it’s still a bit strange for me…” Rasmus sighed, staring down at his hands.

“Hmm, I see what you mean… I don’t know, I guess it fascinates me?” Sam tilted her heard, seemingly still pondering, “I’ve never been with a guy who was this _… open_ to new experiences, you know?”

“Soooo it’s just fun and games for you?” Rasmus wondered.

With a warm smile, Sam shook her head.

“No, I think I really, really fancy Luka. It’s quite exciting, actually.”

“But he doesn’t know that, does he? Why didn’t you just go out with him on Valentine’s day, then…?” Rasmus asked carefully, feeling genuinely confused by the Blonde’s sudden confession.

“I don’t know, I guess the idea of being serious with someone scares me a little… besides, he doesn’t seem to be interested in that, does he?” She mumbled, suddenly looking oddly serious, “I think we’re both just focussed on maintaining our fun lifestyle for now.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that…” Rasmus remarked, “he did seem to be pretty jealous today, right? Your new ‘bestie’ Miky and you teased him a lot, at least…”

“You’re not wrong,” Sam chuckled softly, putting her arm around Rasmus, “maybe I should just have another chat with Mihael, he’s a lot easier to talk to than Luka when it comes to this.”

“Probably because you guys are so similar,” Rasmus nodded his head with a crooked grin, “not just clothes-wise, I mean.”

“Maybe, yeah,” Sam smiled, quickly checking the time on her phone, “thanks for this, Rasmus – I think I need to head out now, sadly.”

“What? Where do you have to go on a Sunday…?” The Dane asked, wondering what was up with all these weird weekend-obligations popping up.

“I just wanted to get some stuff out of the office, I have a big deadline coming up,” Sam explained as she got up, “but I’ll probably drop by again later?”

“That would be nice,” Rasmus smiled, waving the Blonde goodbye.

After Sam had blown another kiss into the air, she disappeared into the hallway to get ready in Perkz’ room. And, after a morning filled with chatter and a variety of different people, Rasmus was suddenly all alone. It was a rare thing to have the gaming apartment all to himself, as most of his teammates tended to stay in to game all day long. But here he was, roaming the empty rooms in the search of something to do. Even though Rasmus tried his best, it was hard not to think about all the exciting, but also terrifying things that were going on while he was on his own. Oskar was attending some sort of weird emergency meeting that couldn’t possibly be good news, Perkz and Miky had been ordered to deal with Rekkles, which was also scary enough, and no one could tell what exactly Jankos and Wunder were up to. All that the ADC could do was wonder – but, instead, he decided to spend his time with a SoloQ-stream on Twitch. That way, he killed two birds with one stone – distracting himself from his worries while also getting in some more practice.

Even though Rasmus generally felt like his life was looking up, his performance in his last few stage games didn’t exactly reflect that. Losing three out of four games after going 6-0 in the first three weeks of the Spring Split did, however, at least resonate with G2’s chaotic nature. The ADC knew that they would bounce back eventually, as there was no way for the best team in the West to just keep losing from now on – but, still, there was enhanced pressure right now. Rasmus and Mihael had worked on increasing their synergy outside of the bedroom this past week, and although it had admittingly been harder than before, the Dane felt like they were getting somewhere with it. At this point, he just needed to put in a little more work. Luckily, his Twitch chat on this day was particularly encouraging, making him smile even in defeat.

After streaming for a couple of hours, Rasmus decided that he needed another change of course. Sure, engaging with his fans while grinding LP was plenty of fun – but the way in which only his own voice echoed through the gaming apartment still made the ADC feel lonely. As Rasmus got up from his gaming chair, shaking his right leg a little as it had fallen asleep, he wondered what he could do to make himself feel a little better. He grabbed his phone, scrolling through his contacts. When his thumb scrolled over Martin’s name, his heart skipped a beat – he stared at his screen, feeling annoyed about the fact that his body would just automatically react to something as simple as reading his name.

It was just like he had told his teammates and Sam earlier; it was not like he _chose_ to feel any of this. Especially now, after the last falling out he had had with Martin and the great Valentine’s day date he had had with Oskar, he wanted nothing more than to just forget about the ADC and fall head over heels for the jungler. _If only there was some sort of switch I could flip to make it happen,_ Rasmus thought with a sigh as he let himself fall on the couch in the living room _, I would do it in a heartbeat_. But he was not that naïve. The Dane knew that he would have to deal with these complicated feelings for some more time, just as certainly as he knew that the Pole was still dealing with his feelings for Nemesis. In a way, it might have been this distinct similarity that had drawn them to each other from the beginning. _But there’s so much more now_ , Rasmus thought as he smiled at Oskar’s name on his screen _, he was right – who cares about labels as long as we get along this well_.

And, with a fluffy feeling filling his stomach, Rasmus decided to call Oskar. He had already tried to reach out to his jungler on a toilet break from his stream, but he hadn’t picked up the phone back then, and Rasmus had figured that he was probably still involved in heavy debates in Fnatic’s office. Since the meeting should have been over for a while now, the jungler should have some free time on his hands. Sure, one might argue that Rasmus should just wait, since Oskar had told the ADC that he would call him – but the Dane didn’t particularly have any patience for that in his current state of mind. To his disappointment, he was greeted by the jungler’s voicemail yet again. It felt incredibly cheesy, but Rasmus was simply not used to not having any contact with Oskar all day long, so he sincerely hoped that the Pole would get back to him eventually. But, more than anything else, he started to get worried about what might be going on in the enemy’s quarters – yes, above all, he was just hoping that Oskar was okay.

With one more worry roaming his mind, Rasmus was now desperate to find something to distract him again. Conveniently enough, he found one of his Magic cards lying on the floor next to the couch. He picked it up, carefully eying the intricate design of the illustration – only to find himself in the mood for sorting through his deck. _If only Miky was here, then we could play a round_ , Rasmus pondered as he flipped through the cards, trying to optimize his set-up for his next battle with the support. It had truly been a joy when the both of them had discovered their shared interest in the card game – it was another opportunity to connect that couldn’t have come up at a better time. Right now, as Rasmus began to play an imaginary match against himself, that thought made him miss Miky even more. _I suck at being alone_ , he thought with a sigh, lying his head down on the table, right on top of his meticulously aligned cards.

It was, yet again, the loud growl of his stomach that urged the ADC to act according to his bodily needs. He hastily piled up his cards on the side of the couch table and slouched towards the kitchen. Since the team’s chef had his day off on Sundays, Rasmus didn’t really have high hopes of finding anything edible, but he decided to take a look anyway. Besides some milk, coke and orange juice, he found nothing but a glass of sausages in the fridge – and he definitely didn’t feel _that_ desperate just yet. _Ordering food it is,_ Rasmus thought as he strolled back towards the living room. He grabbed an energy drink out of the mini fridge in the gaming area, feeling thankful for G2’s convenient Redbull sponsorship. As he was juggling the hardest question of them all – _pizza or burger_ – in his head, Rasmus spend an unusual long amount of time searching for his phone. He had the tendency to leave it laying around sometimes, but he normally found it right away – today, he needed its buzzing to locate it in between the couch’s cushions. He started smiling instantly when he saw who the caller was.

“Hey Oskar,” he said, eagerl pacing around the living room in circles.

“Hey Rasmus,” the jungler greeted the ADC, but he didn’t sound quite as enthusiastic.

“Are you okay? I was just about to order some…pizza, yes I think I want pizza. You could come over if you want?”

“Sure, yeah… I’ve had a bit of a weird day you could say, but I’d like to come.” The jungler explained, still sounding rather sad.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rasmus said, pondering what the reason for Oskar’s distress might be, “I have the place all to myself, so we can do whatever you want to cheer you up!”

“Rasmus, are you trying to seduce me?” Oskar said, and Rasmus was relieved to hear him laugh.

“I don’t know, am I?” The ADC smirked, blushing a little, “I mean, maybe I could _seduce you_ into playing some _Magic: The Gathering_ with me?”

“You sure know how to tempt me!” The jungler replied swiftly, and it sounded like he was walking outside by now.

“Damn right I do,” Rasmus beamed, almost as if the guy on the other line could actually see his facial expressions, “are you on your way? I’ll order us some pepperoni pizzas if you want?”

“Sounds lovely, I’ll take one with a cheesy crust please,” Oskar obediently placed his order.

“Right away sir, the pizza will arrive in 30 minutes – if it doesn’t, it’s free!”

“We’re not in NA, Rasmus,” Oskar laughed, “hope I will be able to be there in 30 minutes, though.”

“You and me both,” the ADC smiled into the phone without even noticing, “see you soon!”

“Yeah, see you.”

Still feeling giddy with happiness, Rasmus sat back down on the couch to place his online order in one of his favourite pizza places. Even though Vesuvio was not the closest restaurant that delivered in the apartment’s area, it remained his first choice, for several years now. It was partially because of its nostalgic value, but mostly because the pizza just tasted so damn good. To be fair, those factors might have influenced each other as well. After successfully placing the order, the terribly dreadful part of actually waiting on the food to arrive began. Today, it was even more tedious, as he was also waiting on Oskar to come around. With a grunt, Rasmus threw himself back on the couch, now lying flat on his back. He raised his phone in the air and held it above his head, playing some sort of idle game he had downloaded some time ago. After remaining in the same position for a while, the phone somehow slipped right out of Rasmus’ hands, falling flat on his face. The sharp, sudden pain took the ADC back to the way he woke up this morning – these silly little accidents just kept coming his way today.

To his luck, the doorbell rang only seconds after Rasmus had gotten up to rub his hurting face. The wait was finally over – but what would await him on the other side of the door? Was it food or something even tastier?

“Hello, you ordered two pepperoni pizzas…?” The delivery guy asked hesitantly as he looked up and down the ADC’s thin physique.

“Yes, that’s right,” Rasmus grinned confidently, “I’m carb-loading, you know?”

“Uhm, what?” The delivery guy squinted at the Dane, looking absolutely confused by the small guy’s attempt to flex his muscles.

“He’s still got a long way to go,” a familiar voice said, and moments after, Oskar climbed the final flight of stairs to reach G2’s apartment.

“Oh, hey Oskar,” Rasmus smiled as he handed the delivery guy an extra big tip to make up for his shenanigans, “I guess I could give you one of my pizzas since you’re here now… but only because I’m feeling gracious!”

The absolutely irritated-looking delivery guy mumbled a quick _thank you_ as he handed the pizzas over and fled the scene as fast as possible.

“That poor guy,” Oskar shook his head as he greeted Rasmus with a tight hug, “you must be bored out of your mind, huh?”

“I’m lost, yeah,” Rasmus agreed, taking a moment to appreciate the jungler’s pleasant scent.

“Hmm, these pizzas smell amazing, though,” Oskar eagerly licked his lips as he let go to head inside.

“Yeah, I’m super hungry too,” Rasmus explained as he walked on ahead to the living room.

The jungler took off his shoes first and then proceeded to follow the ADC. Even though his remarks seemed to be as charming as ever, it was this moment of sudden silence that reminded Rasmus of the fact that something was up with Oskar. Even though the amazing odour of the pizzas already caused the water to gather in the Dane’s mouth, he was determined to ask the jungler about the troubles of his day first as the both of them sat down on the couch.

“So, everyone’s out, huh?” Oskar asked as he opened one of the pizza cartons.

“Yeah, don’t ask me what they are all up to…” Rasmus sighed, feeling weirdly abandoned by all of his teammates.

Oskar gave the ADC a reassuring smile as he noticed his sullen look. “But it’s also nice, hm? Now we can decide what we want to watch by ourselves… it’s not that I really mind _,_ but I’m not completely on board with Miky’s Anime nights.”

“Oh yeah, there’s this baking show on Netflix that I love watching at the moment – they actually invite like, the _worst bakers_ of all time to recreate these great cakes? They all fail so hard, it’s hilarious!” Rasmus chuckled as he reached for the remote.

“That sounds relatable to me, I can barely manage to make pancakes,” Oskar shrugged, picking up his first slice of pizza, “even with pancake-mix, I might add.”

“Man, you would be a great contestant for the show…” Rasmus said, imagining how dreamy the jungler would look in an apron for a moment, “but – uhm, I actually meant to ask you about your day? Since you said it was rough?”

“Yeah… the meeting was a disaster, honestly.” Oskar sighed, staring at the pizza in his hand with sad eyes.

“What was it even about…?” Rasmus asked carefully, taking a hesitant bite out of the slice in his hands.

“Well, Alfonso started making all of this accusations _;_ he somehow found out about Tim going out with Martin and started bombarding Tim with all of these questions? I felt so bad for him… Martin couldn’t even be bothered to show up, though.” The jungler grumbled, reaching out to grab another serving of the greasy goods.

“Huh…” Rasmus mumbled, “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but I think Mithy actually asked Perkz to keep Martin busy? He and Miky left like, hours ago…”

“What, really?” The jungler murmured, looking genuinely surprised, “I can’t believe he actually told the truth… I was sure that was just some weird excuse.”

“What do you mean? When did you talk to him…?” Rasmus asked with big eyes, following the story eagerly – but there was this weird feeling growing stronger in his guts.

Oskar started to look uneasy and leaned forward to steady himself a bit. He put down his half-eaten slice of pizza and clasped his hands together before he continued.

“I went to see him after my walk with Tim because… he told me Martin told him not to hang out with me anymore? It just seemed so… ridiculous.”

“It does sound weird,” Rasmus admitted – but, more than that, the thought of the other ADC’s jealousy about someone else somehow felt like a stab in the chest. The feeling was so strong that the Dane didn't even register that Oskar had been out on a walk with Nemesis, even though that was certainly of interest for him.

“Right… so I went to see Martin to tell him to stop messing with everyone – I just felt like I’d kept my mouth shut for too long, right?” Oskar explained, somehow looking embarrassed.

“Uhm, what do you mean by that?” Rasmus asked, smiling nervously.

“You know… he played with Tim’s feelings when he dropped him to get back with you but…” Oskar turned to look Rasmus in the eye, “he broke your heart too, didn’t he? I hate him for that.”

“I – I guess…” Rasmus whispered, feeling incredibly flustered by the jungler’s words, “so… what did Martin have to say to all that?”

“He didn’t exactly take it well… it was a bad fight.” Oskar sighed, leaning his head back.

“Oh boy, did you throw the first punch? Was it like in Tekken or…?” Rasmus joked, imaging both Martin and Oskar in dashing Karate attire.

The jungler glanced over, looking even more ashamed than before.

“It wasn’t a… punch. But I guess I did kind of… grabbed him?”

“Wait, what?” Rasmus mumbled as he leaned forward, staring at the Pole bewilderedly, “you mean you _actually_ got into a physical fight?”

“I didn’t want to, but… he just kept provoking me, denying he did anything wrong and – and I just wanted him to shut up. I let go again quickly, but I still feel terrible about it…” Oskar sighed, pulling down his cap to hide cover his eyes.

“Aww, hey…” Rasmus mumbled, moving in a bit closer to comfort the jungler, “I’m sure it was okay, it doesn’t sound serious at least… thanks for fighting for my honour, hm?”

“Right…” Oskar hummed with a slight smile, “I guess it turned out to be okay in the end… he even agreed to follow my advice.”

“Sweet,” Rasmus nodded, picking up a slice of his pizza, “sooo… that was the whole meeting? Tim and Martin? How delightful…”

“I wish,” Oskar huffed, leaning forward to continue eating as well, “Alfonso also found out about you and I.”

 _Perkz, how could you…!_ Rasmus thought, angrily glaring into the distance for a moment.

“That’s… weird. I hope you’re not in trouble?”

“No, it’s okay – the whole meeting turned out to be about Alfonso’s own relationship trouble in the end, so we’re all of the hook.” Oskar explained calmly, munching away.

“What a wild ride…” Rasmus said in astonishment, “but I’m glad there’s no issues when it comes to… well, whatever we got going on?”

“Yeah, me too…” Oskar agreed with a slight nod, “I guess everything’s going to work out eventually and –“

The jungler’s utterance was interrupted by a loud notification sound. He quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket, looking at the text he had just received.

“Hmm, it’s like I thought… Bwipo just texted me – apparently, Martin went to the park to talk with Tim right away. He took my advice quite quickly… good for them.” Oskar said as if he was okay with it, but his facial expression begged to differ.

“I don’t know… it kind of _sucks,_ doesn’t it?” Rasmus mumbled, leaning back with a sigh.

“Honestly, yeah… even though Martin was a lot nicer towards the end today, I still think Tim deserves so much better…” Oskar said, turning his head to look at Rasmus again, “and so do you.”

“Hmm, well,” Rasmus replied, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks again as he noticed how close his face was to the jungler’s, “nothing against Tim, but he’s obviously blind for not wanting to be with you…”

“You think?” Oskar smiled, leaning in a bit closer to the ADC.

“I do…” Rasmus whispered as he reached out to caress the jungler’s cheek.

There was a short moment of sweet longing before the both of them closed the distance between them, kissing each other softly. Oskar pulled Rasmus close, wrapping his arms around the smaller guys’ waist to lift him on his lap effortlessly. What started off as a careful smooch turned into a wildly passionate kiss, with Rasmus soon feeling the jungler’s tongue searching for his. The ADC’s heart was pumping so much faster than before, and his whole body tingled in excitement in an instant. Rasmus let his hands travel up and down Oskar’s body, eager to finally fully explore it. Suddenly, he felt Oskar smile against his lips.

“What is it…?” Rasmus asked, pulling away briefly.

“It’s just… I don’t think you’ve ever been this uhm… _excited_ before when we kissed?” Oskar mumbled, biting his lower lip.

As he processed the jungler’s words, Rasmus looked down to find that he had a raging hard-on – but his erection was easily overshadowed by the one he spotted in Oskar’s pants. The ADC was somehow incredibly embarrassed, even though this reaction was perfectly normal in a situation like this.

“Uhm… I – uhm…” Rasmus stuttered, looking back and forth between the jungler’s crotch and his eyes, “we, uhm, probably shouldn’t do this, right…?”

“Don’t worry, no one else is around, right?” Oskar grinned.

“I mean, uhm, do this in general, not just here…?” Rasmus asked shyly, with the weird, awkward embarrassment rising up to show in his face.

“It’s okay, Rasmus…” Oskar whispered, cupping the Dane’s face with both of his hands, “you don’t have to be embarrassed. We don’t owe anyone anything, do we?”

And, as he stared into the Pole’s ice-blue eyes and melted in his hands, Rasmus realized that he was right. There was nothing to be ashamed about. He nodded slowly, closing his eyes as he bent back down to kiss Oskar again. It didn’t feel awkward now – and, for the first time, Rasmus felt as if there was nothing holding him back. He let his desires roam free, slipping his hands underneath the jungler’s sweatshirt to fully feel him up. Oskar did the same, softly stroking his back and his sides as he kissed the ADC passionately. In a swift motion, both of their shirts were thrown onto the living room floor, which enabled the jungler to let his kisses roam down Rasmus’ neck to his chest. It was when his hands followed, travelling down towards their sweatpants, that the jungler hesitated and pulled away.

“You’re sure you want this, right? Because I really want to do… _this_ ,” This jungler mumbled as his finger suggestively slid underneath the ADC’s waistband.

“Yeah, let’s do it…!” Rasmus panted, holding on to Oskar’s neck with one hand while his other moved to mirror the other guy’s movements.

The both of them leaned their foreheads against each other as they looked down with arousal in their stares and the sound of their heavy breathing filling the room. Rasmus slowly slipped his hand down the jungler’s sweatpants and briefs, grabbing his hard cock cautiously. He gave it a firm squeeze as he pulled it out into the air, now eyeing it curiously. He was still in awe, astonished by the size of the jungler’s hard-on when his whole body twitched in reaction to being touched as well. Rasmus quickly glanced up to look at Oskar’s eyes, foreheads still tightly pressed to each other. The jungler was lustfully licking his lips as he looked at the ADC’s dick in his hands, seemingly eager to move on. As he noticed the anticipation in Oskar’s stare, Rasmus began to move his hand up and down, making sure to apply just the right pressure to the motion. Immediately, a soft moan escaped the jungler’s lips.

“Hmm, you like this…?” Rasmus asked flirtatiously as he kept moving his hand steadily.

“Yeah…” Oskar replied, raising his chin to bring his lips closer to the ADC’s to whisper against them, “how about you…?”

And, as the jungler started to mirror the motion, stroking Rasmus’ hard cock rhythmically, the Dane felt his whole body reacting. Before he could let out his moan, Oskar pressed their mouths together, reaching up to hold the ADC’s head with his free hand. Rasmus desperately tried to control his breathing as he kissed the jungler back fiercely. He felt his own hand move up and down Oskar’s throbbing erection even faster to match the jungler’s pace, feeling as if he was about to burst at any moment. But, as it felt as if they had waited for this moment forever by now, Rasmus didn’t just want it to _end_ here. It took all of his self-control, but the ADC somehow managed to pull away from the hot kiss.

“Uhm, how – how about we… go further than this?” Rasmus moaned, his face barely far away enough to look Oskar in the eye.

“You got something in mind…?” Oskar grinned as he slowed down his movements, stroking through the ADC’s hair with his free hand.

“Uhm, yeah… we need to take off our pants for that, though…” Rasmus mumbled, looking down at their sweatpants which had been pulled down a little lazily.

“That’s easy,” the jungler chuckled as he grabbed the Dane’s hips with both hands, getting off the couch effortlessly.

Only seconds later, both of their sweat- and underpants joined their shirts on the floor. Rasmus was still flustered when Oskar laid him down, now towering on top of him. He wasn’t sure whether he had ever been _handled_ like this – at least, after his very different experience with Miky, he couldn’t remember the last time. Every inch of his body was screaming for more – and, as Oskar’s naked body pushed up against his, it suddenly seemed impossible to figure out what he wanted most.

“So… you want me to do it, or do you want to?” Oskar asked, squeezing the ADC’s ass suggestively.

“Do what? Get a condom…?” Rasmus whispered, feeling perplexed by the unexpected question.

“No, no I mean... top,” Oskar chuckled at the ADC’s cute obliviousness.

“Oh, I didn’t know that was a _choice,_ ” the Dane mumbled with a crooked smile.

In the past, he had certainly never had a choice when it came to this specific topic. With Martin, he had been the designated bottom from the beginning, as the other ADC had been the experienced one of the two. With Miky, he had been the designated top, on the other hand, since the support had demanded it from the get-go. But a _choice?_ Rasmus couldn’t remember being asked about what he wanted to do, even though he had at least played with he thought of turning the tables on Martin the last time they had slept with each other. Mostly because of their clear difference in strength and body mass, the ADC had assumed that the jungler would want to take charge – but now, the other option sounded weirdly appealing to him. He was about to tell Oskar about his desires when, suddenly, the front door of the apartment swung open with a bang.

“Just let ME go inside FIRST, would you??” Jankos shouted, and his loud voice echoing through the hallway immediately caused both Rasmus and Oskar to shriek up.

“You mean like with EVERYTHING ELSE? Can it not be MY TURN for once??” Wunder grunted in response.

“I really don’t care who of you goes first, could you just clear the doorway…” Luka sighed, and the annoyance in his voice was hard to overhear.

“God damn it,” Rasmus whispered, quickly searching for something to cover their naked bodies with, settling on a thin blanket laying close by, “this is bad – you think we can make it to my room?”

“It’s the pretty close, right? I think we should try,” Oskar replied just as quietly, looking absolutely petrified by the sudden arrival of the G2 players.

“Come on, quit this silly quarrel,” Sam tried to mediate as the stomping in the hallway grew louder.

“It’s not SILLY!” Jankos exclaimed, sounding as if he was sulking, “he just PISSES me OFF!”

“Man, Grabbz’ plan worked like a charm, huh?” Mihael snorted.

 _Why in the hell did they all have to arrive at once?_ Rasmus thought, the panic overcoming him as he tried to somehow tiptoe towards his room together with Oskar, the blanket wrapped tightly around both of their waists. The way in which the loud voices just kept talking over each other gave Rasmus hope – maybe they wouldn’t pay attention to them, even if they had all already made their way inside. Unfortunately, the support yelled out their names as soon as they set one foot into the hallway. 

“OSKAR! RASMUS!” He shouted, beaming with excitement, “now THAT’S what I’m talking about! Guys, forget whatever this bullshit is about and look at them!”

“Oh wow, good for you guys!” Luka cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

“Yay indeed!” Sam agreed encouragingly, clapping her hands together.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING??” Jankos screamed, not nearly looking as excited about the sight of the two almost naked guys sneaking through the gaming apartment.

“Oh, grow up Jankos, you know what they were doing…” Wunder grunted, rolling his eyes before disappearing into his room without another word.

“Uhm, guys, could we just forget about this…?” Rasmus mumbled nervously as he reached for knob on the door to his room.

“Oh, never!” Mihael said with a smug smile, pretending to take pictures with an imaginary camera.

“Come on, let’s just go inside,” Oskar whispered so that only the ADC could hear before giving the rest of the G2 squad a friendly wave.

“God I’m – I’m so sorry,” Rasmus stuttered as he closed the door behind him, “I really didn’t know they would come back so soon and – oh man, why did it have to be all of them, this is so bad…”

“Shhh, it’s okay, Rasmus,” Oskar reassured him, softly embracing the Dane, “it’s not your fault, and nothing bad happened, right?”

“Nothing bad…?” The ADC mumbled against the jungler’s chest, “they _saw us_ and… and…”

“And that’s it! It’s okay, really,” Oskar smirked, kissing the Dane’s forehead, “I’ve had worse, trust me… you want to continue? Or just, you know, cuddle?”

“You really want to go on?” Rasmus asked with big eyes, trying not to think about what Oskar might be referring to with the worse things he had experienced.

“Why not?” The jungler smiled, pulling the ADC on to the bed, “what about you?”

“Yeah… yeah, definitely!” Rasmus smiled brightly, eagerly leaning forward to kiss Oskar.

And, even though the circumstances had been anything but ideal, the both of them found their way to each other during this night somehow. In the end, it was just like anything else surrounding their dynamic together: easy, effortless and simply perfect. For just a moment, it made Rasmus forget about all of his troubles – with Martin, with his stage performances, his still improvable synergy with Miky – in this moment, there was no one and nothing else but him and Oskar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Rasmus' POV, everyone! What are your thoughts and feelings? Did you enjoy the Capsmade-fluff? Or are they running into the wrong direction once more...?
> 
> Next up is a very special episode of the DreamServer (I keep saying that, but it's because it's true!) - what do you think, what kind of evil schemes will the superior entitiy come up with this time? ;)
> 
> By the way, I've thought about changing my uploading schedule to fixed days: Wednesday and Sunday. Mostly because those days are convenient to me, but also since I felt like Sunday is a good day for many of you? Let me know in the comments!
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	39. Part 9: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday, everyone! Welcome to a very special episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> Before we dive in, I'd like to adress the hole I dug for myself when I asked you guys to come up with suggestions for the title of this Part :') many of you agreed that it should be "Letting Go", and man, I kind of have to agree. Nevertheless, when I started writing this Part, I didn't put my emphasis on the resolution of the fights... I just wanted to serve up some fights. I juggled with titles such as "The Huge Collapse", "Confrontations", or even just "The Fight" - in the end, I'm still having a hard time with deciding which one really fits now. Maybe you could help me out after enjoying this DreamServer special...? 
> 
> Anyway, hope you have as much fun with this as I had with writing it! :)
> 
> PS: as requested, I'll wait a day or two to upload the DreamServer-Cheat-Sheet , so if anyone wants to be brave and put out some guesses, I'd be thrilled ;)

_After a day filled with merciless confrontations, mournful tears and heartfelt laughter, many souls on the search for answers found themselves logged onto the DreamServer that night. While some of the players were particularly troubled with anger, others were almost drunk in love. Now, one might wonder whether the severity of these emotions could possibly have any effect on the DreamServer format at all. Similarly, memories of a certain special event daunting in the back of the player’s minds may somehow find themselves reevoked upon arrival – but that couldn’t possibly lead to any unfortunate complications, now could it?_

\- **[regretful]** , **[loving]** and **[blessed]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[blessed]** : Hi there!

 **[loving]** : Oh my, hello!

 **[regretful]** : yeah, okay, hey…

 **[blessed]** : what an amazing night, huh

 **[loving]** : it was the best, yeah

 **[loving]** : not like any other, if you know what I mean ;)

 **[blessed]** : oh, I think I know haha

 **[blessed]** : for me it was like that one song uhm

 **[blessed]** : virgin but not really?

 **[loving]** : ohhh, you mean _like a virgin_ …!

 **[loving]** : ~ touched for the very first time ~

 **[blessed]** : right, right, like a virgin!

 **[loving]** : ~ when your heart beats next to mine ~

 **[blessed]** : woah, you’re so good at this!

 **[blessed]** : that really takes me back to last night…

 **[regretful]** : how did I end up in the middle of this again…

 **[regretful]** : this is just as depressing as the real world

 **[loving]** : uff, sorry dude

 **[loving]** : didn’t mean to make you upset it’s just that…

 **[loving]** : I had such an amazing time with… going all the way, you know?

 **[blessed]** : me too, like in that –

 **[regretful]** : like in that Madonna song, yeah, I got it

 **[regretful]** : it’s hard for me to be empathetic, I’ve had a very different experience today

 **[loving]** : hmm okay well thinking back a little, I think talking about your problems is kind of the point of us being here

 **[blessed]** : oh right, it _is_ the reason why we’re here!

 **[blessed]** : you’re so smart, **@loving**

 **[regretful]** : would you two just get a room…

 **[loving]** : geez, you’re so grumpy! I get that you have regrets or whatever but, you know

 **[loving]** : try to look on the Brightside

 **[regretful]** : didn’t you just say we were all gathered here to talk about my problems?

 **[regretful]** : where’s the Brightside of that…

 **[blessed]** : you get to hear all about our _like-a-virgin-experience!_ :)

 **[loving]** : something tells me that won’t cheer him up…

 **[regretful]** : yeah, no, I think I’d rather go

 **[blessed]** : that’s not how it works, though…

 **[regretful]** : FINE

 **[regretful]** : fine, I’ll just get this over with

 **[regretful]** : I feel guilty because today I –

 **\- [livid]** , **[enraged]** and **[caring]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[caring]** : Hi guys! What are you up to?

 **[blessed]** : you know that one Madonna song, _like a Virgin_..?

 **[livid]** : I’M FUCKING BOILING

 **[enraged]** : You think YOU’RE MAD?

 **[loving]** : Uhm, guys? We were actually talking about –

 **[caring]** : _like a Virgin?_ Just thought about that song tonight…

 **[livid]** : yeah, I’m SO mad I seriously want to SMASH that one guy’s keyboard!

 **[enraged]** : oh yeah?? Well I’d rather smash his FACE!

 **[blessed]** : that’s funny, do you think we –

 **[livid]** : I really don’t CARE, give me something to PUNCH

 **[enraged]** : are you STUPID? There’s nothing to PUNCH here!

 **[regretful]** : Hello? I was trying to explain that I was feeling guilty today because…

 **[livid]** : GUILTY? Yeah, no, I don’t want to hear it

 **[livid]** : Even if the guy was SORRY, I’m in no mood to forgive!!

 **[enraged]** : Pff, no one could ever be as ANNOYING as the guy that pissed me off!

 **[regretful]** : I wouldn’t be so sure about that…

 **[loving]** : guys, would you just calm down for a second

 **[loving]** : we won’t be getting _anywhere_ if you keep talking over everyone

 **[livid]** : well what if I don’t WANT to get anywhere, huh??

 **[enraged]** : if people stopped getting into my BUSINESS, that would be great…!

 **[caring]** : okay well

 **[caring]** : the way I see it, you’ve got two options

 **[caring]** : trying to settle a bit and figure out your actual differences or be stuck here forever

 **[blessed]** : right, what he said!

 **[regretful]** : could we just start with me?

 **[regretful]** : I have no patience for these clowns…

 **[regretful]** : I wish there would be invitations to come to this place

 **[regretful]** : so that I could decline….

 **[loving]** : ouch haha

 **[livid]** : just leave then, wtf

 **[enraged]** : yeah, I’m trying to YELL over here!!

 **[regretful]** : I would if I could, smartass…

 **[caring]** : come on **@livid** and **@enraged** …

 **[caring]** : we’re on here every night, you must have figured this out by now?

 **[livid]** : do I look like I’m in the mood to solve freaking riddles?

 **[enraged]** : Just let me be ANGRY!

 **[blessed]** : oh my, I don’t think they know

 **[loving]** : maybe we should help them then?

 **[regretful]** : hey, what about me?

 **[regretful]** : Please just get me out of here, I literally just felt guilty about dragging –

 **[livid]** : oh he’s DRAGGED me alright!

 **[enraged]** : he thinks he’s so COOL just because he LIFTS more than me…!

 **[caring]** : I think we have to take care of this first, **@regretful**

 **[caring]** : okay guys, how about you identify yourself first

 **[regretful]** : all this freaking drama… why is this my life

 **[livid]** : what do you mean with ‘identifying’

 **[enraged]** : is it weird that I don’t know my name??

 **[loving]** : aren’t they cute? I don’t know why, I think they’re kind of cute lol

 **[livid]** : HEY!

 **[enraged]** : >:(

 **[blessed]** : … I think I know what you mean :’)

 **[caring]** : what I meant was that it might help if you could figure out whether you’re mad at each other

 **[caring]** : it’s normal not to remember your name most of the time, too

 **[regretful]** : well, what are we gonna do without names?

 **[regretful]** : Play a game of _Guess Who?_

 **[blessed]** : oh my god I love that game

 **[blessed]** : I’ve been called an expert when it comes to boardgames, you know

 **[blessed]** : I’ll start, wait, gimme a sec

 **[caring]** : I mean, that’s not exactly what I meant but…

 **[blessed]** : Do you guys have dark hair??

 **[loving]** : yes

 **[regretful]** : yes

 **[livid]** : no

 **[enraged]** : no!!

 **[caring]** : yes :) did that help at all?

 **[livid]** : how would that have helped…

 **[enraged]** : I go next!

 **[enraged]** : Do you guys play League of Legends??

 **[loving]** : every day

 **[blessed]** : all the time, yeah

 **[regretful]** : Yeah, well, maybe not as much as I used to…

 **[livid]** : you MORON

 **[livid]** : of COURSE we all play LEAGUE!

 **[caring]** : oh, so _now_ you remember…?

 **[enraged]** : how about YOU come up with a better question then??

 **[loving]** : honestly, I don’t think we need this game to figure out who they’re mad at…

 **[regretful]** : well, what do we do about them then

 **[caring]** : we get them to talk about their issues, fix them up

 **[caring]** : and once their troubles are resolved, they get to leave this place

 **[caring]** : do any of you feel like they could be on your team or…?

 **[???]** : you really think you’ve really got it all figured out, huh?

 **[???]** : well, you’ve seen nothing yet

 **[loving]** : WOAH

 **[blessed]** : oh oh, this is not good

 **[regretful]** : what’s happening?

 **[caring]** : I – I don’t understand

 **[enraged]** : WHO ARE YOU, MYSTERIOUS VOICE

 **[livid]** : and could you mute this idiot over here?

 **[???]** : aren’t you guys just lovely

 **[???]** : it’s been decided

 **[???]** : there’s going to be a fight

 **[regretful]** : you don’t say…

 **[blessed]** : oh no guys… this is seriously bad!

 **[loving]** : the last time this voice popped up, shit really went down!

 **[loving]** : it was a damn banger…

 **[blessed]** : you were there too??

 **[caring]** : why is this the first time I’m hearing about this…

 **[???]** : it’s going to be up to you guys to decide who’ll be send packing

 **[???]** : good luck

 **[enraged]** : what do you MEAN it’s up to US?

 **[livid]** : I vote for **@enraged**

 **[livid]** : GTFO

 **[enraged]** : you – you can’t just DO THAT!

 **[loving]** : woah woah woah…

 **[blessed]** : I don’t get it – what kind of fight are we talking about here?

 **[regretful]** : can I just vote for myself?

 **[regretful]** : please, I want to gooooo…

 **[caring]** : this is unbelievable – who would want to make us fight…?

 **[loving]** : well, it’s not like we _have to_ do it, right?

 **[blessed]** : I have a feeling that at least two of us would like to…

\- **_[livid]_** _and **[enraged]** have started a battle!_ –

 **[loving]** : wait, what?

 **[blessed]** : this is new…

 **[caring]** : Oh no, what are we gonna do??

 **[regretful]** : let them bash each other’s head in for all I care

 **[livid]** : BRING IT ON THEN

 **[livid]** : I ain’t scared of you

 **[enraged]** : you think I am?

 **[enraged]** : I’ll make you cry like a little BABY!

 **[blessed]** : this is getting spicy… but they can’t actually hurt each other on here, right?

 **[loving]** : not physically but…

 **[livid]** : it already makes me want to cry how STUPID you are!

 **[enraged]** : at least I’m not a dumb TOPLANER

 **[caring]** : uff, they know each other alright

 **[regretful]** : I don’t think it’s any of my… responsibilities

 **[regretful]** : so go ahead

 **[blessed]** : I have a bad feeling about this…

 **[blessed]** : what happened to you guys? Why are you so mad at each other?

 **[livid]** : does it matter??

 **[livid]** : how couldn’t you be mad at this obnoxious bastard??

 **[enraged]** : OH YOU’RE ONE TO TALK!!

 **[regretful]** : they both have a point…

 **[loving]** : but this might actually be good, guys… give us reasons

 **[caring]** : just try to be honest…?

 **[caring]** : I’m sure this whole ‘voting off’-thing was just meant to scare us

\- _voting enabled: cast your vote with / **username**_ –

 **[blessed]** : …or not o.O

 **[regretful]** : do you think we can vote for both of them

 **[loving]** : I think we should just stay calm, okay?

 **[caring]** : this is really dark… how are we supposed to make such a decision?

 **[enraged]** : EASY, just listen to ME!

 **[enraged]** : He’s just JEALOUS because all the hot girls want ME!

 **[livid]** : oh my god…!

 **[livid]** : Do I really have to explain what kind of jerk he is??

\- _voting update: 1 vote for **enraged** , 0 votes for **livid**_ –

 **[livid]** : THANK YOU

 **[caring]** : wait, who of you guys voted already?

 **[regretful]** : that’s all I needed to hear, really

 **[loving]** : I’m not convinced… I mean, did he actually _do something_ besides being cocky?

 **[livid]** : he yelled at me all day long ok

 **[livid]** : at the gym, the sauna, the restaurant…

 **[enraged]** : you were FLEXING all the time! It was unnecessary…!

 **[livid]** : how is it my fault that you’re a wimp??

 **[blessed]** : okay, wow, no body shaming please…

 **[loving]** : yeah :(

 **[blessed]** : some people have to work hard to get _buff_ …

 **[regretful]** : wait, why would you hang out with him all day long if he annoyed you like that

 **[livid]** : it was not like I had a choice…

 **[livid]** : our stupid coach forced us!

 **[regretful]** : huh… yeah, no, doesn’t sound like me

 **[regretful]** : I’d never force my players to… wait

 **[caring]** : whatever, can we just get back to the girl thing?

 **[caring]** : I feel like it’s about the girl thing for sure…

 **[livid]** : yeah, well…

 **[livid]** : he showed me a picture of his newest ‘catch’

 **[livid]** : since his old flame dumped him, apparently

 **[enraged]** : she didn’t DUMP me!

 **[enraged]** : … we agreed we were not a match, so she hooked me up with a friend

 **[livid]** : a "friend" that I swiped on Tinder weeks ago!!

 **[livid]** : how is this fair??

 **[loving]** : so it is about the girl thing, huh?

 **[loving]** : cheer up, big boy

 **[loving]** : your chance will come

 **[enraged]** : yeah, MOVE ON!

 **[enraged]** : you can’t just be JEALOUS forever!

 **[blessed]** : >:(

 **[blessed]** : body shaming is one thing, but you’re just being insensitive, **@enraged**!

 **[blessed]** : **@livid** is obviously genuinely upset about this…!

 **[regretful]** : poor bastard just wants to get laid for a change…

 **[livid]** : okay, wait, that makes it sound like I don’t have any game

 **[enraged]** : you OBVIOUSLY don’t, why would everyone want ME otherwise??

 **[loving]** : lol haha he just

 **[loving]** : he just dissed himself didn’t he

 **[caring]** : I feel like there’s a lot of insecurity hiding behind this character…

 **[caring]** : maybe we should just take a step back, okay?

_\- voting update: 2 votes for **enraged** , 0 votes for **livid** – _

**[caring]** : omg guys please D:

 **[caring]** : we can’t just kick one of them out like this

 **[caring]** : I’m sure they are troubled souls underneath all of this…!

 **[loving]** : don’t look at me, I haven’t voted yet

 **[enraged]** : this is not funny, okay??

 **[enraged]** : I haven’t done anything wrong…

 **[regretful]** : agree to disagree

 **[blessed]** : you could at least try to be a bit nicer to **@livid** , right?

 **[livid]** : it’s not just me, okay

 **[livid]** : everyone is pissed off by him lately

 **[enraged]** : pff yeah well

 **[enraged]** : you think anyone has even asked me whether I’m sad about this girl not liking me back??

 **[loving]** : pretty sure you said that that was a mutual decision earlier…

 **[livid]** : yeah, you couldn’t shut up about that all day long -__-

 **[livid]** : “she didn’t dump me, we both agreed on this, blah blah blah…”

 **[regretful]** : then again, that sounds like something someone who just got dumped would say

 **[blessed]** : ouch haha

 **[livid]** : LOL you’re right!

 **[livid]** : Why didn’t I catch that earlier…

 **[enraged]** : >:(

 **[enraged]** : I KNEW YOU’D JUST BE AN ASSHOLE ABOUT IT

 **[livid]** : because it’s what you DESERVE!

 **[caring]** : hey, this is going too far…

 **[caring]** : no one deserves to be dumped, okay?

 **[loving]** : I don’t like your attitude, **@livid**

 **[loving]** : first the body shaming and now this…

 _\- voting update: 2 votes for **enraged** , 1 vote for **livid**_ –

 **[blessed]** : oh my, this is getting heated isn’t it?

 **[regretful]** : do they both go if it’s a tie?

 **[regretful]** : I can’t seem to revoke my vote so…

 **[regretful]** : it’s up to you, **@caring**

 **[enraged]** : now we’re talking…!

 **[enraged]** : eat shit, **@livid**

 **[livid]** : no u

 **[caring]** : ugh…!

 **[caring]** : you guys are unbelievable

 **[caring]** : I can’t concentrate like this

 **[loving]** : I mean, **@livid** is clearly just being a salty ass about the whole thing, right?

 **[blessed]** : even though I think **@enraged** is a bit of a jerk, I don’t think he snatched those girls away on purpose…

 **[regretful]** : you’re forgetting about his yelling – that dude is a handful!

 **[caring]** : this is not helpful, okay?

 **[caring]** : I need some real arguments over here…

 **[livid]** : okay then let me just say

 **[livid]** : **@enraged** has made me feel like a second choice, an afterthought

 **[livid]** : and he continues to make me feel insufficient in my everyday life

 **[livid]** : I don’t even feel safe in my own home anymore

 **[enraged]** : wait, what are you talking about??

 **[blessed]** : gosh, that sounds terrible…!

 **[regretful]** : that doesn’t sound like a good work environment… can’t be my team, right?

 **[loving]** : you really need to expand your horizon there a little, **@regretful** …

 **[livid]** : he’s bullied me for so long now, I just can’t take it anymore

 **[caring]** : :(

 **[enraged]** : WTF, he’s obviously lying??

 **[enraged]** : don’t BELIEVE him, **@caring**!!

 **[livid]** : sigh

 **[livid]** : it’s just like always… no one believes in me

 **[livid]** : no one wants me around

 **[livid]** : maybe I’m just destined to be lonely…

 **[caring]** : no, no **@livid** …!

 **[caring]** : Not anymore!

 **[enraged]** : don’t you DARE do what I think you’re about to do…!

 _\- voting update: 3 votes for **enraged** , 1 vote for **livid** _–

 **[enraged]** : oh KURWA

 **[enraged]** : how did you get through with that??

 **[livid]** : hahaha

 **[livid]** : suck it

 **[caring]** : wait, what?

\- **[enraged]** has been voted off the DreamServer –

 **[regretful]** : HAHAHA

 **[regretful]** : that was all fake??

 **[regretful]** : brilliant…

 **[loving]** : are you for real, **@livid**??

 **[loving]** : I knew you were the bad guy in this story…!

 **[blessed]** : man, here I was really feeling for you…

 **[livid]** : hey, it’s not my fault okay

 **[livid]** : **@caring** just made it too easy

 **[caring]** : you’re impossible…! >:(

 **[caring]** : but the joke is on you…

 **[caring]** : Your lie was way too detailed – no way it’s not at least partially true

 **[livid]** : huh?

 **[regretful]** : aww, someone is lonely…!

 **[loving]** : haha now that you say it…

 **[livid]** : what??

 **[livid]** : No I’m not…

 **[livid]** : You wanna go next, bro??

 **[regretful]** : if that gets me a ticket out of here, sure

 **[blessed]** : haha I don’t think we get to decide it like that

 **[caring]** : shouldn’t we just be happy that the fight is over now?

 **[caring]** : **@livid** , let’s address your problems with social isolation, shall we?

 **[regretful]** : no, it’s finally my turn, okay?

 **[regretful]** : it’s ironic, but my biggest problem seems to be that I keep pulling people into my drama

 **[blessed]** : haha like you’re doing right now… I get it now haha

 **[loving]** : well, let’s just talk about that then

 **[loving]** : even though we are fellow big boys, I’m still mad at **@livid** …

 **[livid]** : don’t hate the player, hate the game

 **[caring]** : …

 **[caring]** : fine, let’s forget about him

 **[caring]** : go on, **@regretful**

 **[livid]** : what do you mean, forget about me??

 **[livid]** : just because I don’t want to admit I’m a pussy I don’t get to –

\- **[livid]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[blessed]** : oh boy…

 **[blessed]** : I guess people can leave the old-fashioned way too?

 **[loving]** : we’re _better off, I’m glad that he’s gone_

 **[blessed]** : woah, isn’t that a song as well..? Haha

 **[caring]** : is it…?

 **[regretful]** : Let’s just get on with it okay

 **[regretful]** : I hate talking about this sort of stuff…

 **[regretful]** : so, basically, I’ve terrorized my entire team all day long and

 **[regretful]** : at some point, it just got too embarrassing

 **[blessed]** : it doesn’t sound like they minded though

 **[loving]** : I’m sure they wanted to help you?

 **[caring]** : I agree!

 **[caring]** : I would have gladly spent more time helping one of my friends out today…

 **[loving]** : they could have just left otherwise, right?

 **[regretful]** : uhm, not really, no

 **[regretful]** : you see, there’s this thing with the power dynamic? And I don’t know if –

\- **[exhausted]** , **[somber]** and **[lost]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[regretful]** : oh come on!!

 **[exhausted]** : what is it now…

 **[somber]** : Hi?

 **[lost]** : Sup guys, what’s up?

 **[blessed]** : gosh, where do we even start?

 **[blessed]** : You missed a major fight already…

 **[exhausted]** : another fight…?

 **[lost]** : yikes, what was that like?

 **[somber]** : how about we all just chill for a moment…

 **[somber]** : I really don’t need any more drama right now

 **[regretful]** : couldn’t agree more

 **[regretful]** : anyway, I was kind of telling my story to get out of here…?

 **[loving]** : I still feel like something was up with that fight…

 **[loving]** : who says it won’t happen again?

 **[caring]** : ahh, **@loving** , please don’t say stuff like that!

 **[caring]** : you’re just asking for it to happen that way…

 **[lost]** : what kind of fight are we talking about anyway?

 **[somber]** : yeah, it’s not like you could throw fists around here…

 **[regretful]** : well, it was intense anyway

 **[regretful]** : but as long as there’s no _conflict_ , I don’t think it will come up again…

 **[caring]** : now you’re doing it too >:(

 **[exhausted]** : hmm well… I was involved in a fight today

 **[somber]** : I’ve thought about something like that at least…

 **[blessed]** : I’m actually worried that my teammates might have been involved in a fight

 **[blessed]** : it was super weird when they left to go on some sort of ‘mission’ that involved distracting one of our rivals…

 **[regretful]** : uhm…

 **[regretful]** : who would give someone an ominous mission like that haha

 **[caring]** : was that a nervous laugh, **@regretful**?

 **[loving]** : it did sound a bit suspicious…

 **[somber]** : are you hearing things that we don’t or…

 **[regretful]** : god I – I told you I got too many people involved, okay??

 **[regretful]** : I thought it would make things easier to keep one of my players out of it, but…

 **[regretful]** : the whole thing was a disaster anyway

 **[exhausted]** : that doesn’t sound right…

 **[lost]** : I…I think I might or might have not been the victim of a similar attack…?

 **[blessed]** : what :o oh no…

 **[regretful]** : I’m SORRY okay?

 **[regretful]** : I called my hound back as soon as I realized what kind of mess I caused, too

 **[loving]** : I mean, calling him a hound is still kind of mean don’t you think

 **[lost]** : are you into _Game of Thrones_ , perhaps?

 **[exhausted]** : ugh…

 **[regretful]** : Oh, whatever - I learned from the mistakes I’ve made today, okay?

 **[regretful]** : I didn’t even pull one of the guys back in when he checked on me

 **[regretful]** : I just lied and said things were okay to ease his mind, that’s good, right?

 **[caring]** : IN WHAT WORLD WOULD THAT BE GOOD

 **[somber]** : dude, lying is never cool…

 **[somber]** : trust me on this one

 **[loving]** : if you’re not okay, you should always let your friends know :(

 **[blessed]** : they won’t be able to help you otherwise, right?

 **[regretful]** : well, I don’t think anyone can help me when it comes to this, okay?

 **[regretful]** : things are just… crumbling with me and my boyfriend

 **[regretful]** : I don’t know if I can stop it

 **[lost]** : that’s just… sad

 **[caring]** : but – but… that’s even more of a reason to tell your friends!

 **[regretful]** : I just can’t pull them all down like that…

 **[regretful]** : they’ve got enough going on

 **[regretful]** : I hate that I just found out about it too… makes me think I’m a terrible coach

 **[loving]** : coach?

 **[loving]** : Did he just say coach?

 **[loving]** : Man, I didn’t know it was you M-

 **[caring]** : MY OH MY WHAT A COINCIDENCE

 **[caring]** : was what you meant to say, right haha

 **[blessed]** : what?

 **[loving]** : no, I wanted to say his… ahhh

 **[caring]** : you get it now?

 **[caring]** : no names, you big dummy…

 **[caring]** : not if you wanna stay

 **[lost]** : what are you talking about?

 **[lost]** : I’m lost…

 **[somber]** : let’s just stick to the good old “this guy” and “that guy”

 **[regretful]** : yeah - names, names, who even remembers names anymore

 **[regretful]** : wish I did, maybe I could leave then

 **[regretful]** : man, you’d think my players would _tell me_ that they cracked on with each other…!

 **[blessed]** : that really bothers you, huh?

 **[exhausted]** : if it wasn’t them who told you, who was it?

 **[loving]** : oh, now we’re asking the real questions!

 **[loving]** : I’ve been wondering about that…

 **[caring]** : oh, right!

 **[caring]** : Who was your secret source…?

 **[regretful]** : I don’t think I’ve mentioned a ‘secret source’…?

 **[regretful]** : weird but ok

 **[lost]** : was it that guy you sent out on a mission?

 **[lost]** : Because I don’t trust that guy

 **[blessed]** : hmm yeah, that’s fair

 **[regretful]** : what?

 **[regretful]** : No, he didn’t say anything…

 **[regretful]** : I guess it makes sense, he’d do a lot for me, but his loyalty lies with his team first

 **[blessed]** : aww, yeah, that’s also fair…!

 **[exhausted]** : loyal yet mischievous guy…

 **[exhausted]** : that does ring a bell

 **[caring]** : okay fine, but… who else had all the information?

 **[caring]** : I’m at a loss.. damn, that never happens!

 **[regretful]** : hmm well let’s just say I had to go apologize to someone after our game yesterday

 **[regretful]** : …I puked in his car last week when he drove me home, so it was the least I could do

 **[regretful]** : we got to talking and, well, he thought I had the information as well, so it just slipped

 **[lost]** : so… that guy plays for the other team, though?

 **[regretful]** : what kind of teams are we talking about here?

 **[regretful]** : pretty sure he’s straight

 **[exhausted]** : haha what

 **[loving]** : my guess would be the… _other_ coach

 **[caring]** : that’s actually a pretty solid guess… I’m proud, **@loving**

 **[loving]** : geez, thanks! I have a boyfriend, though…

 **[caring]** : :’)

 **[blessed]** : okay well, uhm

 **[blessed]** : all I can say is that we don’t really hide stuff from our coach I think…?

 **[regretful]** : yeah, I noticed that our team dynamics are quite… different

 **[regretful]** : maybe that’s something for us to work on in the future

 **[somber]** : yeah, no kidding…

 **[somber]** : telling them the real reason for some whacky emergency meetings would be a great start

 **[caring]** : oh come on, he said he feels bad for pulling us into this…

 **[loving]** : and he’s obviously got enough weighing him down if things with his boyfriend aren’t really… fine again

 **[regretful]** : yeah… thanks guys

 **[regretful]** : is it weird for me to say that I’m kind of glad to have stayed this long after all?

 **[blessed]** : maybe a little… but I’m glad!

 **[regretful]** : thanks… maybe we can talk about some of your stuff now?

 **[caring]** : oh, I’m good… magical night, some worries about a friend but – uhm, I guess that has been dealt with

 **[exhausted]** : I mean… my day has been a lot

 **[exhausted]** : not just bad things, but I’m…drained

 **[lost]** : things could be a bit better… I’ve been somewhat _conflicted_ all day long

 **[caring]** : wait, can you put that into some other words? Because I don’t think it’s a good idea to say it like that

 **[exhausted]** : well, there have been a lot of _confrontations_ so…

 **[lost]** : yeah, there’s this one guy

 **[lost]** : for a moment, I thought we would actually _punch_ each other but –

 _- **[lost]** and **[exhausted]** have started a battle!_ –

 **[blessed]** : oh god, not again!

 **[regretful]** : fml, I can’t take this another time

 **[regretful]** : I take everything back, get me out of here…!

 **[caring]** : I knew this would happen again, I just knew it…

 **[somber]** : wait, what is this?

 **[lost]** : are we – are we fighting now? Why?

 **[exhausted]** : this is crazy

 **[loving]** : well, that’s what we were trying to tell you earlier

 **[loving]** : there were two guys yelling at each other on here who got into a fight like this and

 **[loving]** : at the end, we had to vote one of them off

 **[regretful]** : it was awful…

 **[blessed]** : awfully hard to decide!

 **[blessed]** : maybe this time, we should let them explain their position first and vote after?

 **[caring]** : yeah that’s a good call, we can’t revoke our votes after all…

 **[somber]** : wait, why are you talking about this like it’s a normal thing…?

 **[somber]** : this is some fucked up shit

 **[regretful]** : that’s why I want my out, please…!

 **[regretful]** : I’ve said what I wanted to say

 **[regretful]** : I want to make things right with my boyfriend, I swear…!

 **[???]** : fine, an even numbers of voters is preferable anyway

 **[regretful]** : wait, what?

\- **[regretful]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[exhausted]** : okay but wtf was that voice??

 **[lost]** : this is really damn spooky…

 **[somber]** : are we being watched this whole time?

 **[somber]** : is this _Big Brother_ or…

 **[caring]** : we don’t know but…

 **[caring]** : I think it’s best for us to just follow the rules

 **[blessed]** : I mean, it is kind of fun haha

 **[blessed]** : if you ignore the psychological pressure of it all

 **[exhausted]** : well, what do you want us to do?

 **[lost]** : yeah, I don’t even know this guy… how am I supposed to fight with him?

 **[lost]** : maybe like * _punches **@exhausted** right in the face_*

 **[loving]** : okay, no, that was just sad

 **[loving]** : you’re supposed to use your words and

 **[loving]** : I think this is based on a real life conflict?

 **[caring]** : oh yeah, the guys from before had major beef…

 **[exhausted]** : oh… I think I know what this is about then

 **[lost]** : okay, this might already be a reason to vote against me but

 **[lost]** : I’ve had fights with more than just one person today…

 **[lost]** : as I said, things could have been better

 **[somber]** : yikes…

 **[caring]** : that does sound bad, but let’s try to keep an open mind…

 **[caring]** : maybe you could describe the people in question to us?

 **[loving]** : the other guys were really angry so

 **[loving]** : was there someone that really made you angry, perhaps?

 **[lost]** : …

 **[lost]** : do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?

 **[somber]** : maybe we should let the other guy talk…

 **[exhausted]** : idk, it’s kind of insulting that he doesn’t remember me…?

 **[lost]** : wait, just give me a second okay?

 **[lost]** : first, there were these two guys that were hard to separate…

 **[lost]** : they kind of reminded me of these villains from Pokémon, what were they called again…?

\- **[Jesse]** and **[James]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[James]** : prepare for trouble!

 **[Jesse]** : …and make it double!

 **[loving]** : HAHAHA

 **[loving]** : no way…!

 **[blessed]** : did that just happen??

 **[blessed]** : I’m dying, this is too funny!

 **[caring]** : uhm, what?

 **[caring]** : I’m sorry but I don’t get it

 **[somber]** : these clowns seem to be the villains **@lost** talked about just now…

 **[James]** : Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!!

 **[Jesse]** : surrender now or…!

 **[Jesse]** : or… haha or what, haha shit

 **[blessed]** : _or prepare to fight!!_

 **[blessed]** : god, I love Pokémon

 **[exhausted]** : wait, did you just say fight…

 **[lost]** : we were kind of in the middle of something already…

 **[lost]** : good to know you’re not one of these idiots though, **@exhausted**

 **[James]** : hey, who are you calling an idiot??

 **[somber]** : are you really going to deny that or…

 **[Jesse]** : pff, y’all are just jealous of our groove

 **[loving]** : yeah, no, that’s not it :’)

 **[blessed]** : right, right

 **[blessed]** : we gotta get back to our fight

 **[blessed]** : we’ll deal with the villains later

 **[James]** : call me a villain all you want…

 **[James]** : I always come out on top in the end

 **[Jesse]** : mhm ;)

 **[exhausted]** : okay so…

 **[exhausted]** : if you remember now, **@lost**

 **[exhausted]** : we might as well start pleading our case

 **[lost]** : that sounds bad though I mean

 **[lost]** : we kind of resolved our issues didn’t we…

 **[caring]** : how about you just start explaining it from the top?

 **[Jesse]** : what is this fight-thing everyone keeps talking about

 **[somber]** : looks like we get to vote either **@exhausted** or **@lost** off

 **[James]** : and everyone gets a vote?

 **[James]** : Think I’d like to send the bastard that called me an idiot flying… >:)

 **[loving]** : uhm… let's not do that, but...

 **[loving]** : basically, you need to type /username to vote

 **[caring]** : but we said that we’d hear the both of them out before –

\- _voting update: 1 vote for **lost** , 0 votes for **exhausted**_ –

 **[caring]** : hey! >:(

 **[James]** : sorry, my hand slipped… :)

 **[Jesse]** : hahaha you bitch

 **[Jesse]** : I love it

 **[lost]** : honestly, you’re being so immature right now…

 **[caring]** : let’s just ignore them and get back to discussing the conflict between **@lost** and **@exhausted** FAIRLY to see who should stay…

 **[exhausted]** : I don’t even know if I want to be here?

 **[exhausted]** : but I guess it can’t hurt to get some of these thoughts out

 **[exhausted]** : so, **@lost** , sorry for getting a bit… rough

 **[loving]** : woah woah woah

 **[loving]** : you punched him??

 **[blessed]** : oh boy…!

 **[caring]** : wait, really?

 **[somber]** : great, violence…

 **[somber]** : things just keep getting classier around here

 **[lost]** : no, that’s not what happened

 **[lost]** : he just grabbed me and I… decided to stay cool

 **[Jesse]** : sounds like you were too much of a chicken if you ask me

 **[James]** : aww were you scared, little baby?

 **[exhausted]** : guys, that’s just unnecessary…

 **[exhausted]** : I mean, sure, he wouldn’t have been able to beat me if we fought for real

 **[lost]** : are you kidding me?

 **[lost]** : I hit the gym every day, what do you ever do to stay fit…

 **[loving]** : oh oh guys

 **[James]** : now we’re talking…!

 **[exhausted]** : I might not lift weights all the time, but unlike you

 **[exhausted]** : I’ve been involved in plenty of fights in my life…

 **[lost]** : oh and I haven’t??

 **[caring]** : this is really nothing to brag about okay, let’s just calm down and –

 **[exhausted]** : no, you haven’t!

 **[exhausted]** : you like to pretend you’ve got all this experience but that’s just for show…

 **[exhausted]** : it’s just like the way you treat your boyfriends… you’re absolutely clueless

 **[lost]** : wtf?

 **[blessed]** : woah, low swing

 **[Jesse]** : okay, I’m loving this…!

 **[Jesse]** : tell us how bad he’s in bed next, come on!

 **[lost]** : he’s just talking shit, okay

 **[lost]** : he doesn’t know anything about me…!

 **[exhausted]** : …

 **[exhausted]** : now, I’ve told you before it’s not easy to make me mad but…

 **[exhausted]** : you always find a way somehow

 **[loving]** : well, we’ve figured out why they were picked to fight but…

 **[loving]** : what do we do about it??

 **[James]** : don’t you DARE interrupt this, sissy!

 **[caring]** : hey, watch your mouth! >:( we’re trying to help here…

 **[lost]** : I make you angry huh?

 **[lost]** : what are you gonna do about it?

 **[exhausted]** : …

 **[exhausted]** : **@Jesse** , you wanted to know about his game, right?

 **[exhausted]** : I don’t know any details but

 **[exhausted]** : according to the feedback I got from his ex last night, I’m A LOT more skilled in the bedroom

 **[lost]** : what??

 **[somber]** : did you seriously just…

 **[James]** : oh my GOD HAHAHA

 **[Jesse]** : this is EVERYTHING HAHAHA oh my god okay we’re _so_ keeping you **@exhausted**

_\- voting update: 2 votes for **lost** , 0 votes for **exhausted** – _

**[caring]** : wow… this is just – I can’t believe it!

 **[blessed]** : I mean, uhm, even if it was true I don’t think that’s something you should…

 **[blessed]** : you know, tell anyone else?

 **[lost]** : like HELL it’s the truth!!

 **[lost]** : I’m sorry but my ex must have been out of his damn mind to say something like this…!

 **[exhausted]** : …

 **[exhausted]** : my dick is bigger too

 **[Jesse]** : HAHAHA UFF BURN

 **[James]** : this is the best thing ever…!

 **[caring]** : NO, this is just rude…!

 **[loving]** : shaming someone for his dick size… that’s just so low :(

 **[lost]** : and – and that’s just false, too!

 **[lost]** : what have I even done to you to deserve this kind of flame, **@exhausted** …

 **[somber]** : honestly, this is just trash, **@exhausted**

 **[somber]** : find a way to fight fairly or get lost…

_\- voting update: 2 votes for **lost** , 1 vote for **exhausted** – _

**[loving]** : I’m sorry, but I can’t stand for something like that either…!

_\- voting update: 2 votes for **lost** , 2 votes for **exhausted** -_

**[caring]** : I don’t know, that seems to be a bit rushed but…

 **[caring]** : I agree to part about playing fairly!

 **[James]** : hey, it’s a tie right now

 **[James]** : does that mean they both go?

 **[loving]** : the last time, no one left until the majority voted for one of them I think

 **[blessed]** : exactly, so we still have some time

 **[blessed]** : I actually feel like the both of you are kind of avoiding the actual issue?

 **[blessed]** : if it’s the same as with the other guys, then I’d guess it’s girl troubles

 **[loving]** : or maybe boy troubles?

 **[Jesse]** : that’s what it always comes down to, huh?

 **[Jesse]** : BORING!

 **[Jesse]** : If I wanted to talk about lame stuff like that I could have just asked my fuckbuddy about his _feelings_ …

 **[James]** : exactly!!

 **[James]** : …wait, what?

 **[somber]** : even Team Rocket has unresolved issues, huh…

 **[exhausted]** : whatever man…

 **[exhausted]** : I’m sorry about my, uhm…

 **[exhausted]** : outburst just now

 **[caring]** : why would you flame him that badly anyway?

 **[caring]** : You didn’t exactly strike me as a petty person…

 **[exhausted]** : I thought I had left this side of me behind too but

 **[exhausted]** : but he just poked me the wrong way…

 **[Jesse]** : unlike you, who always pokes the _right_ way, am I right??

 **[James]** : hahaha any truthers?

 **[lost]** : …

 **[lost]** : this is just a touchy subject, okay

 **[lost]** : but not really what our fight was about – it was about this… this one guy

 **[blessed]** : ahh, 1-0 for boy troubles!

 **[loving]** : I knew it!

 **[exhausted]** : okay but

 **[exhausted]** : I am really tired of talking about this all day long

 **[lost]** : it’s not exactly fun for me either…

 **[lost]** : being with someone who only has eyes for you…

 **[somber]** : feeling like a second choice?

 **[somber]** : boy, I wonder what that’s like…

 **[blessed]** : uff, it’s always rough to be dropped like that… :(

 **[James]** : yeah, uhm, no, I don’t know that feeling

 **[Jesse]** : riiiiiiight

 **[caring]** : this is awfully sad but… the right topic I assume?

 **[exhausted]** : you have no fucking right to complain

 **[exhausted]** : I’ve loved him forever and he chose you

 **[exhausted]** : why can’t you just stop grasping at straws to ruin that for yourself??

 **[exhausted]** : I even told you what you need to do to treat him right, god damn it!

 **[loving]** : holy poggers…

 **[loving]** : I think you’ve just been served, **@lost**

 **[lost]** : yeah well…

 **[lost]** : you’re wrong

 **[lost]** : He might have chosen me but… today, he admitted that he loves you

 **[exhausted]** : what…?

 **[James]** : OHHHH

 **[Jesse]** : write that down, write that down!

 **[Jesse]** : this is going to be a great soap-opera…!

 **[blessed]** : are you guys for real…?

 **[somber]** : it’s… it’s not always that easy to admit you have feelings for someone else, okay?

 **[somber]** : I’ve ignored the obvious for too long myself…

 **[caring]** : wait, so **@lost** is with someone who loves… **@exhausted**?

 **[caring]** : I’m sorry but this doesn’t add up

 **[exhausted]** : it really doesn’t I mean

 **[exhausted]** : I mean he’s with you and…

 **[exhausted]** : and I’m with someone else

 **[James]** : with **@lost’s** ex who you’re dicking down real good, yes

 **[James]** : we’ve established that

 **[blessed]** : who says he’s the one doing the dicking… :’)

 **[somber]** : how would you know anything about that…?

 **[blessed]** : uhm random guess haha don't mind me

 **[lost]** : I’m aware you’re with him… that fucking stings too

 **[Jesse]** : you guys are already my new favourite people I mean

 **[Jesse]** : haha how wild is all of this??

 **[James]** : I don't want this to stop like, ever...!

 **[blessed]** : why are you so darn mean…

 **[loving]** : helloooo, they are literally Team Rocket?

 **[lost]** : It’s not like I want any of this…

 **[lost]** : in fact, I’ve already taken the first step away from it

 **[caring]** : oh geez, that sounds really ominous…!

 **[caring]** : what did you do, **@lost**?

 **[exhausted]** : please tell me you’re talking about rushing to talk to… you know who

 **[exhausted]** : because I don’t want to imagine what else you could be referring to

 **[James]** : man, I want whatever else it could mean so badly right now…

 **[somber]** : I have a bad feeling about this

 **[lost]** : I broke things off with him… completely

 **[caring]** : what??

 **[Jesse]** : HMMMM this twist is delicious I’m telling you

 **[blessed]** : ouch, a break-up?

 **[blessed]** : trouble in paradise…

 **[loving]** : uff no this is really bad…

 **[loving]** : it takes me back to earlier today – god, I knew I should have trusted my guts on this one!

 **[loving]** : I should have told him…

 **[exhausted]** : you BROKE UP WITH HIM??

 **[exhausted]** : OH MY GOD I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU

 **[exhausted]** : are you FUCKING DENSE??

 **[exhausted]** : how in the hell did you get such a stupid idea??

 **[lost]** : what else should I have done, huh??

 **[lost]** : endure the fact that I know he’s lusting after you…?

 **[Jesse]** : HOLY FUCK

 **[Jesse]** : this is great

 **[caring]** : would you just stop??

 **[caring]** : this poor man, it’s horrible!

 **[caring]** : **@exhausted** is hooking up with his ex and now his…wait, his more current ex is also after him?

 **[loving]** : give him a break, Team Rocket…!

 **[exhausted]** : hey!

 **[exhausted]** : Don’t make it sound like I’m out to get him…

 **[exhausted]** : he’s the one who just does whatever he pleases!!

 **[somber]** : but it sounds like he didn’t break up with his boyfriend for selfish reasons, doesn’t it…?

 **[somber]** : I feel like… I don’t know, like I…

 **[James]** : okay, wild theory incoming

 **[James]** : **@lost** did it because he wanted _his_ ex back

 **[James]** : after seeing him being treated better by **@exhausted** , that is…!

 **[blessed]** : he wants to get back with him…?

 **[blessed]** : you really think so?

 **[lost]** : don’t put words into my mouth!!

 **[lost]** : I did this for the right reasons…

 **[lost]** : …sure, I might miss him a little and it hurt to see him with someone else but…

 **[somber]** : well, there we go…

 **[caring]** : this is getting beyond confusing

 **[caring]** : who wants to be with who??

 **[caring]** : I swear, normally I can follow conversations like these…

 **[loving]** : and we still have to settle this fight somehow, right?

 **[loving]** : I’m not too sure about my vote anymore

 **[blessed]** : me neither!

 **[Jesse]** : I don’t really care who stays, I just want to enjoy this a bit longer please!

 **[exhausted]** : I just can’t believe you did this, **@lost** …

 **[exhausted]** : I gave up on him I … I ignored this moment we had!!

 **[somber]** : a moment…?

 **[lost]** : well, maybe you shouldn’t have

 **[lost]** : it just proves that I did the right thing even if that means that I’m… alone now

 **[caring]** : while that does sound mature I’m also so…sad, sad for the both of you!

 **[caring]** : I can’t possibly decide here :(

 **[blessed]** : gosh, I don’t think I can make a decision either…

 **[blessed]** : I feel bad for the both of you

_\- voting time is about to run out; cast your vote now! –_

**[loving]** : ahhh ohhh

 **[loving]** : this is bad, why is there a time limit all of the sudden??

 **[somber]** : looks like we’re taking too long to discuss…

 **[James]** : make up your minds, would you?

 **[Jesse]** : maaan, I really wanted to hear more details…

 **[caring]** : this is just too hard… I mean, they both just seem to be heartbroken :(

 **[exhausted]** : don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy with the guy I’m with it’s just

 **[exhausted]** : I didn’t expect that the other guy… that he could ever love me back?

 **[exhausted]** : after all this time?

 **[blessed]** : :(

 **[blessed]** : it’s do or die now, huh…

 **[blessed]** : I’m sorry, **@lost** – I feel like **@exhausted** just has more he needs to figure out right now

 **[somber]** : yeah, he did make his choice alright…

\- _voting update: 3 votes for **lost** , 2 votes for **exhausted**_ –

 **[lost]** : this is it, huh…

 **[lost]** : it’s just like when I was sitting on that bench today…

 **[lost]** : I can’t remember the last time I was actually by myself

 **[lost]** : single I mean

 **[lost]** : I guess I’m about to find out what it’s like…

 **[lost]** : I just wish all of this wouldn’t have to hurt so much

 **[caring]** : oh god, oh no, I can’t allow this…!

 **[caring]** : it’s not like the last time, right?

 **[caring]** : I really feel like he’s saying the truth

_\- voting update: 3 votes for **lost** , 3 votes for **exhausted** – _

**[lost]** : huh?

 **[somber]** : what did you do…

 **[loving]** : it’s a tie again… does that mean we get to vote again?

 **[caring]** : we just need some more time with the both of them, right?

 **[caring]** : this should give us time…

 **[lost]** : are you sure this is going to work?

 **[exhausted]** : I don’t even want to think about waking up now I can’t –

 **[exhausted]** : please, I don’t want to forget about all of this!

\- **[exhausted]** and **[lost]** have been voted off the DreamServer –

 **[caring]** : what??

 **[caring]** : no, wait, this is not what I wanted!

 **[blessed]** : oh no! :( do you think they will remember…?

 **[James]** : hahaha I knew they would both go!

 **[Jesse]** : welp, too bad they’re gone…

 **[Jesse]** : things are bound to be way more boring now…

 **[loving]** : do you even breathe in between saying mean stuff??

 **[blessed]** : this is really sad but…

 **[blessed]** : now that they’re gone, I have a confession to make

 **[blessed]** : I think I’m the guy they were fighting about…

 **[somber]** : what?

 **[somber]** : no you’re not…

 **[somber]** : I am

 **[Jesse]** : ohhhh

 **[Jesse]** : okay, alright…I take everything back, this is just as juicy!

 **[James]** : what makes you guys think you were the one, huh?

 **[caring]** : that’s really weird I mean

 **[caring]** : why didn’t you say anything before?

 **[somber]** : do you know anyone who _likes_ to talk about their break-up or…

 **[blessed]** : well, I wasn’t really sure whether my ex was still thinking about me that way?

 **[loving]** : huh

 **[loving]** : okay, I’m getting the feeling that they’re both right?

 **[Jesse]** : isn’t this perfect…

 **[Jesse]** : ex number 1 and ex number 2

 **[Jesse]** : I’m sure you got a lot to talk about, huh?

 **[somber]** : are you really him…?

 **[somber]** : man this is weird

 **[blessed]** : it is uhm…

 **[blessed]** : I don’t think we’ve really talked like – ever?

 **[caring]** : maybe this is the perfect environment to do it, right?

 **[caring]** : No pressure, nothing to lose…

_- **[somber]** and **[blessed]** have started a battle! – _

**[caring]** : …

 **[caring]** : okay, I admit I kind of provoked that one myself

 **[James]** : aww shit, here we go again!

 **[Jesse]** : you guys better start talking

 **[loving]** : oh man, this is so not pog…

 **[loving]** : when will all the fighting finally be over??

 **[blessed]** : I don’t think I want to fight you…?

 **[blessed]** : ever since I found out about this whole mess, all I wanted to do was apologize

 **[somber]** : yeah…

 **[somber]** : I’ve stopped resenting you since there’s just

 **[somber]** : there’s just no point?

 **[somber]** : it’s not your fault, I can’t keep blaming you for everything

 **[Jesse]** : why not?

 **[Jesse]** : if he’s the reason your ex just broke up with you I mean…

 **[James]** : he’s got a point!

 **[caring]** : no he doesn’t!! >:(

 **[caring]** : you’re on the right path here, **@somber**!

 **[blessed]** : it’s weird to me, the whole thing

 **[blessed]** : I still think about my ex all the time, and the guy I’m with knows that too

 **[blessed]** : but if he remembers this I mean

 **[blessed]** : is he gonna leave me?

 **[loving]** : this is really depressing, guys…

 **[loving]** : why do I feel like no one ends up happy around here?

 **[somber]** : that just seems to be today’s theme

 **[somber]** : it’s true that I feel for the guy, and we had this moment but

 **[somber]** : maybe I just need to figure out what I want for myself right now

 **[caring]** : that sounds like a really smart move to me!

 **[Jesse]** : but that’s also so boring…

 **[Jesse]** : can’t you at least snatch that dude away again??

 **[James]** : Idk, **@Jesse** , I feel like this one might backfire on us

 **[somber]** : no, I don’t want to destroy what you have with him, **@blessed**

 **[somber]** : it kind of hurts to see it but… you guys make each other happy

 **[blessed]** : I mean… I guess we do?

 **[blessed]** : I want us to be happy…

 **[Jesse]** : and the dick is dope, right?

 **[caring]** : you’re so hopeless

 **[caring]** : but it’s settled then, isn’t it…?

 **[caring]** : no fight?

 **[somber]** : there’s a tiny part of me that’s still mad about stuff from the past but

 **[somber]** : no, I will not fight you, **@blessed**

 **[blessed]** : well, I will not fight you either, **@somber**!

 **[James]** : ugh, is it time for us all to hold hands yet?

 **[James]** : this is so lame…

 **[loving]** : no, this is great!

 **[loving]** : it means they both get to stay… at least until the time limit runs out

 **[caring]** : yeah, which is great because…

 **[caring]** : that means we finally get to deal with these washed-up villains over here!

 **[James]** : huh?

 **[Jesse]** : huh?

 **[somber]** : yeah, you bet I have a thing or two to say to you assholes…

_- **[somber]** and **[blessed]** have forfeited the battle! – _

**[caring]** : what is this??

 **[somber]** : this is bad, isn’t it

 **[blessed]** : well, I guess we did throw the fight but

 **[blessed]** : that doesn’t mean that we have to –

\- **[somber]** and **[blessed]** have left the DreamServer -

 **[loving]** : oh my god

 **[loving]** : again??

 **[loving]** : I really thought I figured out the rules by now…

 **[caring]** : I hoped we had, at least :(

 **[James]** : lol think again

 **[Jesse]** : not really a loss if you think about it

 **[Jesse]** : what’s next, huh?

 **[caring]** : you!

 **[caring]** : you two are next!

 **[caring]** : I’ve had it with your constant trash-talk…!

 **[caring]** : I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but none of these people deserved your harsh comments >:(

 **[loving]** : uhh I uhh

 **[loving]** : I agree

 **[James]** : yeah, yeah, whatever

 **[James]** : there’s nothing for us to talk about, okay?

 **[Jesse]** : actually… there is one thing

 **[James]** : what?

 **[James]** : oh come on, don’t do this now, **@Jesse** …

 **[caring]** : oh, it’s too late now! Bring on the fight!

 **[caring]** : …

 **[caring]** : come on!!

\- **_[Jesse]_** _and **[James]** have started a battle! –_

 **[loving]** : okay lol

 **[loving]** : this is a real banger alright

 **[caring]** : they deserve it, at least…!

 **[Jesse]** : huh, this is interesting

 **[James]** : I don’t get it, is this really necessary?

 **[Jesse]** : maybe it is, **@James**

 **[Jesse]** : I’ve had a great time teasing people with you today but

 **[Jesse]** : you avoided my questions about that girl again

 **[caring]** : ahhh, so girl-troubles >:)

 **[caring]** : what a classic

 **[loving]** : uhm, **@caring** , are you okay…?

 **[James]** : what about her, huh?

 **[James]** : everything’s fine… she shares the bed with me at night, we fuck like rabbits

 **[James]** : I don’t see the need to talk about that

 **[caring]** : weirdly explicit but okay…

 **[Jesse]** : well, the problem is that you still hook up with me when she’s at work, right?

 **[loving]** : o.O

 **[Jesse]** : you’re deflecting again, **@James** …

 **[James]** : ugh… why can’t you just be happy with the way things are, huh??

 **[Jesse]** : because you’re not…

 **[Jesse]** : I know you better than anyone, and your grip is way too lose when you choke me lately

 **[Jesse]** : so I know you’re upset

 **[loving]** : what the hell guys…

 **[James]** : well, maybe I’m just trying to keep your voice down so that our teammates won’t hear your screams??

 **[James]** : Ever think about that?

 **[caring]** : I think I’m starting to feel sick

 **[Jesse]** : since when do you care about that?

 **[Jesse]** : Besides, if you just bought me a new ball gag like I asked you to…

 **[James]** : you’ll just chew right through that again, what do you want, one made out of metal??

 **[caring]** : okay, this is ENOUGH!

 **[loving]** : please, no more…!

 **[loving]** : I just had my first time with a guy tonight and this is just… too much

 **[caring]** : yeah, same for me

 **[loving]** : oh, you too?

 **[loving]** : what a weird coincidence :)

 **[caring]** : you – you big dummy…!

 **[Jesse]** : haha you got yourself a smart one, huh **@caring**?

 **[loving]** : ?

 **[caring]** : SHUT UP!

 **[caring]** : god, you’re really bringing out the worst in me…

 **[caring]** : let’s just send them off, **@loving**

 **[caring]** : HELLO WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE

 **[caring]** : we’re not voting, so you might as well kick both **@Jesse** and **@James**!

 **[loving]** : ahhh it’s like when they forfeit, no?

 **[loving]** : great idea, **@caring**! I won’t vote either!

_\- The battle between **[Jesse]** and **[James]** has ended in a tie -_

**[loving]** : you’re just as smart as my boyfriend!

 **[caring]** : …

 **[James]** : hmm, you think you did something here, huh?

 **[Jesse]** : you two puppies will wish you could have heard about the way we play ;)

 **[caring]** : yeah, no, I won’t miss you when you’re gone!

 **[caring]** : bye bye!

\- **[caring]** and **[loving]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[James]** : pfff hahaha

 **[Jesse]** : serves them right

 **[James]** : yeah, definitely!

 **[James]** : I’m also glad we don’t have to continue the fight to be judged by those clowns..

 **[Jesse]** : yeah, well

 **[Jesse]** : I’d still like to talk about this issue a bit more

 **[James]** : fine, I’ll buy you that new ball gag…

 **[Jesse]** : haha not that!

 **[Jesse]** : … but I’ll take it

 **[James]** : what do you want me to say then…

 **[James]** : that I’m in love her?

 **[James]** : maybe I am, but what does it matter?

 **[James]** : she doesn’t want to settle down

 **[Jesse]** : well, maybe if you just -

\- **[Jesse]** and **[James]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[???]** : who wants to see a fight that just peacefully resolves issues for everyone?

 **[???]:** that was not the purpose of this at all…

 **[???]:** well, as long as they don’t remember the solutions they came up with…

 **[???]:** better luck tomorrow, hm?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on another episode of the DreamServer, and Part 9 altogether! 
> 
> Did you find out who's who easily? What gave them away this time around? And which of the four fights did you find the most thrilling/entertaining/devastating? Let me know in the comments :)
> 
> Now that Part 9 has found its end, Part 10 is right around the corner. What do you think will happen...? I found myself at a loss for ideas again after finishing up this one, but I think I came up with something that many of you have been waiting for ;)
> 
> Anyway, thanks for tuning in! I'll return on Wednesday with a brand new chapter!


	40. Part 10: Alfonso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, welcome to Part 10! 
> 
> This one is called Origen - pardon me, I meant Origin Stories. I've decided to give the title away early, since it doesn't give away too much about the actual plot... just about what it delivers on top of that ;) 
> 
> First time we're hitting things off with a guest POV - one that many have you have been expecting, too! Hope it doesn't disappoint...! 
> 
> Side note: I've compared the word count of this fic with the Harry Potter series in the past already, so, in case you're interested: we have now surpassed "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (190,637 words), and, especially since that is my favourite one, I couldn't be happier about it. I'm determined to reach the word count of the fifth book as well (257,045 words), and I hope that y'all will stick around until then ;) Also, this really is the 40th Chapter of this series... how strange is that x)

Even though it was too early for any gamer to even be awake, Alfonso was already sitting in front of his computer. With a mug of coffee in hand, he scanned through the latest patch-notes and tried to make sense of the changes. Most of the time, he simply enjoyed having some time for himself on mornings like these – but, today, there was also a sense of gloom surrounding him. Lately, he had felt a whole range of emotions that he had an incredibly hard time dealing with. Burying himself in work might have just been the easy way out for the Spaniard. Of course, he wanted his team to be the best in the League – but there was also something else hanging above his head the whole time, desperate to finally be addressed. Just as Alfonso was about to resume his study-session to finally start playing some games, he suddenly felt the hot breath of someone leaning over his gaming chair in the back of his neck. The unexpected sensation sent a shiver down his spine – he didn’t dare to look, but he knew who the mysterious intruder was right away.

“M-morning Zven,” he mumbled, trying to sound as if he hadn’t been caught off-guard at all, “what are you doing up so early?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” the ADC smirked, pointing at something on the screen over the support’s shoulder, “you better start building this on Thresh, hm?”

“That’s what I was trying to figure out…” Alfonso replied hesitantly, trying to lean forward inconspicuously.

In Alfonso’s chest, his heart began to pump at a record speed. Lately, that always happened when the tall Dane was around him – and, considering that the both of them formed Origen’s botlane, that was quite often. _It’s so annoying_ , the support thought with a sigh, _I just want to do my job_. Yes, he always tried his hardest to stay professional, no matter what. It was only natural to ignore these weird feelings for his ADC that started to bloom in him – right?

“Hmm, well, do you have a moment?” Zven asked casually with his lips remaining way too close to the support’s ear, “I wanted to ask you to help me with something.”

“I was about to pla y some SoloQ but… fine, what do you need?”

“I just need your expertise on something,” the ADC shrugged, finally stepping away, “come with me?”

“Huh? Where are you going?” Alfonso asked, turning around in his chair – but the Dane was already halfway down the hallway.

Reluctantly, the support got up to follow his ADC. He cursed his inability to say no to Jesper as he stomped after him. Alfonso wanted nothing more but to continue their rise as one of the best botlanes in Europe, but he felt like he was walking on a dangerous path when it came to fulfilling the Dane’s every wish – sooner or later, this would inevitably backfire. He couldn’t help but think about his mother, who he had promised to work extra hard to make up for not going to college. _If she knew what I was doing here..._ the Spaniard thought, too scared to even finish the sentence in his mind. He didn’t know what would disappoint his mother more – knowing that her son was straying away from his professional behaviour, or that he was actually developing feelings for a guy. The only thing Alfonso knew for sure was that he would never, ever let her find out about either of those things.

“Come inside, would you?” Jesper smirked when he saw his support standing in the doorway of his room as if his feet had been glued to the floor.

“Uhm…” Alfonso swallowed, looking at his bare-chested ADC with wide eyes, “what exactly did you want me to help you with here…?

“Just come in and close the door,” Jesper smirked, pointing to his bed where two shirts had been laid out, “I need you for some fashion advice, okay?”

“Ah, right,” the support mumbled, feeling relieved but also weirdly disappointed as he closed the door, “what’s the occasion for these buttoned-down shirts?”

“I have a date tonight,” Jesper beamed, confidently putting his hands on his hips as if it was the most normal thing to be shirtless in front of his support.

 _He’s… going on a date_? The Spaniard thought with wide eyes. It was like he didn’t think Zven could get someone to go out with – it was more the opposite. Since he had not shown any interest in dating since the both of them had joined Origen, Alfonso had hoped that the ADC simply didn’t care for it. But alas, there it was. With an unspeakable sadness overcoming him, the support took a deep breath. It was hard to keep a straight face when Alfonso’s heart had just jumped and dropped in a matter of seconds, but he tried his absolute best to remain calm. Considering that the sight of the Dane’s naked torso was only adding to his stress, that was quite the challenge.

“Just wear whatever. Can I go now?” Alfonso grumbled.

“Oh, please,” Jesper chuckled, playfully grabbing the support’s arm to pull him closer to the bed, “just tell me which one looks better, hm?”

“Geez….” Alfonso sighed, slowly turning his head to eye the options on the bed.

Both of the shirts looked quite similar, with only the colour forming a distinct difference. Even though a classic light-grey shirt could never really go wrong, Mithy knew what he wanted to see Zven in.

“I think you should go with the green one, that one brings out your eyes for sure.” Alfonso said with conviction, only noticing how suggestive his words were after they had left his lips.

“Oh, you think…?” Jesper said with a slight smile, moving in a little closer to grab the green shirt from the bed.

“Yeah, uhm… I’ll see myself out then.” The support mumbled, quickly turning away.

“Aww, come on, at least wait until I put it on,” Zven snickered, sitting down on the bed to button his shirt, “I’m lost without your sense of style, you know?”

“Fine, fine…” Alfonso sighed, sitting down on the very edge of the bed, “but hurry up, I don’t have all day.”

“Why, isn’t this entertaining enough for you?” Jesper smiled slyly, proudly presenting his almost-buttoned-up-shirt-look, “what do you think?”

“I don’t know, you should at least close the last button…” Alfonso murmured, reaching up to finish the job himself, “you’ll just look like you can’t dress yourself otherwise.”

Suddenly, he noticed Jesper’s curious stare on him. As the support had scooched over to fix his wardrobe-fiasco, they were now sitting awfully close to each other. The Spaniard’s hands started to tremble – he tried to look anywhere else but into the Dane’s piercing eyes. Oh, his eyes – the support found himself lost in them way too often, wondering whether they were more green than blue or the other way around. The thought alone was enough to make his head spin – if only he could get the button to close…

“There, that’s better,” Alfonso whispered as he finally got it done, pulling his hands away from the ADC’s collar.

But Jesper didn’t let him. He grabbed the support’s wrist with just enough force, stopping it in it’s track. The tension between both of the players was unbearable by now – it was almost as if sparks were flying through air due to all the friction. All Alfonso wanted to do was run away. But he was so weak to the Dane’s touch – as much as he tried to, he couldn’t move. Zven grinned as he noticed how his support held his breath.

“I don’t think I want you to go,” the ADC whispered, “you know, with each time we hug on stage, it just becomes harder to let you go.”

“Pff, that’s just cheesy I mean… what is that even supposed to mean?” The support snorted with a mocking grin.

“I don’t know, Fonso, you tell me,” Jesper smiled, leaning down a little as he pulled the support’s hand up to touch his neck.

“I don’t I… I’m not gay, Jesper, I don’t know why you would even think that…” Alfonso shook his head firmly, sparing no efforts to finally move away – but without success.

“That’s weird… why do you keep looking at me like this, then?” The ADC bit his lip, and Mithy couldn’t help but notice, “it’s no big deal, we all know what xPeke is doing in his room when Cyanide comes to visit…”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with us, idiot,” Alfonso grumbled, attempting to calm his heartbeat with sheer willpower, “we work together, that’s it.”

“You never thought we could… be _more?_ ” Jesper whispered, practically breathing against the support’s lips now – he was so desperately, heart-wrenchingly close.

“No, of course not!” The Spaniard huffed as he leant his head back a little, but his voice didn’t sound quite as convicted as he had aimed for.

“You’re not interested at all, huh…?”

Jesper’s curved up lips somehow just kept coming closer – to the point where Alfonso thought that the slightest movement would be enough for the unspeakable to happen.

“Not at all, _idiota_ …!” The support breathed almost inaudibly.

“Ah, you want me to move away then?” The ADC smirked, softly brushing his nose against the other guy’s.

“Y-yes…” Alfonso swallowed – of course, he could have moved away as well, but at this point, there was no point in denying that his body was screaming for the opposite.

“You sure…?” Jesper whispered, closing his eyes as he brought his hand up to stroke the support’s cheek.

And, finally, Alfonso couldn’t take it anymore. After murmuring _‘fuck off’_ under his breath, he crashed their lips together forcefully, kissing his ADC with a burning passion. After supressing his desire for so long, the dam had finally been breached. Zven returned his kiss in a heartbeat, embracing the support tenderly. The Spaniard’s body was burning up, responding eagerly because being held by the ADC just felt oh so right – but that was the last thing Alfonso wanted to admit.

“We – we can’t do this,” he panted, softly pushing the Dane away, “I mean… we shouldn’t.”

“Hmm, you didn’t like it…?” Jesper chuckled, moving his hand up to run his fingers through the Spaniard’s dark locks.

“That’s not what I was saying it’s just not… right,” the support stuttered, trying to ignore that his cheeks must have been beaming bright-red, “besides, what about your date, huh?”

“My what?” The ADC blinked a couple of times in confusion.

“Ehm, hello?” The support huffed in indignation, pointing at the Dane’s shirt, “I thought that was the whole point of me being here…”

“Ah, right,” Zven nodded with a wide grin on his lips, “how could I forget?”

“God, you’re terrible,” Alfonso grumbled, turning to get up from the bed, “I’m leaving!”

“Hey, wait, I’m sorry,” Jesper laughed, enclosing the support in his arms a little tighter to keep him in place, “I didn’t really forget, of course… where do you want to go?”

“Huh?” The Spaniard mouthed, just staring at the Dane in irritation.

“What’s it gonna be, Fonso? I’ll take you anywhere…” The ADC snickered, leaning his forehead against the support’s, “please?”

“You – I can’ believe you… this was such a set-up,” Alfonso pouted, closing his eyes as he allowed the fuzzy warm feeling in his chest to return.

“Is that a no…?”

The support sighed. _If it’s just this one time_ , he thought, his lips aching to be reunited with the Dane’s, _if it’s just this one time, maybe it’s okay_.

“Fine… fine, let’s go to that one Burger-place, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect,” the ADC beamed, tightening his embrace even more, “I wish we could go right now…”

“Well, we still have a job to do,” Alfonso smirked, patting the Dane’s back, “how about we start with some DuoQ…?”

“Good compromise,” Jesper nodded, “just another minute, okay?”

With soft laughter echoing through the room, Zven playfully pushed Mithy onto the bed, simply holding him close to his heart. Despite his best efforts to downplay the situation, it was hard for the support to deny just how happy he felt in this moment. His heart just kept jumping, even long after he had left Jesper’s loving arms. And it was jumping again now, as he sat alone in Fnatic’s office, remembering their first kiss as he stared at Zven’s name on his computer screen in solemn silence. After all these years, he was still the only one that could make him feel this way – why on earth did things have to be this hard for them lately? After their heavy falling out during the night of Valentine’s day, followed by almost a week of not talking to each other, they had finally talked things over – and what for? It felt like fixing up a brick wall with a band aid to the support.

Alfonso sighed as he remembered the fight they had had just the night before – it was about nothing, really. The Spaniard had seen another strange picture on social media, this time of Jesper and C9’s midlaner Nisqy. They were suspiciously close to each other on the image, and the former support couldn’t help but feel like the midlaner had some sort of longing in his eyes. Sure, it would have been smarter to swallow his pride and accept that his boyfriend was surrounded by several harmless guys that somehow looked uncannily like him; but it was simply impossible to control the fire that was the coach’s temperament once it flamed up. And so, he had thrown his entire might at the ADC once more, until Jesper had finally hung up the phone without saying goodbye. It was not the first time that their talks had ended this way – but, considering how uncertain Alfonso currently felt when it came to his relationship, it felt like a full-blown catastrophe to him.

 _If only I could focus on these god damn patch-notes to finish up the draft_ , the coach thought grumpily, emptying his coffee mug with one last swig. It was a major inconvenience on a game-day, but Alfonso simply couldn’t seem to be able to concentrate on his work. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had to admit that he needed to get all of these troubles off his chest somehow – the question that remained was who he could open up to during this time of the day. With another lengthy groan, the Spaniard sullenly pulled out his OnePlus to check his contacts.

 _Zdravets would probably be a safe bet_ , Alfonso considered as he scrolled past the support’s name. But, on the other hand, the Bulgarian was currently only available as a two-for-one-package with the team’s toplaner, and the coach definitely did not want to be trapped in a room together with the two of them again. Their raw perfect-couple-energy was simply too much for him to handle right now. _Oskar would probably have some advice for me as well,_ the coach thought as he spotted the jungler’s chat. But he was instantly reminded of the dentist appointment the Pole was currently at, despite the coach’s pleads to go on any other day of the week _. Maybe it’s better to keep my players out of this altogether,_ Alfonso sighed, getting up from his desk. After all, the last time he had opened up to them, he had felt a lot more vulnerable than he had ever allowed himself to be around them. If only there was a way to patch things up without getting his team involved – he would go for it right away. And, almost as if his pleads had been heard by the universe, a message popped up on his screen.

Grabbz: Hey there, early bird!

last minute drafting plans? GL for tonight ;)

A smile flashed across Alfonso’s face. _Of course, why didn’t I think of Fabian right away?_ He thought, trying to come up with a casual way to ask the other coach to meet him for some coffee before noon. The unexpected friendship that had recently blossomed with his sworn rival, over some drunken sob stories and an expensive clean-up of the backseat of the Grabbz’ car, was exactly what Alfonso needed right now. Luckily, the German seemed to be okay with meeting up without even asking why. Alfonso suspected that he might be in need of a break from his chaotic team as well – at least, that’s what he would feel like if he had to coach G2.

While his own team also had its fair share of drama, it at least took place in a controlled manner most of the time. When the coach passed the gaming area of the office on his way out, he noticed that the team’s midlaner was already there, playing SoloQ in the otherwise deserted room. Since the first meeting on game days didn’t start before noon, that was a rather unusual sight – but Alfonso decided not to disturb Tim just because of that. His overall feeling told him that he must have been fine.

When Alfonso finally spotted Grabbz walking into the coffee shop, he waved him over with a bright smile. He had already taken the liberty to order them some coffee, so all the other guy had to do was sit down.

“Hey, schön dich zu sehen! _(Hey, nice to see you)_ ” G2’s coach greeted the Spaniard happily.

“Hallo, ja, wie geht es dir heute? _(Hello, yes, how are you today?)_ ” Alfonso replied after taking a moment to lay the words out in his head.

“Gut schätze Ich, war nur wieder ordentlich chaotisch bei uns… _(good I guess, things were just really chaotic again at our place)”_ Fabian sighed as he sat down.

“Chaotisch? Das habe ich mir gedacht _(chaotic?_ _That’s what I thought)_ ,“ the former support laughed, stirring his coffee casually, “trotzdem danke fürs kommen _(still, thank you for coming)_.”

“Kein Problem – kommen wir doch gleich zur Sache, wo drückt der Schuh denn? (no problem – let’s get right to it, what’s bothering you?)” Grabbz inquired, getting right down to business.

“Uhm…? What was that about a shoe? I’m sorry, I feel like my German has gotten a bit rusty,” Alfonso chuckled, “could you repeat that?”

In a way, he enjoyed being able to practice his German with a friend. While he was working, which was during most of the time of the day, he had to speak English at all times – a rule he had come up with himself, to be fair. But he felt as if that had already helped with team communication, so it was definitely worth it. When he called his family, he spoke Spanish with them, naturally. The only person close to his heart he had really spoken German with regularly was his grandmother, who had taught him the language since his childhood – sadly, that was no longer an option. Of course, he was currently living in Germany, surrounded by tons of native German speakers; but, still, talking to a stranger to order your food and talking to a friend are to very different stories.

“Oh, it’s fine for us to switch to English too,” Fabian said with an appreciative smile, sipping on his coffee, “your German already impressed me enough the first time around.”

“Thanks, I try at least,” Alfonso mumbled, but he knew that he was being humble.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a lot more pleasant to listen to than all the yelling in our apartment,” Grabbz explained, suddenly looking weirdly gloomy, “I’m just glad to catch a break, honestly.”

“But shouldn’t you get them to settle down or something?” The Spaniard asked bluntly, surprised by the rather laissez-faire coaching style of the other guy.

“Haha, don’t make me laugh,” Fabian smirked, swinging the cup around in the palm of his hand, “that’s just not how they work. I have to let them be chaotic for their magic to kick in…”

“Well, but their performance in the rift doesn’t really reflect that right now, does it?” Alfonso frowned.

“Gotta have a little faith,” Fabian shrugged, “what about your team, hm? Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“No, I mean, their performance is solid and… after the talk I had with them last week, I guess it’s fair to say that their love life is stable as well.”

“Yeah, man, Oskar stays over at our place all the time,” Grabbz laughed, “that’s the kind of stuff no one tells you about when you become a coach, hm?”

“It’s not an easy job, that much is for sure,” Alfonso agreed with a slight grin, “I have to admit that I’m glad that it’s not the other way around…”

“Yeah, I got it, no drama in the Fnatic household,” Fabian snorted, pouring some more sugar into his coffee, “no jungler and toplaner up on each other’s throats all the time either, hm?”

“Wunder and Jankos are still at it?” Alfonso blinked a couple of times, remembering their conversation from last week, “I thought you told them to hash it out like I advised you to?”

“Well, I told you it wouldn’t work,” Grabbz sighed, solemnly stirring his coffee with a spoon, “I feel like it got even worse, actually… Miky and Perkz are also acting a bit strange.”

“Strange…?” The Spaniard asked, but he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hear the answer.

On the other side of the table, the German shuddered.

“Yeah, not like that, though. God, these images will never stop haunting me, will they…”

“That bad, hm? Hope things change for the better with them soon, then,” Alfonso nodded, trying his absolute best to hold back all the smug comments that popped up his head.

“Thanks… it’s a waiting game, really, but I feel like we can perform today, at least.” Fabian explained sternly before looking up with a smile, “anyway – enough about me, tell me what’s on your mind, would you?”

“It’s not that dramatic, really,” Alfonso murmured, nervously scratching the wooden table with his fingernails, “I just wanted to talk to someone outside of my team, okay?”

Grabbz suddenly looked even more interested.

“Something you don’t want them to know, then?”

“That’s not it… not exactly, at least,” the Spaniard sighed, “it’s about my, uhm… girlfriend.”

“You mean your boyfriend?”

"Huh?" Alfonso mouthed in shock.

Fabian chuckled as he saw the flustered expression on Mithy’s face, “what? You were really drunk that one time, remember? You wouldn’t stop going on and on about him…”

Alfonso’s face was burning up in embarrassment – that must have been yet another thing he had forgotten about his tragic Valentine’s day. But, in a way, he should have figured that the other coach wouldn’t have any problem with it, despite not being interested in men himself.

“Yeah… well, we’re still having these problems – more specifically, I feel like I just can’t control my jealousy at the moment.”

“Hmm, yeah, that must be hard when you’re in a long distance relationship,” Fabian shrugged, leaning back in his chair, “but Zven strikes me as a faithful guy, don’t you think?”

 _Just how much did I tell him…?_ Alfonso thought, feeling slightly overwhelmed by his own, drunken betrayal. The other coach was right, of course – the Dane had never done anything to deserve being suspected of infidelity. But the ugly jealousy lingering inside of Alfonso’s head was anything but reasonable, which is why it wouldn’t just disappear like that.

“Is it a cliché to say that I trust him but not the people around him?” The Spaniard grumbled.

“Oh, definitely,” Fabian nodded with a mocking smile, “you can’t be serious, Alfonso… how would Vulcan even come close to you, hm?”

“That is… well, yesterday it was about Nisqy, actually,” Alfonso mumbled, but he knew that there was no logic behind what he said.

“Vulcan, Nisqy – what does it matter?” The other coach snickered, tapping the table in amusement, “it only took me one night with your drunk self to realize how special you two are to each other.”

Alfonso felt as if he was going to blush again – for a different reason, this time. Maybe a part of him really needed to be reminded of why the both of them had been glued together for so long by now.

“What exactly did I tell you…?” He asked softly.

“Oh, now it’s okay for me to talk about it?” Fabian laughed, “where should I start… the story about your first kiss? Your first date that was “ruined” by some terribly undercooked Burgers? Actually, my favourite is probably the one where you had to hide in Zven’s closet while Luka was searching for his guitar in his room and then you –“

“Wow, okay, that’s enough I think,” Alfonso mumbled, coughing into his palm to deflect his embarrassment, “I didn’t realize I was that… open.”

“That’s what alcohol does to you,” Grabbz shrugged, “I didn’t even tell Luka about that last story, even though I think he’d laugh his ass off at that one…”

“Wow, uhm, that’s really sweet… who knew you could be like that?” Alfonso gave the German a warm smile, “I guess there is a reason why you coach a not-too-shabby team, hm…”

“Geez, thanks,” Fabian rolled his eyes, “right back at you… you should still apologize to Zven for yesterday, you know.”

“Huh?” Alfonso huffed, pushing his empty cup away dramatically, “how did you know we fought last night…?”

“That was not really a hard conclusion to come to,” the German explained, emptying his cup as well, “for a smart guy like yourself, you’re really stupid sometimes…”

“Hmpf, whatever,” Alfonso pouted, pulling out his OnePlus to check the time, “shoot, I better head back soon… I mean, what would I even say to him?”

“You know, that you’re sorry, that you shouldn’t have been so jealous again… and thanks for the coffee.”

“…thanks for the coffee?” The Spaniard repeated the words slowly, looking mighty confused.

“No, that part was me,” Grabbz laughed as he got up, “sorry to cut this short, but I need to head back now to deal with my own crisis.”

“Right, sure – thanks again, Fabian,” Alfonso smiled, “Kaffee geht natürlich auf mich, viel Glück mit deinem Team _(Coffee’s on me of course, good luck with your team_ )!”

“Danke, das werde ich brauchen… bis später _(Thanks, I’ll need it… see you later)_ ,“ the other coach smirked, waving before he finally turned around to leave the Café.

It had certainly been an incredibly short meeting – but, somehow, it felt as if it had given Alfonso exactly what he needed. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t known Fabian for a long time - outside of the usual professional courtesy in the League, that is - that caused his words to have even more impact. The Spaniard knew that the other coach had no reason to lie to him, let alone sugar-coat the truth. No, the both of them had been brutally honest to each other from the start – otherwise, their unlikely friendship probably would have never stood a chance. And it was true, just like the German said, Alfonso had absolutely nothing to worry about. All these years, and all these stories – they simply had to count for something. None of the C9-lookalikes could ever replace the original, but this was also the time to swallow his pride. With a soft sigh, Alfonso opened his chat with Jesper.

Alfonso: I’m sorry about what I said yesterday… I shouldn’t have been so jealous again.

I’m sure Nisqy is harmless, I don’t know what I was thinking

He already felt a lot better after hitting send. Even though Zven was probably still asleep due to the time difference, Alfonso hoped that he would read it as soon as he woke up. Either way, he should at least hear from him before Fnatic’s game started – that’s what he hoped for, at least. _Speaking of which_ , the coach thought as he got up, carefully putting his coat back on, _I should hurry back to finish the draft notes_. The step he had taken was tiny at best, but Alfonso still felt as if he had regained his ability to concentrate somehow. Maybe that was because now, all he could do was wait.

Although Alfonso thought that he had calmed down again, sitting in Fnatic’s lounge in the studio before their match somehow really wrecked the coach’s nerves. Maybe that was because Misfits were a quite challenging opponent, as they had been the first one’s to beat G2 right after Fnatic had bit the dust against the chaotic team. But maybe it was also because he didn’t feel quite so sure about his team being “drama-free” anymore. For one, there was Oskar, who was still rubbing his cheek every now and then and looked as if he was sleepwalking. Then, there were Martin and Tim, who were just sitting on either end of the couch in complete silence. Sure, Bwipo and Hyli were joking around in their usual manner – but something was up, wasn’t it?

“… and then, he tried to drink the orange juice, but it just ran right out of his mouth again!” The toplaner wheezed, pointing at his jungler’s mouth, “it was like, straight out of a Vine or something!”

“To be fair, my mouth was just numb,” Oskar shrugged, seemingly in on the joke himself, “I didn’t feel a damn thing until my whole shirt was wet.”

“Man, I wish I could have seen that,” Hyli giggled, “I mean, I probably would have made you wear a bib anyway…”

“Stop babying the man, would you,” Bwipo snickered, playfully pinching the support’s side, “he’s a grown man! Which is _exactly_ why the dentist had to numb down his whole mouth for one little cavity…”

“Oh, come on, dentists are scary,” Oskar shuddered, visibly cringing, “if they offer me anaesthesia, you bet I’ll take it.”

“But it’s completely gone now, right?” Alfonso asked carefully, as the conversation slowly let him grow more and more worried for their match.

“Of course, that’s why I went early in the morning, right?” Oskar grinned – but the coach couldn’t help but feel like his smile was a little more crooked than usual.

“Okay, well, I’ll need you to drink some water for me.”

“Huh? Are you serious?” The jungler cocked a brow.

“Just to be sure, hm? Please?” The coach insisted.

“Not gonna lie, I kind of want it to happen again,” Bwipo whispered to his support, but not nearly quiet enough for the rest of the guys not to hear.

“This is ridiculous, but okay,” Oskar shrugged, leaning forward to grab his bottle of water.

Effortlessly, he brought the bottle up to his lips and took a couple of sips without spilling a single drop.

“Alright, fine,” Alfonso sighed in relief, “sorry – I’m a bit nervous about the match I guess.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry for going to the dentist today against your wish,” the jungler replied, putting his bottle back on the table.

“It’s not like you would have played better with your tooth aching, right?” Hylissang added, holding his cheek knowingly, “that’s just the worst.”

“You have a point with that as well,” Alfonso agreed as he let himself fall onto the couch, “maybe we just need to talk about something else… does anyone have any fun plans for after the game?”

“Mhm, it’s movie night,” Bwipo grinned, rubbing his hands together, “we’re gonna watch something spooky, right Zdravets?”

“Yes yes, I agreed to watch the late night special at least once…” the support nodded shyly, clinging onto the toplaner’s arm, “hope it’s not too scary, though.”

“As long as the both of you get enough sleep…” the coach snickered, turning to his jungler, “what about you, Oskar?”

“Think I’ll need a ride to G2’s apartment later,” the jungler grinned, both arms spread out on the backrest of the couch, “I feel like I’ll just fall asleep right after our win!”

“Right, right,” Alfonso chuckled, “what about you, Martin? Tim?”

But there was no response. The ADC and the midlaner might as well have been replaced by cardboard cut-outs, that’s how motionless they were sitting in their spots. Alfonso couldn’t decide whether their faces looked shocked or simply devastated – but, yes, something was definitely off. The only question was whether the coach should actually try to address that now that it was time to hit the stage soon.

“Anything special…?” He tried again, hoping that he might have just misinterpreted the signs.

“No.” Tim responded solemnly, turning his attention back to his OnePlus.

“Nothing special,” Martin mumbled with a grim expression on his face.

The coach nervously glanced over at Hylissang – normally, this would be the time where the support would start his investigations. But he was wrapped up in his own fluffy conversation with Bwipo and Oskar instead. _If he’s not worried, maybe I shouldn’t be either_ , Alfonso told himself. It was what he had to convince himself of in order to let his team hit the stage with a clear consciousness. And, in the end, it paid off – Fnatic delivered an impressive performance, sending Misfits packing in the fastest game of the Split so far. The immense rush of the well-deserved victory was more than enough to wash the worries of the coach away, even if it was just for a moment.

Back in the lounge, the atmosphere had completely shifted. Smiles graced the lips of each of the players – it was obvious that they were incredibly proud of their victory. Of course, everyone had their own idea of how they wanted to celebrate their statement-performance. While Bwipo and Hylissang wouldn’t stop talking about their date-night, and Alfonso couldn’t stop thinking about finally getting home to call Jesper, one of the players had something different in mind.

“I think I’ll stay a bit if that’s okay,” Martin said as the other players were about to leave the lounge.

“Huh? But why?” Bwipo wondered as he tried to close the zipper of his jacket.

“I just want to watch the rest of the games here before returning to the hotel… I don’t have a nice couch like this, you know?” The ADC explained with a slight smile, “you guys go ahead, I’ll just call a cab later.”

“I mean, okay,” Alfonso said slowly, wondering whether the Swede had told the whole truth, “what about you, Oskar? Aren’t you gonna stay to wait for your _boyfriend?”_

“Uhm, haha, no,” Oskar mumbled, scratching his head nervously, “I’d rather drive home with you guys to nap, I’m so tired…”

“Alright… I guess we’ll see you tomorrow, Martin,” the coach smiled, sincerely hoping that the ADC was not hiding anything else from him.

“Yeah, see you guys,” Rekkles waved, slowly sitting down on the big couch to turn his attention to the TV.

It didn’t feel right to leave Martin like that – but Alfonso had already felt his phone vibrate in his pocket a couple of times by now, and the rest of the team was already more than eager to head out. Well, all except for _one_. As the group started moving towards the exit, the coach slowed down his pace to match the team’s midlaner’s walking speed.

“You okay Tim? Is everything alright between you and Martin?”

“Yes.” The midlaner responded monotonously, somehow managing to navigate through the hallway without lifting his gaze from his OnePlus.

Alfonso sighed – it was obvious that asking the Slovenian about his feelings was no use. In a way, it almost felt as if the wall that Tim had build around himself had suddenly grown even taller. It reminded Alfonso of the time he had first met the midlaner – since then, several months had passed and the coach felt as if he had witnessed some sort of transformation. Tim had grown to be more vocal in meetings, almost matching how driven he was when it came to shot-calling in game. Him and Oskar had been really close for a long time, too. But now, things were different. And today, it was almost like the midlaner had taken ten steps back. Still, Alfonso didn’t know what to say, let alone what to do to help. _Hell, I have my own mess to take care of_ , he thought as he tried to mute his phone, at least for the reminder of their ride home.

After taking a detour to drop Bwipo and Hylissang off at the cinema, the rest of the team finally arrived at Fnatic’s gaming apartment. As soon as they stepped inside, Oskar quickly hurried over to the couch in the living room area, letting himself sink into the cushions with a satisfied smile. The team’s midlaner slouched after him, sitting down at the other end of the couch.

“Shouldn’t you go to your bed instead if you want to sleep?” Tim asked casually, still playing with his phone.

“I told you, I only want to rest my eyes a little,” the jungler yawned, stretching out his arms and legs, “I’ll hit the road again later on.”

 _Sure you will,_ Alfonso thought, chuckling slightly as he remembered how each time his grandfather had laid down on the couch to ‘rest his eyes’ had ended with loud snores. A part of him wanted to stay to witness this marvellous spectacle first hand – but, of course, he had a different objective in mind. Swiftly, the coach made his way to his own room, closing the door behind him carefully. Luckily, his nerves before their game against Misfits had distracted him from the fact that Jesper hadn’t answered him all day long. _Until now_ , Alfonso thought, swallowing hard as he finally pulled his phone out of his pocket. There it was – 10 missed calls. _Wait – isn’t that too many?_ The coach wondered, feeling the panic grow in him once more. There was only one way to find out. With trembling fingers, Alfonso pressed the button to call Zven back.

“Hi, hi, oh, I’m so glad that we get to talk before our meeting,” Jesper stammered, and the loud background noises made it even harder for the coach to make out what he was saying.

“Yeah, uhm, what’s up? It’s unusual for you to just call, what do I owe the pleasure to…?” Alfonso said calmly, sitting down on his bed to ground himself.

“I just needed to hear your voice… last night was bad, and I’m sorry for just hanging up on you,” Jesper explained, “wait, I’m on my way to my room since it's so noisy around here...”

For whatever reason, imagining Jesper in his room brought Alfonso back to the flashback of their first kiss. Even though they were several thousand miles apart, a part of Mithy still believed that their hearts were beating in the same rhythm – just like they had back then. Somehow, sitting alone on his bed felt a little less lonely now.

“It’s fine, I mean, I kind of deserved it,” the coach sighed, feeling the shame about his outburst return, “as I said in my text, I’m sorry about being so jealous again…”

“Yeah, I know… your apology made me really happy,” Jesper said closing the door shut behind him.

“Why does it sound like there’s a ‘but’…?” Alfonso said, and he expected nothing less but for Zven to make a joke about the former support’s butt right away.

“But… god, I don’t know how to say this,” the ADC sighed.

“What? Are you for real?” The coach huffed, suddenly sitting up a lot stiffer, “you’re scaring me, Jesper… what is it?”

“It’s just… after I hang up yesterday, I went back to hang out with the guys a bit more.”

“Okay…?”

“We decided to watch a movie and Blaber said he wanted to play a drinking game – I was in a bad mood because of our fight so… I thought why not.” Zven explained with a shaky voice.

“So?? What kind of story-time is this, get to the point, would you?” Alfonso hissed – at this point, he had absolutely no chill left in his body.

“Alright, Jesus, would you please just… just stay calm, okay?” The ADC almost pleaded, “please, just don’t freak out.”

“If you don’t want me to freak out, you better start talking fast,” the Spaniard snorted into his phone.

“Okay… well… we kept drinking, and one by one, the guys left to go to bed – and then there were only Nisqy and me left.”

 _Oh god_ , Alfonso thought, and he couldn’t even tell whether it was anger or desperation that made his chest feel like it was about to explode _, please, say anything but that – anything_.

“I was frustrated and… really drunk. So I told him about our fight – that it was about him and…” Jesper swallowed, barely able to finish his sentence as his voice started cracking.

“How could you tell him that…” Alfonso mumbled, closing his eyes in preparation for what was about to come.

“I wasn’t thinking, okay? I was just mad, and I wanted to let that out somehow… and then – well, then…”

“God, Jesper, would you just say it??” The coach snapped, almost yelling now.

“…you were right, Fonso.” Zven whispered.

“Right about what?? I swear, Jesper, if you don’t tell me right now…!” Alfonso hissed, clenching his fist in his lap.

“He kissed me. It happened so fast, I couldn’t do anything – I’m so sorry, Fonso!” Zven wailed, and the Spaniard could hear the hurt in the ADC’s voice loud and clear.

But that was not enough to stop the wildfire that had just been ignited in the coach’s torso. After talking himself out of his jealousy all day long, this conformation was all it took to finally blow his fuse.

“…Fonso? Please, please say something… I promise I moved back right away, I didn’t do anything!”

“You didn’t… you didn’t do anything??” Alfonso shouted angrily, facing his phone as if it could make Zven feel his angry glare, “I _told you_ he was after you! I said you should be careful and you… you made me feel like a jealous monster!”

“I didn’t mean to I… I didn’t know, Fonso, how could I have known?” Jesper stuttered.

“You should have listened to me!” The Spaniard barked angrily, “you should have stayed away from him… and what do you do instead? Get drunk with him and complain about your horrible boyfriend??”

“God, no, that’s not what I did – please, just calm down, Fonso, let’s talk about this…!”

“Shut up! Just shut up…!” Alfonso grumbled, jumping up from his bed, “all this talking… what has it been good for, hm? You never listen to me anyway!”

“That’s not fair, of course I listen to you! He literally kissed me out of the blue, how can you blame me for that?”

“Didn’t I just tell you?? Are you deaf??” The coach groaned, stomping away from the bed, “god, how could you be such an idiot?”

“Please, Fonso, this is not my fault I just – just tell me how to fix this, okay?” Jesper whispered, with his voice cracking again, almost as if he was on the verge of tears.

“I’m so sick and tired of this!” Alfonso grunted, forcefully slamming his fist against the wall of his room, “Vulcan, Nisqy… god, just fuck them if you want to, I don’t fucking care anymore!”

“Don’t do this, Fonso…!” Jesper stammered, breathing heavily, “I beg you, just let me explain!”

“No, no I’m done with talking,” the Spaniard hissed, pressing his pulsing fist against the wall even harder, “I’m done with all of this, you hear me?? This is it. We’re DONE!”

“Wait, don’t do –“

Without waiting for Jesper to finish his sentence, Alfonso ended the call. His whole body was boiling with rage – with incredible force, the coach dramatically hurled his phone across the room. From the sound of it, he had successfully cracked the screen of his OnePlus with this sudden outburst of frustration. But, in the end, Alfonso couldn’t care less about that right now. All he could care about was how betrayed he felt – especially after trying to convince himself that he was in the wrong all day long. Sure, their problems had just piled up over the course of the last weeks – or maybe even months, if he was honest with himself. But that didn’t make this moment feel any less painful. Alfonso felt like he was spiralling – after releasing some of the steam through the rough OnePlus-abuse, the coach let himself fall onto his bed.

A part of him just wanted to cry, while the other still felt like screaming in anger. Unable to decide which instinct to follow, Alfonso just laid there, staring at his dark ceiling as the fateful sentence echoed through his mind again and again. _He kissed me. He kissed me. He kissed me_. How could he not imagine how Jesper’s lips must have ached to be kissed again for so long? How he must have closed his eyes out of instinct when he saw the midlaner approach him? Even if he had moved away as fast as possible – how could his heart not have jumped at the sensation? With balled fists, Alfonso covered his eyes. The image of the scene was simply too much to handle. The worst thing about it was that, somewhere deep down, the coach found himself wondering whether he could really blame the ADC for any of this. It was not really his fault that Alfonso was not there to give him what he needed and desired, afer all.

 _Was it really the long distance thing that broke our back?_ Alfonso thought as he turned to his side, with his anger slowly fading into resignation. He pulled one of his pillows close, pressing it to his heart in the same way Jesper had held him on the day of their first kiss. After Alfonso had made the decision to return to EU after their unsuccessful run with TSM, Jesper had begged him to stay. But he simply had to go – and so he did. And that was the first time they had broken up, as the both of them felt as if they couldn’t take the distance between them. But, as it turned out, what they really couldn’t take was not being together. And so, roughly twelve hours later, after Alfonso’s plane had landed, they got back together. They promised each other that they would make it work – that they would do anything to be together, despite the entire Atlantic ocean laying between them.

 _But it’s different this time_ , the coach thought solemnly as he stared out of his window into the dark night, _we tried this time, but it still didn’t work_. After all the fighting, it finally felt as if there was no going back. And, even though Alfonso had been the one to make the cut, he couldn’t remember a single moment in which he had ever felt this devastated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Mithy's POV! What are your thoughts and feelings on this one?
> 
> I'm trying to experiment with using the native languages of some of the players, as that was one thing I got curious about recently - how do you feel about it? Is it something that adds to the story, or is it distracting? I'm currently learning Swedish, but I guess I'd have to rely on the trusty Google translator for most other scenes. Feedback is much appreciated! 
> 
> So, this was our first look at "Origin Stories"... what do you think awaits us in the next couple of chapters? 
> 
> I'd love to know, so please leave a comment if you feel like it :) And, as always, thanks for tuning in! 
> 
> Side note: I've been wondering how many people actually read my story continuously. According to the hit, it could be anything between 10 and 200? I have no idea, actually. Wish the site would give me some more accurate statistics xD


	41. Part 10: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Welcome to another chapter of Part 10 - Origin Stories!
> 
> I think I had somewhat fun with this one as well, and I'm quite excited to put it out there! 
> 
> That being said, I have to admit that I've had somewhat of a rough week, mostly professionally. It's also the first week in five months in which I haven't finished a single chapter. Since I could sense from reading the comments that some of you might also be struggling with time, I think it's for the best to slow down the pace a bit more. I'd hate to run out of content to bring to you regularly, so I've decided to start only posting once a week, every Sunday, from now on. For some of you, that might be a good thing, since it gives you some more time to read and reflect, next to your busy schedules - for those who read and comment on the first day most of the times, I'm sorry. I hope you still stick around! I've gotten some amazing feedback from you guys, and thanks for the all the additional Kudos on the last chapter as well. I know you're out there and I'm incredibly thankful! In times like these, it's so valuable not to feel like you're alone in this world. I hope we can all continue to give that feeling to each other through this silly fanfic; I couldn't imagine a more meaningful purpose. 
> 
> Uhm, I'm not crying, you are! Let's get back to the chapter, shall we?

When Tim opened his eyes, feeling unusually well-rested and ready for the day, he was surprised to find the whole room still pitch-black. It was only scarcely lit up by the few stars that were visible through the window. _Why did I wake up in the middle of the night?_ The midlaner wondered, blinking a couple of times to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He had no intention of getting up, despite his weirdly energized state of mind – the sheets were simply too soft, and the way he had cuddled up with the pillows was just too damn comfortable. Even if he were to be unable to fall asleep again, he might as well seize the opportunity to think about some of the concerns he had carried over from his nightly slumber _. In the end, it’s always about him_ , Tim sighed, finally turning around to face away from the starry night sky.

Suddenly, Tim spotted something that made his blood freeze in his veins. To be more precise, he spotted _someone_. The outlines of the mysterious person sitting just a couple of feet away from the midlaner on another bed were almost blurry due to the lack of light in the room. For a moment, Tim thought he must have still been asleep, after all – because this could only be a nightmare. He had heard stories about sleep paralysis and its gruesome effects, too, but he had never been a victim of it. At least not until now. Now, he found himself unable to move, with his heavily pounding heart being the only part of him that would budge. _Wait – why is there a second bed in my room anyway?_ Tim wondered after the first shock had disappeared.

“Are you awake, too?” Martin whispered carefully.

“Uhm… yeah.” The midlaner mumbled, taking a deep breath full of relief.

 _That’s right – we’re in a hotel,_ he thought, slowly remembering the circumstances that had brought them there, _we’re in NA to play Rift Rivals_. To be fair, the Slovenian was not used to staying in hotels, let alone fancy ones with gigantic windows and amazing skyline-views. On top of that, all of Fnatic’s players had suffered major jetlag after their incredibly long flight, which would explain him being weirdly awake in the middle of the night. From the looks of it, the same applied to his ADC. Tim had shared a room with one of his brothers for a while back home, so he didn’t mind the idea of doing so with one of his teammates at first – at least not until he had heard who his partner would be.

He wouldn’t have minded Hylissang, but he had been paired up with Bwipo, of course. He wouldn’t have minded Broxah, but the Dane had been chosen to share his room with the team’s coach, Youngbuck. And that only left Martin open – it felt like a weird twist of fate that the Swede that robbed the midlaner of his sleep on most nights anyway would be there to witness it, too.

“Are you going back to sleep…?” The ADC asked after a somewhat lengthy moment of silence.

“I don’t think I can.” Tim murmured, squinting in an effort to get a better look of Martin.

By now, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness quite well, enabling him to make out some details that were previously hidden from his sight. Martin’s hair looked a lot messier than it usually did, with some strands of hair hanging done his forehead. He was still wearing this necklace that looked like it was straight out of Lord of the Rings. And, now that the midlaner looked more closely, the ADC didn’t seem to be wearing much beside that. Immediately, Tim’s heart skipped a beat – it was involuntary bodily reactions in moments like these that made the Slovenian question his sanity. _What is it about him that drives me this crazy?_ He considered, swallowing hard as he noticed that he couldn’t look away. Tim simply couldn’t remember a single time in which he had eyed the naked skin of another person more curiously.

At first, he thought it was respect. When he joined Fnatic, Rekkles had already built such a huge legacy that any rookie player would have idolized him and his achievements, after all. The fans loved him, the other teams feared him, and, surely, everyone in the League knew his name. But, in the end, the same could be said about some of the other Fnatic players in a way, and Tim didn’t even partially feel the same way about them. And so, he figured that he must have wanted to be _exactly_ like Martin. Maybe he just wanted to be extra close to him to find out what he had to do to achieve that? But then, these weird things kept happening to him. Tim’s heartbeat would speed up every time him and Martin stood specifically close to each other – it would get harder to breathe when the ADC would give his shoulder a squeeze after a victory – hell, even his cheeks would start to feel hotter when he saw the Swede smile. It was undeniable that his body’s odd responses were the product of something beyond simple admiration.

“So… the sky is really clear tonight, hm?” Martin asked, slowly making his way to the huge window of the room by the midlaner’s bedside.

“I guess…” Tim mumbled, turning to follow the ADC with his eyes, “I didn’t think there would be stars to be honest.”

“We probably wouldn’t be able to see them if we were closer to the city’s centre,” the ADC suggested, fumbling with the window until he finally opened it.

“I guess… I don’t see the moon, though.”

“It’s probably just on the other side,” Martin mumbled as he casually leaned out of the window, “ah yes, I see it now!”

“Do you have a death wish…?” The midlaner frowned at the ADC’s weird acrobatic moves, “aren’t we up in the tenth story or something…”

“What, are you worried about me?” Martin laughed, sticking his head back into the room with ease, “how unexpected of a weapon without emotions...”

“Whatever,” Tim mumbled, averting his gaze to avoid blushing at the sight of his almost naked ADC.

The Swede was wearing dark boxer briefs that sat suspiciously tight on his toned body. Again, Tim was past the point of envying the other guy for his fit physique – if the midlaner had really cared about his own appearance that much, he probably would have started hitting the gym by now. Still, there was something drawing him to the ADC’s body. In a way, Tim knew what this feeling must have been all about. Back home, his classmates had started to voice similar interests when they hit puberty. They wouldn’t stop going on and on about their newest sexual adventures, either on their own or with their girlfriends at the time. But the midlaner had never really been interested in things like revealing outfits or porn magazines – and he had never really cared about the fact that he was just different like that. _Well, maybe I do have it in me_ , Tim thought as he nervously glanced back and forth the Swede’s grin and his crotch, _but I guess I’m still different_.

“What are you looking at?” Martin asked, putting one hand on his side, “you like what you see?”

“What?” Tim scoffed, quickly shaking himself out of it, “no, it’s just weird to have an almost naked guy standing in front of my bed.”

“That’s the beauty of international tournaments for you,” Martin snickered, “even though we do get our own rooms usually…freaking room shortage”

“Yeah…” Tim nervously played with his fingers.

“Hmm, you really mind? I thought you said you shared a room with your brother before?” The Swede asked curiously.

“Well, you’re not exactly family,” the midlaner mumbled, sitting up in his bed, “I’ve never had someone else around at night like this.”

“Not even at slumber parties or something?” The ADC inquired, sitting down on the midlaner’s bed to stretch out his legs.

 _Bold of you to assume I was invited to crap like that_ , the midlaner thought grumpily. His mom had always been particularly nice to the Slovenian on nights when his classmates had slumber parties, letting him stay up to play video games until well into the night. In the end, that was a lot more pleasant for Tim anyway.

“No… I don’t think I’ve ever slept with anyone before,” Tim said calmly.

But, as soon as the words had come out, he realized the unfortunate ambiguity. Before he could correct himself, the Swede had already started laughing.

“I – I meant in a room – geez, you know I didn’t mean it _like that_ ,” he grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Fine, fine… but it’s true, isn’t it?” Martin remarked, turning to face his midlaner with a sly grin.

“Huh?”

“You know… it’s not exactly a stretch to think that you’re a virgin, Tim.”

“Where is that coming from, all of the sudden?” The midlaner huffed, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

“I don’t know… you don’t talk a lot about yourself, I guess I’m just a bit… curious to find out more about you,” Martin mumbled, and Tim thought that he saw the ADC bite his lower lip ever so slightly.

“Fine, well… I don’t think it’s any of your business,” Tim started, trying to come up with a reasonable way of answering in his head, “but yeah, I’m not really interested in that kind of stuff.”

“What, not interested?” Martin chuckled in disbelief, “I’m sorry, but I’m not buying that.”

“I don’t really care if you do or not. I’m good at playing League, isn’t that all you really need to know?”

“You think that little of me? I’m shocked…” The ADC smirked, shuffling a bit closer to Tim, “I want us to be friends, you know? And as a friend, I have to tell you that you’re missing out.”

“Are you drunk or something? You never talk this much to me normally…” Tim mumbled, feeling quite irritated by the Swede’s weird behaviour.

“Drunk? No, not that I can remember… I got some bad jetlag, maybe,” Martin sighed, slowly sinking down from sitting to lying on the bed.

“Go back to your bed and sleep then.” Tim muttered, trying to move away from the ADC as discretely as possible.

“Hmm… you’re always so cold, Tim,” Martin mumbled, closing his eyes as he playfully ran his fingertip down the midlaner’s naked arm, “that’s all just for show though, isn’t it?”

“Shut up… you’re annoying,” the Slovenian grumbled, breathing in sharply as he felt the hair on his arm stand up due to the sweet sensation of the ADC’s strokes.

Martin stopped moving his hand as he noticed the midlaner’s body twitch – for a moment, Tim thought the ADC looked surprised by the weird impact his casual touch had had on the Slovenian.

“Guess you’re not used to being touched either?” Martin whispered a wide smile returned to his face.

“That’s just…” Tim mumbled, unable to finish his sentence.

 _Why does it feel so good?_ The midlaner wondered as he found himself hoping Martin would touch him again. He had never been one to enjoy physical contact, not even with his close family – why did the Swede’s fingers cast such an odd magical spell on him?

“You know, if you already like this… maybe I could show you more?” Martin whispered, staring directly into the midlaner’s eyes with a suggestive look on his face as he let his hand wander back up Tim’s arm.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I mean the stuff you’re not interested in,” the ADC explained before licking his lips slightly.

“What?” Tim swallowed hard.

 _What’s happening?_ He thought, unable to avoid the curious gaze of the Swede despite his best effort, _is this real life?_ A part of Tim just wanted to go back to sleep – to forget about this whole weird scene, to simply write it off as an odd dream that had nothing to say. But he could feel Martin’s hand on his arm so clearly, and his body was already starting to respond to it; so, at this point, there was no reason to deny the obvious.

“You heard me.” Martin said calmly, crawling up the bed to meet Tim at eye-level.

“You already said it though, I’m not interested,” Tim repeated the words slowly, trying his best to put on a confident expression, “I don’t want… you.”

“Really?” The ADC mumbled with a confused smile, “I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say that in a long time.”

“You prick... is this a joke to you…?”

“No… no, of course not,” Martin shook his head before leaning it against the midlaner’s shoulder, “I’m sorry… I guess you just fascinate me, Tim. And I just can’t help but…”

The Swede brought his hand up to softly caress the midlaner’s cheek, running his fingers down the side of it until he found his lips. The other guy was so desperately close – Tim felt his breathing growing heavier, paired with his heart racing at an increasing speed. Even if the ADC was simply out of his mind due to the jetlag, Tim didn’t know how much longer he could say no. _I want to say no, right?_ He wondered as he breathed against the Swede’s fingertip.

“I don’t want your pity, Martin,” he replied as calmly as possible, shoving the ADC’s hand away from his face, “I’m not interested in your games, either… you’re with someone right now anyway, aren’t you?”

Tim pointed at the ADC’s necklace, which was still dangling against his naked chest.

“Oh, uhm… no, actually,” Martin scratched his head, “that didn’t work out. But I like the necklace, and I guess it helps with keeping the fangirls in check.”

“Wow, aren’t you a player…”

“Not really… I’m particular about the people I get with, actually, even though many people would like to,” Martin shrugged, lifting his head again to look at Tim.

“So what, huh?” The midlaner mumbled, attempting to stare the other guy down, “does that mean that I’m supposed to want you, too?”

“No, but…” Martin leaned in a bit closer, biting his lower lip, “it means that I want you.”

“You must have completely lost it… have you looked at me? I’m a guy, you know…” Tim whispered with a solemn expression on his face.

“Yeah, I’m not that stupid,” the ADC chuckled, carefully running his fingers through the wild, dark-blonde hair of the midlaner, “but that’s not something that bothers me…”

 _Maybe it shouldn’t bother me either,_ Tim thought as he felt himself getting dizzy due to the Swede’s hot breath on his lips, _maybe this is okay_. It was the first time anyone had ever told Tim that he was wanted, desired even – and the fact that it was Martin, the one person that had made him experience things he had been completely oblivious of ever since he joined Fnatic, made it feel even more surreal. So what if he had only found out about his ability to feel attracted to someone at 19 years of age? So what if it was with another guy? The Slovenian had had to come to terms with much more difficult things in his life. And so, he decided to close his eyes. And then, he opened his lips just the tiniest bit – just like he had seen it on TV so many times. And, finally, he felt Martin’s lips press up against his. It felt so much sweeter than he had ever imagined it to. Tenderly, he brought his hand up against the ADC’s chest – soon after, he felt the Swede’s arms wrapped around him. To his surprise, he could suddenly feel Martin’s heart beating just as fast as his.

“Wait…” Tim whispered as he pulled away from the kiss, glancing up to look Martin in the eye.

“What is it?” Martin asked softly.

“This is just so sudden… I’ve never kissed anyone before,” the midlaner shook his head, trying to calm his nerves somehow.

“Yeah… well, it’s not sudden for me at all,” Martin leaned his forehead against the Slovenian’s, “I’ve wanted to do this for quite some time.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Tim stammered, feeling weirdly flustered.

“It’s fine not to say anything,” Martin replied with a soft smile, lifting the midlaner’s chin with one finger cautiously, “you can just nod if you… want more.”

And, maybe it was because of the fact that Tim was suffering from intense jetlag, and that it was the middle of the night – or maybe it was because he was melting in the ADC’s embrace, growing weaker by the second. Yes, for whatever reason, the doubts that had held Tim back for months had sailed out of the window, right into the dark night sky. There was only one thing left to do now. He looked into Martin’s glowing eyes, and he let his hand wander up to stroke one lose strand of hair out of his face, and finally, he nodded. With his eyes closed, Tim felt their lips met again. Even though he had only tasted Martin’s lips for the first time a short while ago, he didn’t want to miss the sensation for a second now. Tim felt himself getting lost in the sweet, tingly sensation, barely remembering to take breaks to breathe. In this moment, all he wanted to do was stay in bed with Martin forever – to just forget about everything else that was pulling him down.

But then he opened his eyes, and Martin was gone. And so was the fancy hotel room. Tim was suddenly lying in his own bed again, tickled by the morning’s first sunrays. _A dream, huh?_ The midlaner thought, rubbing his eyes lazily. It had happened a couple of times this last week. Tim found himself having problems with falling asleep lately anyway, so the weird dreams he kept having simply added to his troubles. It was not like he regretted the break-up, despite what his subconsciousness might be trying to tell him by bringing him back to his first night with Martin again and again – now that he thought about it, the ADC was probably thinking about a different midlaner when he kissed him back then anyway. But still, the end of his first relationship had taken a toll on Tim.

Sleeping by himself again every night was rough, and not being touched at all was even harder, considering that his body had grown used to it happening almost daily by now. _Martin probably doesn’t have that issue_ , Tim thought grumpily as he crawled out of bed, _he can just jerk off or… get with someone else_. Now, this thought made it quite hard for the midlaner not to be bitter. After all, he had never really touched himself before he was with Martin, let alone been with anyone else. Right now, he just didn’t have the same tools to deal with these abrupt changes in his life. Of course he knew how he could do it, theoretically at least – there had been fan offers online for some time now already, and it did not exactly take a degree to figure out how to masturbate. But still, neither of these things felt appealing to the midlaner. After pensively staring at his morning wood for a while, Tim chose to ignore it to get dressed.

During these last couple of days, he had always been the last one to leave the office and the first one to pop back in. That was why he was heading there again now, while the rest of his teammates were still sleeping ever so peacefully. Despite the team’s coach’s pleads to go home at 2 am tops, Tim felt as if he had basically not been home all week. He just wanted to play League, since that seemed to be the only thing that made sense to him right now. Tim also didn’t want to spend time at the apartment, as he was too scared to accidentally run into his teammates in the wild, far away from their computer screens. After all, he hadn’t had the guts to tell anyone about the break-up. It was probably because his relationship with Martin had just been discussed a week before, and he had just barely made it through. How harshly would the perfect couple, Bwipo and Hylissang, judge him now that he screwed it all up? He didn’t even want to think about the high horse his coach would be sitting on as soon as he found out.

And, of course, there was Oskar. The team’s jungler, the first guy Tim had ever really called his best friend – and the man responsible for his current situation. _Well, no, it’s all my fault_ , Tim thought with a sigh as he entered Fnatic’s office, _if I’d known all of this back then, things would be different now_. It was painful for him to remember the fated night of his infamous blackout, mostly because he hadn’t been able to for the longest time. But, ever since Valentine’s day, he hadn’t been able to _stop_ thinking about it. About the taste of Oskar’s lips, and how passionate his touch had felt, and about how he had told Tim that he was in love with him. The midlaner let himself fall into his gaming chair, exhaling dramatically. _If only I could turn back time_ , he thought as he started up his League client, _but he’s with Caps now_.

Yes, Oskar and Caps. Every time Tim found himself feeling brave enough to tell his jungler about the break-up, Oskar brought up G2’s ADC somehow. It was almost as if the universe was simply against them after everything that had happened up until this point. Of course, that’s not something Tim wanted to believe – how could he ever think that he had lost his final chance? His career depended on his ability to pick himself back up after a loss, after all. And, just as much as he was determined to crush Misfits into the ground on stage that night, he was determined to make things right with Oskar somehow. The only question that remained was what ‘right’ looked like in this case. Was it right to try to win him back? Or should he just take the L and let Oskar be happy with Caps?

Like so many times before, Tim’s senses were soon dulled after a couple of games of SoloQ, and he completely shut out the world around him. In a way, it was a blessing that time would just slip right through fingers in moments like these – that way, he didn’t have to spend his whole day waiting for things to finally go his way. Because of his trance-like state of mind, Tim was surprised to find that the sound shaking him back to reality was actually Mithy leaving the office, not entering it. _Wait, when did he even get here?_ The midlaner wondered, checking the time on his OnePlus only to see that it was still incredibly early in the day. As he stared back at his screen, where the word ‘defeat’ beamed bright red, Tim decided that it might be time for a break, after all. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit the one place he had probably spent the most time this past week, outside of the office, that is. But, today, he didn’t feel like doing it alone. He might have not been able to talk to his teammates yet – but he surely needed to talk to someone. After texting his chosen confidant the location where he was heading, the midlaner made his way out of the door.

Just like the last couple of times that Tim had visited the lakefront, the water was still and clear, reflecting the blue, cloudless sky as if it was a huge mirror, surrounded by a variety of different trees and bushes that would soon start to green. Somehow, this sight alone always seemed to be enough to calm his raging mind, even if it was just for the moment. As he sat down on Oskar’s bench, he figured that the jungler’s words from the week before might have something to do with that. Even in defeat, this bench had cheered the Pole up in the past – why shouldn’t it do the same for Tim? Solemnly, the Slovenian remembered the first time he had walked the paths of the park, side by side with his jungler. He let his fingers trace the carvings in the wood of the bench, remembering the moment where he had wanted to kiss Oskar so badly – but didn’t, in the end. Even though he knew that it was the right decision at the time, a part of the midlaner still cursed himself out for not doing it. But, before Tim could fully get lost in his remorse, a familiar voice caught his attention.

“Oi! Over here!” Miky yelled over as he approached the bench.

To Tim’s surprise, the support was not alone. He was holding a small dog on a leash, being pulled around mercilessly rather than walking it. Tim couldn’t make out the bread of the dog, since he was more of a cat person – but the animal somehow seemed familiar to him. Mihael came to a stop a few meters in front of Tim and bend down to release the dog from its leash. The small critter happily jumped around and started to explore the bushes nearby.

“Morning to you too,” Tim said, as he made some space so that the support could sit down.

“Morning indeed… it’s so early, this better be really important,” Miky sighed as he flopped down next to Tim.

“You were online so… I figured you didn’t have anything going on,” Tim shrugged.

“I can think of a ton of things more pleasant than to sit in a park at…” he looked down to check the time, “10 am, geez. And I thought you were a gamer, Tim…”

“Why did you agree to come if it bothers you this much?” The midlaner mumbled, slowly leaning against the backrest of the bench.

“Well, someone needed to walk little Rocky over there,” the support grinned, “so I thought why not?”

Miky pointed towards the waterfront of the lake, where the small dog, now identified as Rocky, was playing in the water.

“Hmm, it looked more like he was walking you if you ask me,” Tim smirked.

“Oh shut up,” Mihael laughed, turning to the other Slovenian, “maybe it was also because I’m just curious by nature… come on, what’s bugging you?”

While it was hard to deny that the support’s character resembled the curious nature of a cat with nine devilish lifes indeed, Tim couldn’t help but give off the tiniest hint of a smile. Because, deep down, he knew that the real reason why Mihael was sitting next to him right now was not his desire to get the newest gossip out of him, or because he needed to walk the team’s dog – it was because he simply cared, in his own way. Tim never really considered whether he could actually call the other Slovenian a close friend, just because he had spent some time with him on their trips back home. _But maybe I should_ , he thought as he clasped his hands together, preparing himself for another magical bench talk.

“Here’s the thing,” he started slowly, circling his thumbs around each other, “when we met on Valentine’s day… you know, in the restrooms?”

“Oh yeah, that was fun,” Miky laughed, “Perkz’ attempt to sound like a woman… priceless.”

“Yeah, whatever – so, you told me not to be boring and…well.”

“And you decided to go out to do some crazy kinky stuff with Rekkles afterwards?” Mihael joked with a mocking smile on his lips.

Tim breathed in sharply, turning to the support with wide eyes. Maybe this bench-talk wouldn’t be quite like the last, after all.

“Uhm…I…” Tim stammered, caught completely off guard, “how did you…?”

“Hahaha well I – wait, are you serious?” Miky whispered, not smiling anymore, “I was joking Tim… I never thought you’d be the type for that.”

“Really? Why not?” Tim responded with pouty lips. It was absolutely beyond his understanding why the support's remark felt so offensive.

“Well, most people would say you give off serious asexual-vibes… hm, I guess I did bet on you being a sub though,” the support pensively scratched his chin, “did I just make some money?”

“You made a bet?” Tim blinked a couple of times, trying to process the information, “do you realize how fucking rude that is?”

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that,” Miky chuckled, playfully nudging Tim’s arm, “it was just a joke, really, I don’t think I’ll actually get any money from Perkz… unless?”

“Cut it out, would you… why would I be a _sup_ , all of the sudden? You know I’m a midlaner, right…” Tim mumbled, genuinely confused by the weird hint.

Immediately, Miky broke out into cackling laughter.

“W-what’s so funny, huh?” Tim muttered with a frown.

“It just hurts how clueless you are, honestly…!” Mihael wheezed, wiping a tear out of his eye.

“You…” Tim swallowed, suddenly feeling embarrassed again, “just tell me what it means then, you prick.”

“You know, ‘sub’ as in ‘submissive’?”

“Uhm…” The midlaner tilted his head, trying to translate the word in his head.

“How do I explain this… Are you the one that likes to be tied up, punched, choked… that kind of stuff,” Miky shrugged casually, “or… is Rekkles actually the one who likes that?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tim huffed, not even able to imagine his ADC in a submissive position, “no, I guess you were right with your… dumb bet, then.”

“Really? So he did all of these things to you?” Miky cocked a brow in surprise, “I guess Martin as a sub would be too good to be true…”

“He didn’t do all that but… wait, why would that be too good to be true?” Tim mumbled with an irritated expression on his face.

“Uff, I mean –“ Miky started, suddenly turning his head away and shouting out, “Rocky! Oi! Leave those ducks alone!”

Tim followed the support’s lead and looked down the waterside, only to spot the small dog chasing some little ducklings who looked absolutely terrified. But, for some reason, he stopped moments after Miky had called out to him, instead trotting back into the bench’s direction with a wagging tail. Tim was surprised – he never would have thought that the dog would actually listen to Mihael – but then he spotted the small stick it was carrying. It seemed like the more obvious reason that Rocky just wanted to play.

“Fine, but just once,” Miky sighed as he picked up the stick, throwing it hard.

It landed in the lake, and Rocky immediately jumped into the water, paddling over to the stick as fast as his little paws allowed him to. Tim was still sitting back, taking the whole scene in while feeling more and more reassured about being a cat person.

“Sorry, where were we?” Miky asked after wiping his hands on his pants.

“You were explaining why it would be, uhm, ‘too good to be true’ if Martin was a sub?” Tim explained solemnly.

“Right, Rekkles… uff, I don’t know, his ego is just so frail? it would be hot to see it shattered if you ask me.” Miky explained with an evil grin on his lips.

“What the hell, Mihael…” Tim shuddered.

“What? Every sub is different, okay,” Miky laughed, patting Tim’s shoulder, “still, this is really something…”

“What do you mean…?”

“You know,” Mihael shook his head, theatrically gesturing with his right hand, “I just never thought I’d see the day…!”

With raised brows, the midlaner grumbled, “why is it that weird to believe that I have a sex life…”

“No, that’s not it,” Miky smiled, giving Tim a knowing look, “I meant you openly talking about your desires like that… what’s next, can you talk about your feelings now, too?”

“Very funny,” Tim grumbled, rolling his eyes, “it’s whatever, really… the whole thing with Martin just shook me up.”

“I’m assuming you’re not being literal right now? I mean, people are into all kinds of stuff, but still.”

“What? No, I meant… that you were right.” The midlaner sighed, staring down at his hands, “things with me and Martin just didn’t work out.”

“Ohhh, so you _had_ a sex life – past tense, hm?” The support replied, suddenly looking as if he was pondering something.

“Ha-ha,” Tim muttered monotonously, “is that really all you have to say to that?”

“No,” Mihael remarked quietly with an oddly serious expression, “I think I just didn’t want to be right on this one.”

“Huh… talk about changes,” Tim scoffed, carefully eyeing the support sitting next to him, “you sure you don’t want to say _, ‘I told you so’?_ Are you okay?”

“Haha, yeah… you’re right, I totally would have said that under different circumstances,” Miky nodded with a smug grin, “but this is a bit… different.”

“How so?”

“Well… okay, I just have to ask – did you end things with Martin because you want to get with Oskar after all?” Mihael asked calmly, staring out into the distance.

“Oskar, hm,” Tim sighed, “I mean… you’re not gonna run and rat me out to Caps if I tell you, will you?”

“Wow… you really trust me that little? Even though I’m the person you called out here to talk about your problems at this ungodly hour?” Miky frowned, looking back at the midlaner unenthusiastically.

“Uhm, well, since my teammates don’t know and I kind of wanted to talk to someone experienced with this kink-stuff…” Tim mumbled shyly, feeling slightly embarrassed by his odd reasoning.

“Right, okay,” Mihael huffed angrily, jumping up to his feet, “I’ll just give you the number of the BDSM-support-hotline if that’s all I’m good for then. Come on Rocky, we’re leaving!”

“Wait!” Tim exclaimed, quickly grabbing the support’s sleeve to keep him from storming off, “sorry, I didn’t mean it that way…”

Rocky, who had eagerly run up to the support as soon as he had heard his name, was now jumping up Miky’s leg. He had somehow managed to retrieve the stick and was still carrying it with him. Somehow, the support still managed to keep a straight face.

“So?” Miky crossed his arms sullenly, waiting for the midlaner to deliver a better reason.

“I’m just lost, Mihael,” Tim whispered, looking down at his feet in shame, “I don’t want to let my team down, but I also need… help. I don’t know what to do.”

After a small pause, the support let out a long sigh before finally sitting back down.

“Fine, fine… you got me.” Miky mumbled, trying to signal to Rocky to just lay down as well.

But Rocky just stood there, wagging its tail while staring at the support. After a moment, he sat down, and that seemed to be enough of a success to Mihael.

“Thanks…” Tim mumbled with a sad smile, trying his best to just ignore the dog completely, “it’s just hard, you know? They just found out about me and Martin, and now I’ve fucked it all up already.”

“But you know Rekkles is just as much to blame, right?” Mihael shrugged casually, “you could just let him tell the rest of your team.”

“That doesn’t solve the problem, though…” the midlaner explained, frowning at the bright sunlight hitting his face, “not the thing with Oskar and… well, these weird thoughts I have.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I want to pick sides when it comes to Oskar,” Mihael said, scratching his head nervously, “that’s just too spicy. But the other thing…”

“I get it,” Tim sighed, “but please don’t make me say it out loud.”

“What, that you want to get fucked? Tied down? Beat up? What’s your guilty pleasure, hm?” Miky smirked, leaning forward to build eye-contact with the flustered midlaner.

“God – don’t just say stuff like that,” Tim hissed, quickly covering his face with both of his hands, “I’m literally a rookie over here, okay…”

“Fine, sorry,” Mihael laughed, playfully swinging his arm around the other Slovenian’s shoulder, “you know, if you ever get really desperate, I’d be willing to tie you up a little… I’m just gracious like that.”

“Oh, shut up,” Tim groaned, shoving the support away, barely able to hide his amused grin.

“I’m serious, my generosity knows no boundaries,” Miky explained, ruffling the midlaner’s hair as he pulled his arm away again, “but, for real – have you considered just doing it with someone else? To get your mind off of things?”

“Hmm…” Tim hummed, thinking about the question for a moment, “no, I don’t think I have. This whole thing started off with Martin to begin with…”

“Wait – but you could imagine doing it with Oskar, right?” Miky inquired forcefully, looking weirdly excited all of the sudden.

“I thought we weren’t talking about that,” Tim blushed slightly, “but yeah, I guess.”

“Ahh, damn it!” Mihael exclaimed, letting his head fall back dramatically, “I knew I should have put my money on demisexual!”

“Are you seriously talking about that bet right now…” Tim grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Maybe – sorry, this is an ego-thing,” the support sighed, pushing his glasses up before continuing, “I usually have a great radar for things like this… I mean, technically, it could still be part of the asexual spectrum…”

“What language are you even speaking right now?” Tim squinted at the other Slovenian, feeling completely puzzled by all the weird terms he kept throwing around.

“You’re only attracted to people you’ve actually formed an emotional connection with, right?” Mihael explained calmly.

“Uhm…” the midlaner blinked a couple of times, trying to compare the support’s words with his experiences in the past.

“Yeah, well, then you’re demisexual. I’m not an expert though, so you might want to ask Doctor Google if you want to know more,” Miky shrugged, returning his usual, leaned back attitude.

“Okay…?” Tim mumbled, unsure of what to do with this weird new information.

“Of course, I could help you with finding someone _new_ to form an emotional bond with,” the support grinned, pulling out his phone to swipe through his apps, “do you have a Tinder account, actually? Are you just looking for men or are women good too?”

“Woah, slow down,” Tim sighed, leaning forward to massage his temples, “I haven’t thought about any of this, okay?”

“Hmm… yeah, okay,” the support nodded, putting his phone away again, “still, being single isn’t all that bad…”

“I know, I’ve had 19 years of experience.”

“That’s the spirit!” Miky laughed, slapping his thigh.

“Well… I guess it doesn’t really feel the same now, though.” Tim sighed.

“You tasted the forbidden fruit, how could it be the same?” Mihael sneered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, “but you’re not alone with this, okay? If you want to be hooked up somehow, you can always call me.”

“You’re just… impossible.” The midlaner said with a half-smile, “but thanks anyway.”

“My pleasure,” the support mockingly took a bow, slowly getting back up on his feet, “speaking of which – I kind of have to get back to my team.”

“Speaking of what? Pleasure? Is this another reference to the Perkz-thing…” Tim frowned, trying not to think too hard about what the other Slovenian could mean.

“Hmm, might be a better pay-off than the money,” Miky considered for a moment, “but no, I meant that we need to get our act together for our game tonight.”

“Right, because you guys are scared of SK,” Tim smirked, looking up at the support.

“Oh fuck off,” Mihael laughed, leaning backwards to stretch out his spine, which produced horrible cracking sounds that made Tim shudder.

“Woah, your back sounds just as bad as ever,” the midlaner muttered with wide eyes.

“Thanks.” Miky winked.

“Not a compliment but… okay. See you later?”

“Sure, GL HF and whatnot,” Mihael shrugged, “until then! ...Wait, where did Rocky go again? He was just here, wasn’t he?”

“I think he’s over there, near the bush?” Tim pointed out where he had last seen the small dog jumping around.

“Geez… come on, Rocky, we don’t have all day!” Miky shouted, looking mighty annoyed as he started to look for the dog.

Luckily, Rocky came running straight after hearing his name again, and, after a slight struggle to put on the leash, Miky could finally head home. He gave Tim a final wave over his shoulder as he started to get pulled away into the direction he had come from.

As he watched the other guy and his companion walk off, Tim’s head was still spinning due to all the weird things that had just been thrown at him. Even though he should have expected it when he had called the kinky support, the midlaner hadn’t imagined them talking about his personal taboo-topic in detail like this. He felt like he had a ton to think about right now – but all Tim really wanted to do was to get back to the office to continue his grind. _Asexual, demisexual, sub… whatever_ , he thought with a sigh as he got up from Oskar’s bench. In a way, it was already a win that the other Slovenian had managed to take his mind off of the jungler and the break-up he hadn't told anyone else about at all, even if it was only for a while. And maybe he was right; maybe Tim’s situation wasn’t all that bad. As long as he could just focus on League right now, that was not too hard to believe, at least.

It got a whole lot harder to hold on to this thought when Tim suddenly found himself trapped in a room with Martin, Oskar, and the rest of his team again, as they were now waiting for their match in the Fnatic’s LEC lounge. He had somehow sleepwalked right through the entire meeting before, but seeing Oskar joke around with Bwipo and Hyli, just a couple of metres away from him, was too mesmerizing to look away. The same seemed to apply to his ADC, who was sulking on the other end of the couch. It was weird to think that neither of them could turn their attention away from Oskar, despite their very different reasoning.

For one, Tim thought that the way Oskar kept rubbing his cheek ever so carefully, was just awfully cute. That was a peculiar thing to cross the Slovenian’s mind, as he normally only thought of little kittens and other naturally adorable animals that way – but yes, the normally so masculine jungler was oddly small after his appointment with the dentist. And that was the other thing. As silently as possible, Tim let out a small sigh – it just made him sad to think that he didn’t even know about Oskar’s tooth ache before now that it was already taken care of. _We used to talk about everything_ , he pondered plaintively, staring at Oskar’s crooked smile, _now, I don’t know anything about his life_. With this weird feeling of estrangement fully occupying his mind, Tim slowly let his eyes fall shut. Somehow, it took him back to a very different time in his life.

“Hey, mind if I come in?”

Tim turned around to look at the source of the unfamiliar voice, only to find an unfamiliar face poking into his room. He had barely started to unpack his belongings and was certainly not in the mood to talk.

“Why, do you need anything? I already told the manager what kind of set-up I would need,” the midlaner mumbled, frowning at the unwanted intruder.

“Uhm, what? I just wanted to chat a bit, since we’re both new… did you actually think I’m part of the MAD Lion’s staff?”

“You’re not?” Tim cocked a brow, casually pulling some of his folded shirts out of his suitcase.

“No, what – I’m Oskar.” The other guy explained as if the midlaner should have known, but, as there was no reaction, he tried to specify, “…Selfmade?”

Still, no reaction.

“Oh man, were you even listening in the meeting just now…I’m your new jungler…?”

“Oh, okay. Got it.” Tim nodded, without as much as looking at Oskar, “is that all you wanted to say?”

“No, I thought it would be nice to chat a little,” the jungler explained, hesitantly scratching his chin.

“Why?” The midlaner asked bluntly.

“Why…? We’re new, we’re the same age – I thought we could be friends. It’s Tim, right?” Oskar extended his hand into the midlaner’s direction.

But Tim didn’t budge, let alone get up to shake his jungler’s hand. He just stared at him.

“Would it really hurt you to meet me halfway here? Huh?” Oskar scoffed, angrily pulling his hand away again, “Kurwa! I’m just - I'm really trying and you’re –“

“What?” Tim frowned, weirdly taken aback by the jungler’s sudden outburst.

“I mean…" Oskar mumbled, looking away hastily, "sorry, I guess I’m kind of a hothead sometimes, but I’m working on it…”

Tim didn’t have anything to say to that. Anyone who had played League for as long as he had would have plenty of experience with flamers of all kind, and he didn’t want to deal with this one any more than with the trolls online.

“You don’t have anything to say to that?” Oskar asked with a nervous smile.

Silence.

“Hmm, alright then,” the jungler sighed as he sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall next to the door.

“Is there a reason why you’re so pushy to talk?” Tim mumbled, rolling his eyes as he turned back to unpacking his luggage.

“Dunno,” Oskar shrugged, curiously looking around the scarcely furnished room, “I guess I just thought back to when I joined my first team here in Spain… isn’t it weird for you? To be away from your family?”

“Not really… besides, I came here to work.” Tim explained calmly.

“Fair enough, but you know we’ll also live together here, right?” Oskar chuckled.

The midlaner didn’t really know what to say in response. Instead, he just glared at the jungler sitting on the floor of his room.

“Hmm…” Oskar smirked slightly, “are you always this quiet?”

“Why, do you want to yell at me because of that, too?” The midlaner murmured, sounding and feeling mostly indifferent.

“What? Not at all,” the jungler smiled.

For a moment, silence filled the room. For anyone else, it might have felt awkward – but Tim felt oddly comfortable, simply turning his attention back to unpacking while the jungler peacefully sat a couple of meters away from him. Normally, people left Tim alone after being pushed away a couple of times. And that was exactly what he wanted, too – for people to just leave him alone. The way in which his new jungler managed to both irritate him to the max at first, and then make him feel at ease right after, was definitely confusing for the midlaner. Then again, even though he didn’t like to admit it, moving away from home, to a whole different country on top of that, had shaken him up a little already.

“This room feels awfully empty, don’t you think?” Oskar remarked after a while.

“I don’t really care as long as there’s a place to sleep,” Tim shrugged, finally pushing his empty suitcase under his bed.

“Really? You don’t mind at all?” The jungler asked, his brows raised in surprise, “okay, well, I guess I’m starting to understand where you’re coming from…”

“What’s that supposed to mean…?”

“Nothing… actually,” Oskar jumped up, suddenly looking weirdly enthusiastic, “you might not care about _this_ , but you love League, right?”

“What?” Tim squinted at his jungler, feeling absolutely puzzled, “I guess but… what does that have to do with anything?”

“I just have this poster that I haven’t found the right place for yet,” Oskar explained, framing one of the empty walls with his fingers as if he was trying to imagine a makeover in his mind, “think it would look great in here.”

“You want to give me a poster…?” The midlaner mumbled.

“Sure, I mean, don’t tell me you would mind looking at Cassiopeia when you wake up in the morning? There are some other champs on it too,” the jungler smirked, confidently putting one hand on his hip.

“Cassio…?” Tim said with the hint of a smile, “no, I guess that would be okay.”

“Great! It will certainly make this room look a little less tragic,” Oskar pointed out, “I’ll go get it right away, okay?”

And, just as suddenly as he had arrived, Oskar was gone again. Tim just stood there, in the middle of his almost empty room, feeling completely baffled. He had never even met the guy before, yet here he was, talking to him relentlessly, sitting in his room in silence, offering to gift him a League poster – as someone who had never truly been close with anyone outside of his family before, the midlaner was overwhelmed by the jungler’s enthusiasm. But what surprised him the most about it was that he didn’t mind at all. Tim thought he’d be annoyed, pissed off, ready to throw the other guy out of his room the moment he had barged in without asking permission. Especially after the other guy had started to yell out of nowhere. Yet, he even found himself enjoying jungler’s company? _Oskar, huh_ , he thought, swallowing as he pushed his clothes aside to sit down on his bed, _what a weird guy_.

Even now, over two years after they had first met, Tim still thought that Oskar was weird – only for different reasons. _It’s weird to think that he had feelings for me_ , the midlaner pondered as he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself back in Fnatic’s lounge. Still, the memory of their first encounter conjured a soft smile onto Tim’s lips. He still had the poster in question, too – when he had moved into Fnatic’s apartment at the end of 2018, it had been the first thing to be hung up on the walls of his room. Still lost in the thought about it, the midlaner almost missed the moment his eyes met with Oskar’s, who suddenly stopped talking as he noticed Tim’s stare on him. Unsure of what else to do, the Slovenian averted his gaze as quickly as possible, turning it back to his OnePlus. There was no way he could talk about any of this now, right before their game against Misfits was about to start, after all. He didn’t want to answer his coach’s nosy questions, either. Right now, he didn’t feel like doing anything but win.

And, to the midlaner’s relief, that’s exactly what Fnatic did. They smashed Misfits in barely twenty minutes, delivering a performance that was way too clean for the state of mind of at least two of Fnatic’s players. But why would Tim complain? The rush he felt as he walked off stage was exactly what he had desperately craved for almost a week now. It heightened his mood to a point where he was just smiling, for no other reason than the hell of it. Sure, a part of him wondered why Martin could possibly want to stay behind in the studio instead of heading home, especially since the ADC still looked gloomy, even after their glorious victory. Then again, that wasn’t really his concern anymore. And the midlaner was definitely not at the point where they could just be friends yet. Still, it wasn’t a lie when his coach asked if things were okay between them and Tim just said ‘yes’ – they might not have been together anymore, but for the first time in forever, at least they both knew where they stood.

After brushing off his coach’s attempt to reach out, Tim popped in his earphones and zoned out for the rest of the ride home. He didn’t want to hear any more details about how great Bwipo’s and Hylissang’s date night presumably would be, and he certainly didn’t want any more information on Oskar’s plans to go back to G2’s apartment for the night. In this moment, he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts to reminisce about his winning performance.

After an undefinable amount of time, the car finally stopped in front of Fnatic’s gaming apartment. When Tim opened his eyes to get out, he was surprised to find Oskar still sitting next to him. _I must have missed something again_ , he thought, unsure of what this weird turn of events could mean for him. As he followed the jungler and his coach upstairs, he wondered whether there might be an opening, after all. Maybe there was a reason beyond his constant yawning that had motivated Oskar to come home with them instead of going to meet Caps – right?

When Oskar hurried to lay down on the couch in the apartment’s living room area, Tim decided to follow. Maybe it was one of these moments – like the week before, where the jungler had just magically felt like Tim wanted to be alone with him. At least that’s what the midlaner told himself when he carefully sat down on the other end of the couch, not too far away from the jungler’s feet. Oskar looked like he was going to fall asleep within seconds of finding a comfortable position.

“Shouldn’t you go to your bed instead if you want to sleep?” Tim asked, trying to keep his eyes fixated on the screen of his OnePlus to avoid staring at Oskar.

“I told you, I only want to rest my eyes a little,” the jungler yawned, stretching out his arms and legs, “I’ll hit the road again later on.”

 _You will?_ Tim thought, swallowing his disappointment as discretely as possible. Alfonso had already disappeared, leaving the jungler and the midlaner completely alone in the scarcely lit room. Sure, Tim didn’t like to think about Oskar wanting to meet up with Caps again, after all – but he also couldn’t help but feel like the Pole didn’t seem to be awfully determined to go through with his plan, as he was currently cuddling up beside Tim so peacefully. Also, there was this weirdly comfortable silence again, which he and the jungler had been able to share since the first time they met. _Maybe this is the time to tell him_ , Tim considered for a moment, glancing back and forth between his OnePlus and Oskar’s soft expression. If he could tell him about his breakup with Martin – that could change everything.

“Hey… Oskar?” He whispered, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

But there was no answer. Instead, the jungler started to snore. He should have expected it, of course, but Tim still found himself surprised by how fast Oskar had fallen asleep. _It was probably not the time for it anyway_ , he thought with a gentle smile, deciding to stay a bit longer, _tomorrow’s another day, right?_ Tim pulled his legs up to his chin, carefully making himself comfortable in the corner of the couch without waking the jungler up. In a way, he enjoyed the opportunity to be this close to the Pole without having to justify it in front of anyone. It had been a long time since he had last been able to just look at Oskar, without being mindful about not letting anyone notice. Tim took his time to marvel at every feature, wondering when he had started to care about what the other guy looked like. It was just like it had been with Martin - from one day to another, he had suddenly started to look incredibly appealing to the midlaner. And now, he found himself even wanting to touch the other guy, which was as strange as it got. _Demisexual, hm_ , Tim thought, slowly but surely extending his hand into Oskar's direction.

Of course, he knew that touching someone that was sleeping was incredibly sketchy. It's not like he was planning on kissing the jungler or anything like that - even though the impulse was definitely there. No, Tim just wanted the tiniest bit of contact. It had been so long since they had last hugged, or even patted each other on the back. Even when the team formed a circle after a win on stage, the midlaner always felt as if they were on opposite sides of the formation. He didn't want much. He just wanted to feel their bodies connect, even if it was just for a second. Maybe he could be content with that, at least for a while longer. Maybe he could be happy as long as he knew Oskar was, too. Ever so slowly, Tim put his hand on Oskar's foot, which he was curled up beside. He glanced over to the sleeping guy's face to make sure that the impact of his touch hadn't woken him up - luckily, Oskar was still snoring ever so peacefully, and it almost looked as if he was smiling in his sleep. Tim looked back down at his own hand. Holding someone's foot was not exactly something often described as a romantic or sexual activity - why on earth did it feel like such a big deal to the midlaner, making his heart jump all of the sudden?

Suddenly, the foot in Tim's hand moved. The twitch that zapped through Oskar's body startled the Slovenian, causing him to pull his hand back as rapidly as possible. But it didn't seem like Oskar had woken up. With a sigh of relief about not having been caught, the midlaner decided to call it a day. Any other attempt to reach out to Oskar - physically and metaphorically - would have just made him go insane. And, after all, tomorrow was another day. Still, he wasn't ready to get up to go to his own room just yet - and so, he popped his earphones back in. Tim had never really been one to pay attention to lyrics, let alone enjoy listening to sad songs. But, sometimes when one hits shuffle, a song that uncannily describes one’s situation perfectly might appear in the mix – and who wouldn’t want to listen closely, then? Tim closed his eyes and started to let his mind wander off.

_Tomorrow_

_I’ll tell it all tomorrow_

_Or the day after tomorrow_

_I’m sure I’ll tell you then_

(Saybia – The Day After Tomorrow)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on another chapter of "Origin Stories" - how do you feel about these ones? Just as expected? Or maybe a little surprising? 
> 
> To give you a little preview, the next chapter of this part will follow Caps' POV. As I've explained in the notes at the beginning, it will be up next Sunday, roundabout 10 am CET. I hope to get back to writing a bit more once I've grown more accustomed to my current schedule, but no promises. Still, I hope to hear your thoughts on this chapter to think about what lies ahead! I've taken your feedback into consideration many times before, either reworking my plan or revising pre-written chapters alltogether. Your voice matters around here, and is plenty appreciated! 
> 
> Anyway, what's up with all of these emotional speeches today? As always, thanks for tuning in!


	42. Part 10: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks! Welcome to another chapter of "Origin-Stories"! 
> 
> First of all, I'm pleasantly surprised by how well this schedule is working out for me, and you too, I hope - thank you so much for the kind comments on the last chapter as well! I'll make sure to answer them in detail, but I just wanted to put out there how valuable the feedback was for me already. This past week has been a lot more pleasant for me, although I didn't write more than one chapter again (I'm doing lots of revisions right now since the quality of this part is particularly important to me!). 
> 
> Anyway, I'm super excited for this chapter, so let's dive right in, shall we? Hope you enjoy it!

It was the ear-splitting sound of loud yelling and the slamming of doors that woke Rasmus up on what was supposed to be a peaceful gameday. It was events of unpredictable nature like these that just made it impossible for the Dane to grow bored of living in a gaming apartment. But today, after a night of tossing and turning, Rasmus probably would have preferred to get some more rest instead of wondering what was going on right outside of his door. Then again, it felt as if he also heard the voices of his teammates in his dreams most of the time - unsure of whether he was still asleep, the ADC rolled around in his bed. But it was hard to deny that the heavy stomps in the hallway, paired with obnoxiously loud voices, could only belong to two certain teammates of his - and that they were, in fact, quite real. 

“WHATEVER, I’m going to the gym!” The team’s toplaner grunted.

“THAT’S ALL YOU’RE GOOD FOR ANYWAY!” The jungler shouted back.

 _So Wunder and Jankos are at it again, huh_ , Rasmus thought with a sigh, slowly untangling himself from the two blankets that he had wrapped himself up in. With Oskar staying over most nights of the week, the Dane didn’t have to resort to this method of providing cuddly comfort quite as often anymore. But, as the Pole had some sort of dentist appointment scheduled for the morning, he had chosen to sleep in his own bed for a change. It was too bad, since joking about his raging teammates with Oskar was the only thing that made the recurring quarrel the least bit of fun for the ADC. Wunder and Jankos had been up each other’s throats for a while now, and, for some reason, there seemed to be no end in sight. He was not the only one worried because of that - when Rasmus left his room after a pointless attempt of falling asleep again, he almost bumped into his coach, who appeared to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

“Woah, sorry Grabbz,” Rasmus smiled shyly, “didn’t see you there.”

“Don’t worry about it, Rasmus,” the coach mumbled, squeezing past the ADC towards the front door, “I just have a little last minute uhm… meeting.”

“A meeting?” Rasmus cocked a brow in surprise, “with who?”

“Oh you know, just…” Grabbz stammered, taking way too long to answer the simple question.

“Hmm? Is it a date, maybe?” The ADC laughed – he couldn’t remember a single time where the German had actually been on a rendezvous, after all.

“What? No, of course not,” the coach sighed, scratching his forehead nervously, “I’m meeting up with Mithy… just don’t tell Perkz, okay? He asks me too many questions about Alfonso anyway…”

“Huh…” Rasmus huffed, “I mean, okay?”

“Thanks! I just need a break from… all of this,” Grabbz pointed towards Jankos’ room with a frown on his face, “see you in a bit!”

“Yeah, uhm, bye!” Rasmus replied with a wave, turning around to head down the hall himself.

He couldn’t exactly blame the coach for trying to get some peace and quiet while he still could. Luckily enough, Rasmus never really needed breaks from his chaotic teammates – he just fit in too well for that. When he strolled into the gaming area, he expected it to be as lively as the morning tumult he had listened to had promised. Instead, he found it deserted once more. Rasmus let out a long sigh filled with disappointment before sitting down in front of his PC to start playing some morning rounds of SoloQ. He secretly hoped that he wouldn’t have to be alone for long, though. After spending the night by himself, the Dane was in need for some company – he didn’t even care about with who. Being alone just got old really fast. And so, after only a couple of rather mediocre ranked games, Rasmus pushed his gaming chair back to spin in it lazily. The room was spinning around him, and he was bored out of his mind.

After getting up to sort through his Magic cards once more, Rasmus was more than excited to finally hear the front door being pushed open. With his deck in hand, he hurried to the hallway to look who had just popped back into the apartment. It could have been Wunder, returning from the gym – or maybe Grabbz, diving back into the madness that was G2 after catching a breath of fresh air. But, to Rasmus’ delight, it was Miky. Although he didn’t even realize that the support had been out, the timing of his return was simply too convenient to second guess it.

“Hey, morning Miky!” Rasmus exclaimed, waving the support over enthusiastically, “where have you been?”

“What do you think?” Miky rolled his eyes, waving Rocky’s leash through the air, “someone had to walk him, hm?”

“Right,” Rasmus grinned, squatting down in the hallway to greet Rocky properly, “but you normally never do that unless Oliver forces you.”

“Yeah, well… I had some business to take care of,” Mihael shrugged, tossing his shoes aside, “could you give Rocky his breakfast?”

“Sure, gladly,” the ADC smiled, giving the small dog some loving pets, “are you coming too?”

“Hmm, I’ll be over in a second, okay?” Miky mumbled, turning around.

“Uhm, fine,” the ADC mumbled, feeling flustered as he saw the support knocking on Perkz’ door.

Immediately, he hurried into the kitchen. He didn’t want to know what kind of objective Miky had with Luka – although he had to commend him for actually knocking before entering a room on a regular basis now. No, the relationship of the team’s midlaner and the support, if one could call it that, was too weird for Rasmus to really get behind. After pouring some dog food into Rocky’s bowl and taking a moment to watch the small pup devour it, Rasmus roamed back to the living room. The ADC sat down on the couch, flipping through his deck as he waited for his potential opponent to arrive. He couldn’t help but imagine what him and Luka could be doing in only a couple of minutes, even though the mental image always caused him to shudder. Although he couldn’t really call Miky his ex, he had still opened himself up to the Slovenian in a way that he hadn’t with a lot of other people, hence making the other guy quite special to him. That was probably why he didn’t want to imagine him with anyone else.

“That fucker’s still sleeping,” Miky sighed as he strolled into the room.

“Ha, really?” Rasmus mumbled with a crooked smile full of relief, “lucky me, we still have enough time for a round of Magic then!”

“Fine, whatever,” Mihael grinned, sitting down next to Rasmus as he pulled his deck out of his back pocket, “you better be prepared.”

“Woah, did you really carry that with you this whole time?” The ADC said in astonishment, “that’s what I call commitment!”

“You know it,” the support smirked, setting up his cards in record speed, “believe it or, I’m also in a bit of a need for distraction right now.”

“That’s pretty unusual, yeah,” Rasmus admitted as he mirrored the support’s movements, “is it because of the business you mentioned?”

“You could say that…” Miky sighed, “I guess I should tell you about it, actually.”

“Hmm? Why do you sound so serious right now, Miky?” Rasmus inquired with a nervous smile, “are you trying to throw me off my game?”

“You know I don’t need to do that,” the support grinned as he drew a card from his deck, “but I guess it’s kind of a serious topic.”

“Phew, I’m sweating over here,” the ADC laughed, playfully fanning himself with his hand cards, “just spit it out, would you?”

“Fine, you asked for it,” Miky shrugged, “it’s about Rekkles. He and Nemesis broke up, apparently.”

“What??” Rasmus spluttered, staring at the Slovenian with wide eyes, “that can’t be right, I mean… Bwipo said they were fine just a couple of days ago…”

“You asked about him again?” Mihael sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, “you know what I think about that… but I figured you should still know.”

“Geez, how gracious of you,” Rasmus scoffed, crossing his arms sullenly, “where did you even get this information from, Miky?”

“Yours truly… I mean, no, not yours I guess,” the support mumbled, “I talked to Tim about it.”

“So that’s where you were?” Rasmus stared at Mihael with sad eyes, “but… when did it happen?”

“My guess is as good as yours… but at least a couple of days ago, it takes someone like Tim some time to open about something like this,” the support explained calmly.

“Okay but,” Rasmus swallowed, “does it… does it have anything to do with Oskar?”

Even though it had not been his first thought, the Dane suddenly found himself worrying about his position with the jungler. Whatever they had going on was so easy and nice – he couldn’t imagine just losing the Pole like that. But if Nemesis had actually broken things off with Martin to pursue Oskar, what could he possibly say against that? If it had been the other way around, he was sure that Oskar would have understood.

“I don’t know…” Miky sighed, scratching his scruff pensively.

“But it seems like you –“

“Hey lads, I’m back!” Grabbz announced as he stepped into the gaming area, hand placed securely on his sides, “wait – where’s the rest of the gang?”

“In their rooms, I guess?” Miky remarked casually, pointing towards the hall, “Perkz is still in bed, at least.”

“Ugh… great, I’ll collect them then,” the coach grumbled, turning back around, “there’s no time to waste! We have to get to work!”

“Weird to see him so energetic,” Miky chuckled, leaning back against the couch’s cushions, “wonder what kind of bug bit him?”

“Must have been Mithy,” Rasmus mumbled slowly – but his mind was still occupied with something else.

Was there a chance that Martin broke up with Tim because of him? It felt absurd to the ADC, especially since his teammates had urged him to give up hope for so long now – but, as he pondered whether Oskar could leave him for Tim, why wouldn’t he at least consider things to go down the other way around? After all, they had both been aware of the other’s inclinations from the beginning. Despite that knowledge, Rasmus still didn’t want to lose what they had. Even though they didn’t have a fully fleshed relationship, it felt different from what he had had with Miky before. It might not have been true love, but he surely felt something for Fnatic’s jungler. It was enough for him to fear everything falling apart around them. His mind kept spinning around this one thought relentlessly - it lasted through the meeting, over watching Fnatic smash Misfits in barely 20 minutes, all the way up until the point where G2 had to take the stage. For a moment, Rasmus thought that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the game – but, oddly enough, those were the times when he tended to perform the best.

After a clear victory against SK, G2’s squad was in the mood to celebrate. Most of them, at least. Even though winning in the rift had certainly lifted Rasmus’ spirits, going out for drinks with his team didn’t sound awfully appealing to him. The fact that he didn’t drink normally wouldn’t hold him back, but the ADC somehow just felt like going home. He excused himself swiftly, already strolling towards the team’s car when someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

“Hey, Rasmus, is everything okay?” Luka asked with a worried expression.

“Uhm, yeah,” the Dane smiled softly, “as I said, I’m just a little tired…”

“You sure that's all?” The midlaner frowned, “you know I’ll find out eventually if you’re keeping something from me.”

“Haha, yeah,” Rasmus smirked, playfully poking Perkz’ side, “but it’s really fine, _Dad._ ”

“Very funny,” Luka rolled his eyes, “get some rest for tomorrow then. See you later!”

“Yeah, later,” the ADC smiled brightly as he waved, walking off right after.

As he was not really in a hurry to get anywhere, Rasmus took his time with mounting the backseat of the team’s van. He didn’t expect any of his teammates to join him, as they all seemed to be in the mood to party as far as he could tell. Rasmus didn’t mind too much, as he was kind of hoping to be alone with his thoughts anyway. Considering how badly he had longed for his teammates’ company earlier in the day, that was kind of ironic, of course. But when it came to Martin, it had almost become normal for Rasmus to feel like he wasn’t himself. He sighed, staring out of the car’s window into the darkness of the night. It was almost as if he could see Martin’s face with his inner eye, staring back at him. The Dane didn’t even notice his support climbing into the seat next to him as he closed his eyes, remembering a time in which he had still been oblivious to the existence of his current troubles.

“You really have to stop your risky engages, Caps,” Martin sighed, pushing himself away from his desk as the unsuccessful scrim had found its end.

“Sorry… but would you say I’m too _reckless?_ ” Rasmus grinned, waiting for the Swede to snap back.

But, instead, the ADC simply rolled his eyes and left the room without saying another word. Like many times before, Rasmus’ humorous approach just didn’t seem to work when it came to Rekkles.

“Uhm… let’s take a break, I guess?” Dylan asked more than he stated, following the team’s ADC with his confused stare.

“Oh man…” Rasmus sighed, leaning back in his chair, “what am I doing wrong, Mads?”

“I really don’t know,” the jungler replied with a soft smile, “I feel like Martin just doesn’t get your humour, maybe…”

“But I was sure I’ve heard him laugh about my jokes before,” Rasmus pouted, turning towards the other Dane, “you joke around with him too, right?”

“I guess? Sorry, Rasmus,” Mads sighed, putting his huge hand on the smaller guy’s shoulder, “just give him some more time, maybe? It’s our first Split together, after all.”

“I don’t know about that,” the team’s toplaner, sOAZ, chimed in without being asked, “I’ve known Martin for a while – I think you just have a talent for pissing him off, Rasmus.”

“Cut it out, Paul,” Zdravets huffed from the other side of the long table their PC’s were placed on, “that’s not very helpful!”

“You think? Might as well go grab a snack then,” the toplaner shrugged as he got up and started to head towards the kitchen.

“I just wish Martin and I would get along, you know?” Rasmus sighed, letting his head fall back to stare at the ceiling, “he doesn’t even call me by my first name…”

“Well, he likes to be professional,” the support explained calmly, turning his attention back to his screen.

“And Caps is a cute name,” Mads mumbled.

“Hm?” Rasmus hummed, unsure of what that last statement implied.

“Uhm, it’s a cool name, I meant,” the jungler coughed, “I don’t think him calling you by it means he doesn’t like you.”

“But he calls you Mads, doesn’t he?” Rasmus said, crossing his arms, “it doesn’t seem fair to me.”

“How about you just ask him about it if it bothers you this much, Rasmus,” Hylissang suggested casually.

“I don’t know… that’s a bit weird, don’t you think?” The midlaner nervously scratched his head.

“Not as weird as that last Corki-game,” Dylan sighed as he patted the Dane’s shoulder, “how about we work on that some more before we try to work on Rekkles’ character?”

"Well, I'm not an ADC, but I'll get it right the next time for sure," the midlaner said, trying to reassure the coach.

"Okay, well, prove it to me then... let's go for another round, guys."

“Come on, Dylan, don’t be so hard on him,” Broxah said, trying to level with the coach.

“It’s okay, Mads,” Rasmus smiled, turning around in his chair, “if we’re gonna play again, I’ll just go get Rekkles now, okay?”

“That’s… yeah that’s okay,” the coach mumbled with a half-smile, “just hurry up a bit, hm?”

“Yessir!” Rasmus beamed, jumping up to hop down the hallway.

Even after more than two months of living with his team, playing for a huge organisation like Fnatic still felt surreal to the midlaner. It was all he had ever dreamed off and achieving such a major milestone at his young age was something Rasmus felt incredibly thankful for. Of course, he aspired to continue his run, turning from a rookie people called ‘Baby Faker’ to a straight up legend – just like Rekkles. Yes, maybe that was the reason why the Dane wanted to be close with the Swede above anything else. Maybe it would feel like he was one step closer to his goal to have the veteran acknowledge him and his skills. Hesitantly, the midlaner knocked on the ADC’s door. After hearing something that sounded like a ‘come in’, Rasmus pushed the door open. But Martin didn’t look like he was expecting him – he was sitting on his bed, absolutely motionless, with his face buried in his hands..

“Uhm – Rekkles…?” Rasmus asked carefully, not daring to step a foot inside the room.

When Martin lifted his head, Rasmus thought he saw fear in his eyes for a moment. The sight of his distraught ADC startled the midlaner, as he had never seen the usually so stern Swede without his hard front up.

“What do you want?” Martin said quietly after a moment of staring at the midlaner.

“Dylan said I should get you and I thought…uhm…“ Rasmus stammered, glancing down the hall nervously.

“You thought what?”

“That I could maybe talk to you for a minute? I mean, not if this is a bad time…” The midlaner stuttered, tucking on his loose shirt to calm his nerves.

“You want to talk…” Martin sighed.

“Yeah, that would be great,” Rasmus said with a slight smile, trying to make out whether the ADC’s expression had softened at all.

“Close the door then.” Martin mumbled, turning to look out of the window.

“Okay…?” Rasmus closed the door slowly, still feeling unsure about the room’s weird aura, “what’s going on with you?”

“I just need a moment.”

“Sure,” Rasmus nodded, still standing in the middle of the room and feeling incredibly awkward.

“Don’t just stand there,” Martin muttered, leaning against the wall next to his bed.

“Well, uhm… what else should I do?” Rasmus asked hesitantly, looking around for an appropriate place to sit.

The ADC pointed towards the lower end of his bed without as much as another word. Rasmus still felt impossibly tense, but he didn’t hesitate to follow Martin’s suggestion. For one, he felt like sitting could actually be less awkward – but, also, he enjoyed the thought of being invited in by the Swede for once. During all this time, Martin had always slammed the door shut before Rasmus could enter, both in a metaphorical and literal sense. The Dane had always wondered why he wouldn’t let anyone in. After Martin had taken some exceptionally deep breaths, it seemed as if he had regained his composure.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” He asked calmly.

“Well… seeing how upset you just were, I think maybe we should talk about that?” Rasmus asked, tapping his cheek.

“There’s nothing to talk about. We lost. I wasn’t good enough. I’ll get over it.” Martin explained with his eyes closed.

“Woah, that doesn’t sound like nothing to me,” Rasmus huffed, surprised by the ADC’s harsh view on things.

“What do you want me to say, hm? I’ll just be better next game.” Martin emphasized, giving Rasmus a confident look.

“But we only played scrims today, why are you so hard on yourself?” Rasmus wondered.

“I don’t think you’d understand,” Martin scoffed, crossing his arms, “you just keep on doing the same careless engages over and over and don’t seem to feel bad about it at all…”

“That’s not true….” Rasmus shook his head slowly, “my plays are risky sometimes, yes… but they also pay off. And I never stop working on improving.”

“Hmm?” Martin raised a brow, seemingly inspecting the midlaner’s change of tone.

“Yeah… you’d know that if you ever hung out with me, you know?” Rasmus mumbled, swallowing as he felt embarrassment overcome him.

“Hang out with you?” The ADC looked weirdly puzzled by this particular insinuation.

“Yes, why is that so weird to you? I’ve played DuoQ with all the other guys already…” The midlaner explained, “yet you never seem to be interested.”

“Yeah well… I just need some time away from League in the evenings,” Martin mumbled, looking down at his hands.

“That’s just not true,” Rasmus sighed, somehow unable to stop his rant, “I’ve looked at your match histories, I know you just keep playing SoloQ when you close your door.”

“It’s just different, okay?” Martin snorted.

“But how? How is it different when you –“

“I just need to do it by myself, okay??” The ADC snapped, almost yelling now, “I can’t play DuoQ with you, and I can’t watch you or hold your freaking hand while we play, okay?? I’m the Captain!”

“What…?” Rasmus squinted at the Swede, not able to grasp what he was saying.

“I’m the Captain and… and this is not enough. We’re not doing well enough! God, ever since G2 showed up…” Martin let his head fall back, closing his eyes again, “I just feel like I can’t do it.”

“But why do you talk like you’re playing alone?” Rasmus mumbled, moving in a bit closer to the other guy, “you might be our Captain and all, but we’re still a team, right?”

“You just don’t understand,” Martin shook his head, “I’m the last one here, all the others have left – even Fabian is gone.”

 _Is he talking about Febiven?_ Rasmus thought, wondering why the departure of his former midlaner could have affected the ADC this heavily. But it didn't really matter. Right now, for the first time ever, Rasmus felt as if there was an opportunity to get through to the ADC in front of him, and he was not about to let that chance go to waste. 

“So we’re new, and you’re a veteran,” Rasmus muttered, “we can still become the best team in Europe, or the world even – and it’s not all on you.”

“This just can’t be where it ends for me,” Martin sighed, lifting his head again to look at his midlaner, “this can’t be the end. For me, for Fnatic…”

“And it won’t be,” Rasmus said, doing his best to reassure the Swede.

“But how could you possibly know that?”

“I just know it,” Rasmus explained with a crooked smile, “I can see us holding that trophy on the big stage, with the crowd calling out our names.”

A slight smile flashed across Martin’s lips.

“You’ve got a big mouth for a rookie,” the ADC mumbled, looking a lot softer now, “I think I like it.”

“Learned from the best,” Rasmus chuckled, “but we have every reason to be confident… our team is amazing!”

“Hmm…” Martin hummed, reaching out to ruffle the midlaner’s wild, brown hair, “you might be right.”

“Why, thank you,” Rasmus grinned, “I try, you know,”

“Yeah,” Martin whispered, suddenly leaning in closer.

“Uhm…?” Rasmus blinked a couple of times, unsure of whether he should move away as he felt the ADC approaching him.

Martin’s fingers slowly ran through the midlaner’s hair down to his cheek while his mouth just kept creeping up closer to the Dane’s. Rasmus swallowed – he had never been in a similar situation before. _Is he going to kiss me?_ He wondered, feeling his heart starting to throb even harder in his chest. They had just been talking normally until a second ago, like regular teammates or – god forbid – friends; so why was this happening all of the sudden? _And why is my heart racing?_ Rasmus thought, feeling his mind spinning much faster than he was able to handle. For whatever reason, he decided to close his eyes. It just happened so fast – it felt like Rasmus couldn’t do anything about it. He felt Martin’s hot breath on his lips, with his hand softly stroking down his cheek. He inhaled sharply, preparing himself for the impact, when suddenly –

“Got it,” the ADC mumbled, pulling away from the midlaner again.

“Huh? What?” Rasmus stammered, opening his eyes again to find the Swede casually holding up an eyelash between his thumb and his index finger.

“Make a wish? I’m mad if it’s not winning Worlds, though,” Martin smirked, holding his hand closer to the midlaner’s mouth so he could go through with the superstitious ritual.

“O-okay,” Rasmus leaned forward.

Before he actually blew the single eyelash into the air, he took a moment to think about what he wanted to wish for. He was still a bit confused by what had just went down, although the fact that Martin had not been planning on kissing him after all was mostly relieving. _I am relieved, right?_ Rasmus wondered, as his heart was still beating so fast, and his cheeks still felt so hot. Normally, the Dane never had issues with being honest to himself, nor any other person, for that matter. It was a lot harder now that he was sitting on the bed of the guy he thought was his idol – but Rasmus still felt like he knew what was going on with him right now. _Maybe I do want him to kiss me_ , he thought to himself as he finally blew enough air out of his mouth to send his eyelash flying off. It was a harmless thing to wish for, right?

“Alright, good,” Martin said with a satisfied sigh, getting up from the bed, “let’s go then, hm?”

“Yeah, right,” Rasmus nodded, slowly getting up on his feet as well, “the others are probably waiting for us already.”

“Yeah, that’s my fault though I –“ Martin began, pausing to take a deep breath again, “sorry – I mean let’s not keep them waiting any longer.”

“Right,” Rasmus smiled as the both of them started heading towards the door.

“Oh, and one more thing,” the ADC mumbled, pausing again, door knob already in hand.

“Uhm, what’s that?” the midlaner inquired with a nervous smile.

“Just…” Martin turned around, looking Rasmus directly into his eyes, “thank you, Rasmus.”

The words couldn’t have been any simpler, and yet the Dane felt as if his heart had just exploded. Of course, the fact that the ADC had just called him by his name for the very first time felt incredibly special to him. But there were also Martin's mysteriously appealing eyes, which somehow seemed to glisten in the sunlight beaming from the window, staring down into Rasmus’ soul. And the fact that he was thinking about the other guy’s eyes this way was all he really needed to consider to draw his next conclusion. For the first time, Rasmus was sure of the fact that he didn’t just want to be friends with Martin, after all.

 _But why do I have to think about all of this now?_ Rasmus wondered as he slowly opened his eyes again, facing the black abyss that was the night outside of G2's van. Sure, the memory of his first love starting to come through was special. Before this fated day, Rasmus had never really had a crush on anyone, guy or girl. He never had someone crush on him either, so the whole thematic felt sort of foreign back then - but nice nevertheless. But now, three years later, things looked different. And so, thinking about this particular event felt like a huge step back, after getting closer and closer to finally getting over Martin. Now, Rasmus wanted to text him even more than before – of course, he knew how dangerous that could be for his peace of mind. The ADC nervously glanced at his phone, carefully considering whether the possible benefits could outweigh the risks of going through with it.

“What are you thinking about, Rasmus…?” Miky asked carefully, almost as if he knew what was going on in the ADC’s mind.

 _Woah, when did Miky get here?_ Rasmus thought in shock, as he could have sworn that he had entered the van by himself. But the Slovenian was the last person that he wanted to give any reason to grwo suspicious - now, he really needed to play cool.

“N-nothing,” Rasmus stammered, quickly letting his phone slip back into his pocket, almost dropping it in the process, “it’s late already, isn’t it? Can’t wait to go to bed, haha…”

The support raised one of his brows – he didn’t look like he was buying what the Dane was selling at all. But, for some reason, he didn’t ask any further questions. It was certainly not because Rasmus had succeeded at playing things cool - no, it almost felt as if something was bugging the Slovenian as well. But Rasmus didn’t feel like asking. He was simply too exhausted from his day. Conveniently enough, the car stopped in front of G2’s apartment before the silence could get too awkward to stand. Both of the guys quickly climbed the stairs to their chambers, not feeling the need to discuss either of their troubles any further.

“Well, good night,” Miky ushered, disappearing behind the first door to the right swiftly.

“Yeah, sleep well,” Rasmus yawned, slowly slouching down the hallway to his own room.

 _Wait – did Miky just go into Perkz’ room?_ The ADC wondered for a moment as he closed the door behind him. But, as this was a topic that Rasmus preferred not to think about, he quickly shook it off as something that didn’t concern him. He let himself fall onto his bed, pulling his trusted raccoon-pillow into his arms. The day had certainly taken its toll on the Dane, who was somehow feeling as if he was too exhausted to fall asleep. It took all of his strength to check his phone after feeling it vibrate in his pocket.

Oskar: Can I come over?

Instantly, Rasmus froze. After thinking about Martin for a much longer period of time than anyone would ever call healthy, he had completely forgotten about Oskar. Rasmus felt guilty about that, yes – but, more prominently, he was now worried about what the jungler’s message could imply. _He didn’t want to come over today, did he?_ The ADC pondered, growing more and more nervous, _is he going to dump me?_ He couldn’t explain why the thought scared him so much. Still, Rasmus hoped that he was wrong, and so he told the jungler that he’d be excited to have him.

It was true that he was excited, but Rasmus still spend the time he was waiting on the jungler to arrive by pacing around his room nervously, reciting what he might say to him over and over again. The sound of the doorbell startled him – but there was also a sense of relief. He hurried over to the front door to let Oskar inside.

“Ah, thanks,” the jungler smiled as he stepped inside, leaning down to press a soft kiss onto the ADC’s lips.

“N-no problem, hey,” Rasmus mumbled, stepping to the side to let the Pole roam inside.

Out of all the possible scenarios he had come up with in his head, he couldn’t think of one that involved a kiss – maybe he had just made things out to be worse than they were after all. Rasmus heard some heavy stomping coming from the bottom of the stairwell, but he decided to close the front door instead of listening any closer. Even if it was one of his teammates returning, they had their own keys to fend for themselves, right?

“Man, I’m so tired,” Oskar yawned, covering his mouth with his palm, “that dentist appointment really got me…”

“But your tooth is better now?” Rasmus inquired, guiding the jungler, who was walking painfully slow, towards his room.

“I guess,” he shrugged, “still, I’m never going back there – the drill was freaking scary.”

“Aww, you’re scared of the dentist?” Rasmus smirked, playfully pulling on the jungler’s strong arm, “that’s so cute…!”

“Oh, shut up,” Oskar laughed, swinging his arm up and around the ADC, “I could take him in a fight, you know? Hey – what’s with that noise?”

“Hmm? I didn’t hear anything,” Rasmus mumbled, tilting his head a little, “what do you mean?”

“I thought I heard something coming from Perkz’ room just now,” Oskar muttered, looking over his shoulder for a moment, “but I guess it’s just because I’m so tired.”

“Probably,” Rasmus nodded, holding the door of his room open for the Pole, “maybe we should just lay down a little?”

“Sounds amazing…” Oskar yawned again, slowly sinking down on the Dane’s bed.

“So, your game today was pretty insane, huh?” Rasmus smiled as he sat down besides Oskar.

“Mhm, way too easy,” the jungler mumbled into the pillow, his eyes slowly falling shut, “there’s just one thing about it that still makes me wonder…”

“What’s that?”

“Well, Rekkles didn’t seem to be in the mood to celebrate? He even stayed behind in the studio, and Tim didn’t even mind - that was so weird…”

“Oh…” Rasmus swallowed, unsure of what to say. It seemed as if Oskar didn’t know, after all.

“Sorry, I guess we shouldn’t talk about that,” the jungler sighed, reaching out to pull Rasmus into a tight embrace.

“It’s okay,” Rasmus whispered, closing his eyes as he pressed his face against the Pole’s broad chest.

After the day he’s had, Rasmus was so happy just to be held. He wanted nothing more than to just enjoy the moment, regardless of what the jungler had just said – but, of course, he couldn’t. _What was Martin doing?_ He wondered, silently biting his lip, _was he waiting for me?_ Yet another thought that made Rasmus feel incredibly guilty, especially since he was cuddled up in Oskar’s arms right now. There was also this other thing. Since the jungler clearly didn’t seem to know about the break-up, Rasmus wondered whether he should tell him about it. As Miky had said, it would be only fair for him to know about his options – but still, Rasmus was scared of what that might mean for them. He didn’t want to think that Oskar would just drop him like that, but, considering where his own mind had gone to all day long, he couldn’t exactly rule out the possibility.

“What was your day like?” Oskar mumbled almost inaudibly, and Rasmus could tell that he was drifting off already.

“Hmm, nothing to special,” Rasmus whispered, “there’s just this one thing that –“

Suddenly, a loud scream interrupted the Dane. It echoed through the hall, bouncing off the walls relentlessly before reaching the jungler and the ADC, who were startled to say the least. The sheer volume of the voice already gave away who it could have belonged to – and, only seconds after, Jankos stormed into Rasmus’ room.

“OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!” The jungler yelled, ranting on as he walked in circles in the middle of the Dane’s room, “YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW!”

“Uhm, are you okay, Jankos?” Rasmus asked nervously, slowly sitting himself up to face the distressed guy.

“What’s going on…?” Oskar mumbled, staring at the other jungler in disbelief.

“I just wanted to say HI to SAM and when I looked inside… KURWA! MIKY HOW COULD YOU!” Jankos shouted, raising his fists up into the air dramatically.

“Miky? What does Miky have to do with this…?” Rasmus wondered.

“I CAN’T SAY I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT I FEEL LIKE MY EYES ARE BLEEDING!!” The jungler exclaimed, covering his eyes and wailing in frustration.

“Woah, uhm, I’m sorry?” The ADC mumbled, jumping up from the bed to comfort the Pole.

“You know, that probably wouldn’t have happened if you just learned how to knock before entering a room,” Oskar grumbled, crossing his arms sullenly.

“Zamknij się, dupku!” Jankos grunted, snapping at the other Pole.

“What was that?” Rasmus mumbled, looking back and forth between Oskar and Marcin.

“Jak czarująco _..._ ” Oskar rolled his eyes.

“Guys, English please,” Rasmus said with a nervous smile.

“He’s come in here to be rude to me, apparently,” Oskar mumbled with a grim expression.

“You started it!” Jankos huffed, crossing his arms.

“Uhm, Marcin, he’s been here first, technically, so…” Rasmus tried to level with the jungler’s, feeling caught in the crossfire.

“You’re right, you’re right…it’s just – GOD, my HEART is BROKEN!” Jankos groaned, sinking down to sit on the bed.

“Sure, just make yourself at home or whatever,” Oskar sighed, moving over to make some space.

“I don’t really understand what’s happening… I thought you said you were after this new girl already?” Rasmus said, with his hand still on the jungler’s shoulder for support.

“Y-yes, of course, it’s not like I’m still… thinking about Sam,” Jankos stammered, averting his gaze suspiciously quickly.

“Really?” Oskar hummed from the backside of the bed.

“It’s probably for the best to focus on…uhm, what was her name again?” Rasmus said with a crooked smile.

“Hannah…oh, Hannah,” Jankos sighed, letting his head drop, “I thought we had something, really…”

“Wait, what?” Rasmus mumbled, and his smile disappeared.

“It’s always the same – I just hesitated for a moment, and suddenly she says she’s going out with someone else?” The jungler wailed again, burying his face in his hands theatrically this time.

“Oh man… I’m so sorry, Marcin,” Rasmus muttered, clumsily hugging the jungler from behind, “I’m sure things will look up again for you soon…!”

“Well, at least Wunder was a bit less annoying tonight,” Jankos sniffed, lifting his head again, “I might have even stayed for a while longer if I hadn’t been so tired…”

“That’s huge,” Oskar admitted, “and I’ve only known you guys for like, a minute.”

“I agree, I’m so glad to hear that you guys are on the right track!” Rasmus beamed happily, pulling away to pat the Pole’s back.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far but..." Marcin muttered, looking as if he was waiting for the Dane to go on.

"Oh! Uhm... no, I definitely would, you are such a big person for trying to make peace with Wunder!" Rasmus nodded eagerly, doing his absolute best to build up the jungler's confidence.

“You’re right… yeah, I’m awesome,” Jankos mumbled, suddenly jumping up, “I’m awesome! And I won’t let anyone pull me down! Not Miky, not Sam, not Hannah – come at me, world!”

“Aaaand he’s back,” Oskar sighed, pulling the blanket up to cover his face.

“It’s good though,” Rasmus grinned brightly, “this is the Jankos I love to see!”

“Why, thank you, Rasmus,” Marcin nodded appreciatively with his hands on his hips, “this is just what I needed! I’m not even tired anymore – you know what, I’ll go play some more SoloQ. You want to join me??”

“Uhm, thanks for the offer, but I’m kind of in the middle of something?” Rasmus explained, pointing at the other jungler crammed up in his bed.

“Oh…uhm…sure,” Jankos stammered, visibly trying hard not to comment on how uncomfortable that made him, “see you tomorrow, then. I’M OUT!”

And out he was. As the door of the room fell shut behind Jankos, Rasmus let out a long sigh.

“That was quite something, huh?” He asked, turning back around to face Oskar.

“Hmm…” The jungler hummed.

“…You’re too tired to talk about this, aren’t you?” Rasmus chuckled, crawling up the bed to lie down beside Oskar.

“Hmmmm…” Oskar grumbled, slowly lifting one of his arms to make space for the ADC to cuddle up to him.

Without thinking twice about it, Rasmus followed the jungler’s hint, burying himself in the Pole’s sweet embrace again. After enduring Jankos’ yells for some time, anyone would gladly welcome some peace and quiet, after all. But, as Rasmus closed his eyes, his mind wandered back to what the jungler could have seen in Perkz’ room. _Why did Miky act so differently today, anyway?_ He wondered – but he couldn’t come up with an answer. Maybe it was for the best that he didn’t know after all. Still, seeing Jankos this agitated about his crush deciding to get with someone else – or both crushes, one might add – reminded Rasmus of the fact that he still had a decision to make. If he wanted to go through with it, then he had no time to waste. _I have to tell him now_ , Rasmus pondered, feeling his heartrate increase as he searched for the words in his head.

“Oskar…?” He mumbled quietly.

“Rasmus..?” Oskar whispered back, softly smiling against the ADC’s forehead.

 _Oh god_ , Rasmus thought, blushing hard at the sight of that ridiculously sweet smile, _I can’t do it – there’s no way I can do it_. He knew that it wasn’t right. He knew that it would only be fair to let the jungler know. But, in this moment, it was just too easy to get lost. Yes, with such an uncertain future lying ahead of him, Rasmus just wanted to enjoy the moment above anything else.

“S-sleep well,” the ADC muttered hastily, reaching over to the nightstand to turn off the light.

“You too…” Oskar hummed – and, barely a minute later, his soft snores filled the room.

 _There’s still tomorrow, right?_ Rasmus thought as he closed his eyes, slowly dozing off, _I’ll just tell him tomorrow_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Rasmus' POV everyone! What did you think about his origin story? And do you think he made the right call at the end...? 
> 
> Also, I'd love to hear some feedback on my usage of Polish towards the end from a native speaker (I think I have someone in mind?), since I have no proficiency with this language whatsoever. I limited it to short sentences to avoid errors; hope it added to the experience! 
> 
> Anyway, as always, thanks for tuning in! See you next Sunday!
> 
> PS: It has come to my attention that there's only one League of Legends RPF fanfic with more Kudos than this one, but it's Chinese - has anyone read it? I'm dying to find out what it's about, but can't seem to find a translator website that works in my favor. Any tipps?


	43. Part 10: Martin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to another chapter of Part 10: Origin stories! 
> 
> I've had so much fun reading through your previous comments, and, as always, it's the predictions that really got me - I hope you guys never stop with pointing out which road you think I'll take, it's so fascinating to me! That being said, the most satisfying thing for me is to watch your predictions actually come to life (some of you just know me too well by now, you know?)... so yeah, let's see whether that will be the case with this chapter! 
> 
> I think I've almost had a little too much fun with this one (which is also why the last edit before I uploaded it took me a bit longer than it usually does)... hope you enjoy it regardless! (or maybe evenbecause of it?)
> 
> UPDATE: I think this is the first time I've actually made a big change after already uploading a chapter - but after receiving various feedback on this topic (especially from my *eager* - I mean, mildly excited - betareader), I've decided to change the last scene up a bit. Gotta admit, it was a good idea.

To this day, Martin had always told himself that he could survive and come back from anything. No matter how hard things would get, he could always count on his tenacity. After all, that was part of the reason why he had prevailed in the League for all this time. Still, he couldn’t have imagined this particular turn of events in his wildest dreams – not until it had already happened to him. After almost getting eliminated in the group stage, going 0-3 on the first day, he was now out celebrating the advancement to the quarterfinals with the rest of the team. It was the first time any team had ever pulled off a comeback like that, and it felt sweeter than words could describe. Although Martin would have liked to say that he had never doubted that they would make it, a big part of him had almost given up after their disastrous first day of groups. But, luckily, his teammates hadn’t – especially not _him_.

As subtly as possible, Martin glanced over at Rasmus, who was sitting at the other end of the long table. The whole Fnatic squad, including the staff that had come to China with them, had gathered in the hotel’s restaurant to celebrate what seemed to be their most important victory of the year. Even now, after a round of beer or two, filled with gleeful cheers and toasts, it still felt surreal to the ADC that they’d made it this far. The team’s midlaner, on the other hand, was laughing and singing, swinging his almost empty glass back and forth enthusiastically, seemingly trying to charm the flustered-looking jungler next to him into dancing around as well. Somehow, Rasmus just looked so natural in this scene – as if he was simply meant to be be a part of it. It made Martin think of the time when the Dane had promised that they would be standing up on the big stage together, with the crowd calling out their names. They might not have won it all today, but the world surely was watching them now. _He was right,_ Martin thought with a smile, emptying his glass swiftly. 

“Hey, slow down there, Martin,” Zdravets chuckled next to him, “you know the real fight is just starting, right?”

“Of course,” the ADC shrugged, “you think I’d underestimate RNG? Still, I think we deserve to celebrate a little tonight…”

“Hmm… that’s huge coming from you!” The support patted the Swede’s back with a wide grin.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Martin mumbled, glancing over at Hylissang.

“You know… you tend to be serious in times like these,” Zdravets explained calmly, “and that’s not a bad thing at all – I’m just glad that you’re loosening up a bit!”

“Serious…” The ADC pondered out loud, scratching his chin, “I mean, maybe? You really think I’ve changed?”

“Hmm?” Zdravets blinked a couple of times, “I didn’t mean to turn this into a deep talk but, uhm, maybe?”

“What do you think, what would the ‘old me’ have done after yesterday?” Martin muttered, theatrically staring up at the ceiling. Maybe the alcohol did show some effect, after all.

“Uhm… I’m not sure,” the support sighed, slightly swinging the cup in his hand around, “honestly, I was scared that you would beat yourself up to a point where we couldn’t win today but… I was wrong, and I’m glad!”

“That does sound like something I’d do,” the ADC admitted with the hint of a smile on his lips, “but…”

“…but what?” Zdravets inquired curiously.

 _But then Rasmus looked at me and said we would win_ , Martin thought, closing his eyes for a moment. It was true – no matter how you looked at it, in a different world, the Swede would have been too devastated to come back. But, after hearing those small words that seemed so huge leave the midlaner’s lips, it was almost as if his spirit had just magically been rebuild. Yes, magic – he simply couldn’t find a better way to describe it. In fact, when he looked at the wild, ambitious midlaner, he often felt at a loss for words. It was not necessarily unusual that Martin struggled to express himself properly sometimes, especially since English was not his first language. Still, it had never been quite this hard before.

At first, he thought it might be because Rasmus reminded the ADC of himself when he first started playing professionally. He was so young, so inexperienced – yet so hungry for the win. A part of him found that quite annoying, since he didn’t particularly enjoy being reminded of what he had been like during that time. Back when he started out, he might have been described as just as reckless as the midlaner, and rightfully so. Now that he was in such a different place in his life, he could almost laugh about it; _almost_ , though. After all, it had taken years and a lot of hard work to find his standing in the scene. And he certainly would have never been able to do it without the guidance of his more experienced teammates. So, after being annoyed by the fresh and eager new player for a while, Martin acknowledged that it should be his responsibility to guide him – as a captain, a teammate, and maybe even as a friend.

But he never thought how much that would attack every single one of his weak spots at once. His insecurities as a leader and shot-caller, his bottled up feelings when it came to self-worth, his inability to share his joy over a victory when he knew there was another battle to come – somehow, Rasmus found a way to challenge every single doubt and fear of his. The Dane never meant any harm, of course. He was just so pure, so brutally honest… maybe that was something Martin wanted for himself as well. Or maybe he just wanted _it_ – or rather him? _No, that can’t be it_ , the ADC thought, slightly shaking his head in order to shake off his weird thoughts. He was probably just too overwhelmed by Fnatic’s unbelievable comeback. Well, maybe he was a little drunk, too. In fact, after emptying two bottles of water on stage and two mugs of beer now, he was facing an entirely different problem.

“Does anyone know where the toilets are?” He asked loudly, hoping that one of the cheerful players or staff members could help him out.

“Sure, I’ll show you,” a voice from the other side of the table chirped happily.

Martin turned his head to make out the source of the voice, only to find Rasmus staring back at him with his crooked smile beaming at the ADC as brightly as ever. It almost felt like a weird twist of fate – but not one that Martin minded. He got up slowly, making sure not to trip over his own feet as he started to make his way towards the restrooms, guided by his overly enthusiastic midlaner. Seeing the brunette bop up and down in front of him made him smile – he was simply way past the state of being annoyed by it.

“It’s right down this hallway!” Rasmus exclaimed, pointing towards an entry that was painfully close to their own table, “I thought you’d know by now, honestly.”

“Well, I usually use the one in my hotel room,” Martin mumbled, very aware of the fact that this was a weird quirk to have, “but this one will do too I guess.”

“Hmm, really?” The midlaner hummed, casually strolling down the hall, “I guess I’ve never seen you use the toilets in the studio either, now that you say it…”

“It’s not that much of a big deal,” Martin sighed, pushing the door to the restrooms open with one hand, “if I have the choice, I like to use the toilet I’m used to.”

“But you do have a choice,” Rasmus said bluntly, “this is our hotel, we could just go up to your room if you’re more comfortable with that, right?”

“Uhm, what?” Martin stuttered, feeling as if his shoes had suddenly been glued to the floor.

“I mean…” The midlaner swallowed, standing in the open doorway, “I mean you could go up there, not us together.”

“Yeah, ehm, I know that – still, why would I,” Martin scoffed, hurrying to get to one of the stalls.

Quickly, he closed the door behind him. It must have been because of the alcohol in his blood, but it suddenly felt as if his face was burning up. Was it the way in which Rasmus had ever so casually suggested to come to his hotel room with him? That he was alone with him right now? Or was there any logical explanation that didn’t involve Rasmus?

“You’re right, weird thought,” Rasmus nodded, walking over to the sinks, “you need me to turn on the tab?”

“What do you mean?” Martin replied reluctantly, slowly unzipping down his pants.

“Well, I heard some people have problems with peeing while someone else is around,” the midlaner explained loudly, seemingly washing his hands.

“Why did you even come if you don’t have to go yourself?” Martin grunted, trying his hardest to concentrate on doing his own business as he sat down.

“Just wanted to wash my hands, since the table was really sticky… well, I also wanted to help you out I guess?”

“Okay…” Martin mumbled, clutching his hands together.

He couldn’t deny that, just as always, the other guy was just being sweet. That’s probably all there was to it. His weird comments, his playful banter, his soft nudges every now and then… most likely, it was just the midlaner being kind. Martin was not used to that, as he had mostly been teased by the guys who had turned out to have other things in mind. Maybe that’s why he felt like he could sense some sort of weird tension in the room – and not just because he couldn’t seem to achieve the objective he came here for.

“Think I’d like to come back to that offer you made a second ago,” he sighed.

“Uhm, what?” Rasmus laughed, sounding weirdly nervous, “you mean about the helping out thing?”

“Sure, ehm, if that means you let the water run for a bit…”

“Right, right,” the midlaner stammered, turning on the tab, “that’s what I meant.”

 _Huh, weird_ , Martin thought as he was finally able to let go a little, _why is he acting so strange?_ The Dane was quirky by nature, sure. But still, something seemed to be up with him tonight. After considering the question for a while, feeling a hiccup coming up, Martin concluded that it must have been the stuff causing his guts to feel hot and fuzzy: alcohol. He had never really seen Caps drunk before, but he was certainly skinny enough to get waisted after just a beer or two. It was a simple explanation, and yet, it made Martin feel a little more at ease with how awkwardly tense the atmosphere was.

“How’s it going in there?” Rasmus asked loudly.

“Why would you ever ask someone that when they’re on the toilet?” Martin smirked, pulling up his pants as he had, luckily, finished shortly before. He turned to flush.

“Hmm, now that you say it…” Rasmus pondered.

Martin casually strolled out of the stall, approaching the sinks where the midlaner was still hanging out. He had seemingly finished washing his hands and was now leaning against the wall, looking at himself in the mirror. When Martin did the same, he almost shrieked up in shock. He had already forgotten about the new “look” the Chinese make-up artists had given him, and it almost felt like a complete stranger was staring back at him.

“Woah, what’s up scaredy-cat?” Rasmus laughed, looking back and forth between the ADC and his reflection.

“I don’t know, I just freaked myself out for a second there,” Martin sighed, taking a deep breath before bending down to wash his hands.

“But why? I’ve never seen you miss a chance to look in the mirror…” Rasmus chuckled.

“Very funny… I mean, did you see my eyebrows?” Martin mumbled, turning to the side to grab some paper towels to dry his hands with.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Rasmus smiled innocently, “I think you look great.”

“Now you’re just lying,” Martin pouted – but his heart started to flutter still.

 _So what if he thinks I look good?_ The ADC thought silently, rubbing his hands a little too hard. If he didn’t even mind the way in which his own eyebrows had been styled, Rasmus probably just had a really bad taste, right?

“I’d never,” Rasmus shook his head, grabbing a paper towel as well, “but if it bothers you too much, we can just fix it, right?”

“Fix it? What are you saying…” Martin mumbled, turning to face the midlaner only to find him moistening the paper towel in the sink.

“This should work, right?” The midlaner grinned.

In one motion, he reached up to steady Martin’s face with one hand, while starting to rub his eyebrows with the other. At this point, the Swede felt as if someone was bound to jump up from behind the door and point out where the hidden camera was. _Is this a joke? What’s happening?_ He thought as he looked down at Rasmus’ concentrated expression. Still, however bizarre the situation might have been, Martin found himself enjoying being so weirdly close to the midlaner – and especially being touched by him.

“Hmm, I’m not sure whether this is a whole lot better…” Rasmus muttered, eyeing his work critically.

“Let me see…” Martin turned around to look into the mirror – and started laughing as soon as he saw his reflection.

“I got a little bit off, right?” Rasmus chuckled, “maybe I just need to go again?”

“Oh no, it’s your turn now,” the ADC grinned, grabbing a paper towel to return the favour.

“My turn? But why?” The midlaner frowned, hesitantly tapping his brow bones, "does it really look that bad?"

“Just let me do it, okay?” Martin hummed, grabbing the Dane’s chin to lift it up.

To his surprise, a soft moan escaped Rasmus’ lips as he did. The smaller guy’s eyes were flickering back and forth, and, immediately, Martin felt like there was this weird longing glistening up in them – and in him. He swallowed hard, slowly reaching up to go through with his initial plan to clean up the midlaner’s ridiculously dark eyebrows. Rasmus closed his eyes, obediently enduring the procedure. But suddenly, Martin only had eyes for the Dane’s lips, which seemed to be trembling. He wondered what they might feel like – or taste like, even. As his breathing got heavier, Martin felt the urge to control himself return. This was nothing more than the rush of a surreal victory paired with some drinks – he didn’t feel anything beyond that, right?

“Did you get everything?” Rasmus mumbled, opening his eyes again to look back at Martin.

There was barely any distance between them, and, somehow, it was so hard to take for the ADC. He had, in fact, gotten most of the makeup off and was now looking at Rasmus’ normal face. But this sensation growing stronger in his guts didn’t feel normal at all. It was probably a really bad idea, all things considered, and, under normal circumstances, Martin would have never dared to say any of the following words out loud – but, following a tale as old as time, the alcohol made him think, _why not?_

“Rasmus?” He mumbled softly.

“Uhm, yes?” The midlaner replied with a nervous smile, “does it look better or…”

“This might sound really stupid but…”

“But…?” The smile on the Dane’s lips disappeared.

“But I think I want to kiss you.” Martin whispered, dropping the paper towel to the floor to run his fingers through the midlaner’s hair instead, ruffling it a bit to get rid of the smooth gel-look.

“You want to…” Rasmus swallowed audibly, looking up at the ADC with impossibly big eyes, “…kiss me?”

“Sorry it’s… it’s stupid, hm,” Martin hummed, still leaning in closer – no matter how stupid it was, he wanted nothing more in this very moment. He expected Rasmus to start laughing, to make a silly joke, to call him out for being drunk – but he didn’t.

“Okay…” The midlaner whispered, closing his eyes.

“Okay?” Martin breathed against the midlaner’s lips, feeling too excited to even be caught off guard by the surprising response.

“Yeah…” Rasmus responded almost inaudibly.

Slowly, Martin moved in to make their lips meet. It almost felt as if Rasmus met him halfway, pushing himself up on his tiptoes. He had never imagined Rasmus’ lips feeling this soft, or how passionately the midlaner would return his kiss. Martin let his hands wander back down to wrap his arms around the Dane’s slim body, almost lifting him up in the process. It had been so long since Martin had kissed someone at this point. He hadn’t even realized how much he had missed it. He carefully let his tongue slip into Rasmus’ mouth, exploring it as he softly pressed the midlaner against the wall. His whole body was burning up – he suddenly wanted so much more. _Maybe it wasn’t such a stupid idea after all_ , Martin thought as he considered slipping his hands underneath Rasmus’ shirt. But suddenly, he felt the Dane gasp for air way too clumsily – and then, as he slowly realized the meaning of that, he decided to pull away instead.

“Woah…” Rasmus panted, still leaning against the wall for support.

“Why didn't you just…” Martin mumbled, frowning at the midlaner.

“What? Did I do something wrong?” Rasmus mumbled with a nervous smile.

“Why didn’t you tell me this was your first kiss?” The ADC whispered.

“Uhm… haha what makes you think that?” The midlaner laughed, shrugging it off, “first kiss, haha... we’re just… fooling around, right?”

“You sure?” Martin cocked a brow, not really buying the Dane’s sudden mood swing.

“Sure I’m sure,” Rasmus nodded eagerly, “this was just… fun.”

“Okay… uhm,” Martin sighed, turning away, “still, sorry for just jumping you like that. I might be a little drunk.”

“Yeah…” Rasmus smiled, “maybe we should just get back to the others…”

“You’re right,” Martin agreed, grabbing another paper towel from the dispenser, “I still have to fix my face a little but… you can go ahead.”

“Mhm,” Rasmus hummed, slowly walking towards the door, “thanks for… ehm, the help with my eyebrows.”

“No problem, you look a lot better now,” Martin explained calmly as he got back to working on his own.

“T-thanks, see you in a minute,” the midlaner stammered before disappearing behind the door.

As he was left alone in front of the mirror, Martin wondered whether he had made a mistake. It just felt so right in the moment – but maybe it wasn’t? _Then again, Rasmus did say it was just fun_ , the ADC thought, throwing the dirty wipe away after feeling satisfied with his look again. Maybe he could just write it off as something foolish two buzzed people had decided to do, even though a part of him knew that wasn’t true. It wasn’t the first time he had fantasized about being with the Dane if he was honest with himself – and, especially now that he had been the one to kiss him for the very first time, he wanted more. _It’s stupid, it’s stupid, it’s stupid_ … Martin tried to tell himself over and over as he approached the table of his celebrating team again. Hylissang greeted him wholeheartedly.

“There you are, Martin! We already started to miss you!”

“Geez, thanks,” Martin smiled as he sat back down, “what did I miss?”

“Well, sOAZ over here thinks that he can empty a mug of beer a lot faster than you,” Zdravets explained with a serious expression on his face. Next to him, the team’s toplaner started laughing.

“Really? Well, I would bet against that,” Martin grinned, slamming his fist down on the table.

“Interesting…” The support pushed his glasses back with one finger, glancing back and forth both of the guys involved in the bet, “maybe we should just order another round for everyone, then?”

“I don’t know…” Martin glanced over at Rasmus, who was back to laughing and singing with Broxah, “I think at least one of us has had enough, right?”

“What? You mean Rasmus?” Hylissang looked over at the commotion at the other end of the table, “you know that’s just what he’s like, Martin… he doesn’t drink, remember?”

“Come again?” Martin blinked a couple of times, feeling as if he must have misheard.

“He’s still got a month to go until he’s 18 and… yeah, he never drinks alcohol.” Zdravets explained calmly, “now can we get back to the bet?”

“I… I think I'm the one who's had enough,” Martin mumbled, staring down at his hands as he realized what that meant.

 _He wasn’t drunk – he wasn’t drunk he just…_ The Swede thought, not daring to finish the thought in his head. He should have figured that the Dane hadn’t been drinking – he probably just didn’t want to acknowledge that he was acting out of character. Maybe a part of Martin felt excited about the possibility of Rasmus liking him back – still, things definitely wouldn’t be as easy as he had tried to convince himself of, after all. He had to play his cards right now, that was for sure. Martin closed his eyes, blocking out the sounds of Hylissang and sOAZ joking loudly beside him. He tried to lay out the words in his head. _If I could just ask Rasmus to talk again_ , he thought, concentrating as hard as the alcohol in his veins allowed him to, _maybe we could find a way to make this work then. Maybe it's okay to want it to work_.

But when he opened his eyes again, the restaurant, and all of his teammates, were gone. Instead, he was staring up at the ceiling of his hotel room. _So that’s why I knew it wouldn’t end well_ , Martin thought grumpily, sitting himself up. Over two years had gone by since he had shared his first kiss with Rasmus – still, he kept dreaming about it lately. _Shouldn't I be dreaming about my first kiss with Tim or something, at least?_ The ADC pondered, staring at the empty half of the bed beside him. The break-up had barely just happened, but his subconsciousness seemed to be over it already. He could only blame the fact that the way their relationship had started had been cursed from the beginning, so to speak. Martin was feeling this void back in 2019, which he had desperately tried to fill - with a girlfriend back home in Sweden at first, but that didn't work. He then moved on to one-night-stands in Berlin, but that wasn't necessarily satisfying, either. When his oddly fascinating midlaner had looked at his naked body with this longing stare - that was when he noticed that what he wanted had been right in front of him all this time. And it felt good - for a while. But then he caught feelings, and then Rasmus showed up in his life again, and now, everything had basically gone to shit. Was that why the memory of how the whole thing with Rasmus had started kept haunting him? Even though the way it had started off was, also, anything but perfect?

Or, maybe, it was because Rasmus' and Martin's current situation was so oddly similar – anything but perfect, that is. Well, it would be similar at least, if you counted out the heartbreak, the insane amount of baggage weighing him down, and the fact that Rasmus was now with someone else. _Okay, no, it’s not similar at all,_ Martin thought with a sigh as he got up. Still, it seemed as if one possible solution to resolve his current misery could be to talk to Rasmus. It had been weeks since they last attempted to have a conversation, which didn’t exactly turn out great for either of them. But now, things were different. Martin had broken up with Tim, and he finally realized just how much he needed Rasmus in his life. It was just as hard to admit as it had been back then, but still, he wasn’t ashamed now. He was just clueless about how to fix the fucked up situation he had maneuvered himself into.

It certainly wouldn’t be easy. If it was, he probably would have told someone about his break-up by now. But, as always, Martin was too concerned with what other people thought of him. After his relationship with Tim had literally just gotten acknowledged by his teammates and even his rivals, he was weirdly ashamed about just calling it quits like that. Martin stared at the dark circles under his eyes in his reflection as he brushed his teeth – it looked as if he was not getting enough sleep. Maybe a part of him was wondering whether he rushed the decision to break up with Tim. It felt like the only solution a week ago, but now, as a few days of being by himself have passed, he wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Judged by the way in which Tim had started to isolate himself again, he hadn’t told anyone either – which meant that Oskar and Rasmus probably wouldn’t break things off anytime soon. _So what in the hell am I gunning for_? Martin thought, frowning as he rinsed his mouth with water. In a way, he just felt lost, and weirdly defeated. And, this time around, Martin wasn’t so sure about whether he could come back from it.

After an intense workout session in the gym, Martin barely had enough time to get ready to head to the office for the team’s prep meeting. He was still all over the place when he arrived, and it didn’t really get better as the meeting progressed. Martin didn’t really let it show, but, just like in his dream, he was simply not able to concentrate – minus the alcohol, of course. He just sat there and tried his best to take the notes his also seemingly distraught coach presented them with in. It took every ounce of self-control he had in him not to stare at Tim, or, even worse, Oskar – he just didn’t want to imagine what might be going on in their heads. He wanted to focus on the game. Today, more than on most other days, Martin desperately needed a win, after all. And, due to another weird twist of fate, he wasn’t just playing against anyone – no, Fnatic was pitched up against Misfits. Which meant he had to play against _him_.

Out of all of his previous teammates that had parted ways with Fnatic, Martin probably took it the hardest when Febiven left; well, if you counted out Rasmus, that is. It was most likely due to the fact that the team’s 2015 line-up had been the most successful one of them all; it simply didn’t make sense for everyone to just leave, one after the other. Febiven had stuck around the longest, but still, he had left in the end. It was tough when Martin felt as if he was the last one standing, which was probably also why he had had such a hard time with accepting his new teammates back then. Things were different now, of course, but his feelings regarding Febiven hadn’t changed – a part of him still wished he would have stayed. There was also this other thing that may or may not have influenced his feelings regarding this matter. But, right now, Martin didn’t want to give that specific thing any attention.

Martin used to feel envious when he saw Oskar joke around with the rest of his team. The feeling used to be so strong and present, it always felt like it would consume him – but, today, as the team was gathered in their LEC lounge shortly before their match, a different thought crossed Martin’s mind as he watched the whacky trio of Hylissang, Bwipo and Selfmade laugh at the other end of the couch. _He wouldn’t be laughing like this if he knew,_ he thought, trying not to stare too much, _oh_ , _I wonder if he’d drop Rasmus if he knew Tim loved him back_. Of course, Martin knew that it wasn’t his place to tell the jungler any of this – but it would be a lie to say that he hadn’t considered it. In the end, however selfish this move might be, it would at least speed up this whole process of waiting for something to happen. The ‘old’ Martin might have done it. But, as things were looking now, he just couldn’t go through with it – not with the feelings of both Tim and Rasmus on the line. _I’ve changed for real, haven’t I?_ He thought with a small sigh, glancing over at his support. Oh, if he had only changed enough to be able to swallow his pride… maybe he would have been able to ask for help, then.

The only place where he wasn’t in need of any assistance, except for the mandatory one, was in the rift. As soon as he stepped into his lane, Martin felt right at home. He knew that it was only temporary, but the ADC made sure to enjoy every second of feeling as if he was on top of the world – even though it only lasted for about 20 minutes this time. After completing the fastest stomp of the Split so far, Martin’s heart was fluttering out of excitement. He got up, earned an acknowledging pat on the shoulder from Hylissang, and turned around to form a circle with the rest of the squad. As Fnatic’s players walked over, still floating on a winner’s high, Martin suddenly remembered whose hand he would have to shake now. Normally, that would have made him uncomfortable. But, for some reason, he leaned in for a hug with Febiven today, pressing him extra close to his chest. He even gave him a smile as he let go – yes, for whatever reason, seeing the midlaner in another team’s jersey didn’t pull him down today.

But Martin’s enthusiasm slowly started to shrink as soon as he left the stage. As his team started walking towards the exit, with Bwipo and Hyli going on and on about their magical date night that lied ahead, the ADC grew more and more uneasy. He didn’t want to think about being alone in his hotel room again – he hated being alone with his thoughts lately. He certainly didn’t want to go back to Fnatic’s apartment either, what good would that do for him? Instead, he just wanted to stick around for a while longer.

“I think I’ll stay a bit if that’s okay,” Martin said, stopping in his tracks as the others were heading for the door.

“Huh? But why?” Bwipo wondered as he tried to close the zipper of his jacket.

“I just want to watch the rest of the games here before returning to the hotel… I don’t have a nice couch like this, you know?” The ADC explained with a slight smile, feeling as if that was only partially a lie, “you guys go ahead, I’ll just call a cab later.”

“I mean, okay,” Alfonso said slowly, turning to the team’s jungler, “what about you, Oskar? Aren’t you gonna stay to wait for your _boyfriend?”_

“Uhm, haha, no,” Oskar mumbled, scratching his head nervously, “I’d rather drive home with you guys to nap, I’m so tired…”

Suddenly, another spark of hope was ignited in Martin’s chest – now, he felt even better about his decision to stay.

“Alright… I guess we’ll see you tomorrow, Martin,” the coach smiled, slouching towards the exit with the rest of the team.

“Yeah, see you guys,” Rekkles waved, slowly sitting down on the big couch to turn his attention to the TV.

He didn’t really care about the game that was currently on, as a match-up between Schalke 04 and Origen was not necessarily thrilling to watch. But Martin couldn’t deny that he was interested in the following match. He wondered whether G2, and Rasmus, above all, would be able to bounce back from their bad couple of last games today. In a way, a part of the ADC wanted the rivalling team to find back to their strength – it just wouldn’t be as meaningful to beat them if they weren’t in top condition. But, aside from that, Martin was also secretly hoping to be able to talk to Rasmus somehow, before or after the last game of the day. Somewhat hesitantly, he scrolled through his contacts on his OnePlus. It would be so easy to reach out to the other ADC, yet it felt like such a huge hurdle to take right now. Suddenly, a loud knock on the doorframe of the lounge interrupted Martin’s brooding – for a second, he thought that Rasmus had somehow read his mind from afar and decided to come find him. But that would have been too convenient, right?

“Hey, all alone in the big lounge?” Febiven smirked, sticking his head inside, “may I come in?”

“What do you want?” Martin mumbled, looking at the midlaner without making an effort to hide his irritation.

“What do I want?” Febiven hummed, slowly making his way inside as if the Swede had given him permission, “are you saying you _didn’t_ want me to come find you after that sly grin you gave me?”

“Sly grin?” Martin scoffed, crossing his arms, “no I didn’t… you can never be bothered to drop by anyway.”

“Hmm, why so pressed?” Fabian sighed, sinking down on the couch, a couple of meters away from the ADC.

“You know why…” Martin mumbled, turning his attention back to his phone to avoid getting too flustered.

“I really don’t get you… if you’re still mad at me after all this time, why did you hug me tonight all of a sudden?” The midlaner sulked, leaning forward.

“Well, we smashed your team in twenty minutes… I figured you needed some consolation.” Martin shrugged, feeling incredibly proud about coming up with this sick burn on the fly.

“Right, right…” Febiven laughed, pretending to wipe a tear out of the corner of his eye, “you caring about other people’s feelings… that was a good one!”

“Give me a break, would you,” Martin grunted, letting his head fall back in frustration, “I’ve really got enough going on without you right now.”

“Well, you kind of started it but… whatever,” Febiven shrugged, kicking his feet up to rest on the couch table, “I’m a bit bored at the moment, you know? None of my current teammates are… how do I put it… entertaining to me?”

“Wow, I almost feel bad for you,” Martin grumbled, staring up at the ceiling, “wish I had the same problem.”

“How crude…” Fabian shook his head, “I guess that means you still have someone to fool around with, then? Who is it, Caps? Or have you moved on to Nemesis by now?”

“Huh?” Martin huffed, shrieking up in his seat involuntarily, “I – uhm, I… how did you know?”

“What? I was right? About who?” Febiven frowned.

“Well…” Martin nervously scratched his chin – he had been caught.

“Both of them? Wow, Martin, that’s grand,” the Dutch snickered, “you really have a thing for midlaners, huh…”

“God, why does everyone keep saying that…” Martin sighed, running his hand through his hair, “it’s not like that’s a criterium or anything, okay?”

“The facts speak against that,” Febiven explained, “and it’s okay to have a type, isn’t it?”

“How is that a type though?” The ADC grunted, trying to draw other parallels between his ex-lovers.

“Hmm… I’d say that you need someone with a strong grip, but from the looks of it… I don’t think Caps or Nemesis can really handle you like I did, hm?”

Martin shuddered – there it was. From what he’d heard, not many other people knew this side of Febiven. When he had first gotten to know it, the Swede had been butter in the Dutch’s hands immediately. When it came to the both of them, things had always been quick and dirty. Martin swallowed hard, trying his best not to remember the sweet, sweet pleasure he had felt back when he was under the midlaner’s spell. That was a long time ago, after all.

“None of your business,” he finally mumbled after regaining composure.

“What, did I hit a nerve?” Febiven grinned, scooching over a bit closer, “tell me, Martin, how does it feel to be topped by another twink?”

“I wouldn’t know,” the ADC scoffed, swiftly looking away, “and don’t call me a twink.”

“What, am I supposed to believe that you’re a top all of a sudden?” The midlaner chuckled, “after all the times you begged me to go faster when I –“

“Stop, okay?” Martin interrupted the other guy hastily, blushing the slightest bit, “just… stop talking about that.”

“Hmm…? Why, is this embarrassing for you or something?” Febiven tilted his head, looking puzzled by Martin’s reaction, “I guess you really aren’t that shameless little twink anymore then… remember your snapchat days?”

“I…uhm,” the ADC stammered – he _really_ didn’t want to remember that.

“Man, that was a wild ride… your shirtless selfies every night, your thirsty little captions – that made it even harder for me to go easy on you, you know?”

“It’s not like I wanted you to go easy on me back then,” Martin shrugged, “and the snapchat thing was stupid. Especially that one time, where I took a selfie while you…”

“Oh yeah, I remember that one,” Febiven smirked, staring into the distance as if lost in a daydream.

“Whatever, okay, I told you it was stupid,” Martin mumbled, gesturing with his right hand, “I’m not like that anymore.”

“Yeah, you’re so much more buff now,” Febiven nodded in acknowledgement.

“That’s not what I meant,” the Swede rolled his eyes, “but yeah, you too I guess… if you forget about the NA-tragedy from last year.”

“Ouch,” the midlaner muttered with a slight grin, “aren’t you a cocky brat?”

“No, just someone with eyes,” the ADC replied casually.

“Geez… what can I say, the food was good,” Febiven explained, smiling again, “forgive me for not being as scrawny as the guys you’re into nowadays, would you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Martin grumbled, shooting the midlaner an angry glance.

“I don’t know, I just can’t understand your sudden change of type… I mean, I thought you were more into the older, more experienced kinds of guys.”

“Pff… maybe if we talk about xPeke, but I’m older than you, you know?” The Swede snarked, given the other guy a condescending look.

Febiven rolled his eyes before responding, “Three days, Martin. You’re three days older than me, that’s like, nothing.”

“Still, your argument doesn’t add up,” the ADC replied, crossing his arms.

“Fine, fine, let me rephrase – why in the hell would you start topping all of a sudden, hmm? I’ve been with plenty of guys, and no one had ever taken it as… eagerly as you.” Febiven said loudly, looking angry somehow.

“I hate to repeat myself, but that’s really none of your business. You left, remember? You just left the team when we were down, and it was up to me to find a way to pull through,” Martin exclaimed with surprising force, “so I really don’t think that I owe you any explanations!”

“I… I guess you’re right,” Fabian mumbled slowly, “I’m sorry I don’t think… I don’t think I’ve ever considered how hard that must have been for you.”

“I…” Martin started, closing his mouth again as he realized he was at a loss for words.

After all these years, Martin never would have thought that he would ever hear the midlaner say these words to him - especially not in this sort of setting. But here they were. It didn’t fix anything, but, somehow, it felt so good to Martin to know that Febiven understood the trouble he had caused him now.

“I guess it makes a bit more sense if you count in the power dynamics of the team,” Fabian went on with closed eyes, “but you know that doesn’t necessarily have to influence your behaviour in the bedroom, right?”

“Don’t make it sound so easy,” Martin mumbled with a sad smile.

“Never said it was… I made my fair share of bad experiences too, trust me on this one,” Febiven sighed, extending his arm to swing it around Martin’s shoulder, “not with you, though. What we had was easy.”

“I guess?” The ADC remarked, feeling uncertain about whether he should move away from the other guy’s touch.

“Man, you’re really acting strange today,” Fabian grumbled, “have you really changed this much? Or is something else weighing you down?”

“Well… I guess you could say that…”

“Hmm? Spit it out, would you? I promise not to laugh about whatever it is, too…” Febiven grinned slyly.

“I don’t believe you, but whatever… I really need to tell someone, and I guess you are as good as anyone.”

“That stings, but fair enough,” the midlaner shrugged.

“See, the thing is… Tim and I broke up last week.” Martin muttered quietly – if the other guy hadn’t been this close to him, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hear him say it.

“What? You mean you’re single?” Febiven exclaimed, shaking Martin by the shoulder playfully, “man, that never happens!”

“Very funny…” Martin rolled his eyes, “forgive me for not being as enthusiastic about it…”

“What’s the matter now, hmm? Do you want him back…?” Fabian inquired curiously, with his fingers still clutching onto the Swede’s arm.

“No…” Martin looked away shyly, “not him, at least…”

“Phew, spicy,” Febiven chuckled, “so, someone else? I’m assuming it’s not me… should I be offended?”

“You’re the worst,” the ADC mumbled with a slight smile.

It would have been a lie to say that Martin’s body was not reacting to the Dutch’s touch. Even though it had been so long, his fingers almost felt as if they conjured the Swede with some sort of wicked magic. Having Fabian’s face so close to his didn’t make things any easier, either. It was so hard to supress his desire to lean forward, to kiss him, to let the other guy rupture him and fuck him up. However tempting the thought might have been, Martin knew it was a terrible idea to give in to it. He swallowed, trying to clear his mind.

“But I’m not wrong, am I? Who is it then?” The midlaner whispered with glistening eyes, somehow leaning in a bit closer to the ADC.

“It doesn’t matter who it is because it probably won’t work out in the end…” he explained calmly, trying to shuffle away as subtly as possible.

“Fine, let’s forget about him, then,” Febiven mumbled, turning Martin’s head forcefully to make him face him again, “be honest with me… you really don’t miss me at all?”

He wanted to say no. But what was the point in lying at this moment? He was in a complex situation when it came to his love life, sure – but he was also single. After a week of suffering, feeling as if he had no one to support him, why would he deny himself this easy pleasure? If it was, in fact, his pride he was concerned with, that was easily something that could be overcome here. _It’s different when I’m with Fabian_ , he thought, looking down at the midlaner’s rosy lips. It was almost as if he could allow himself to be more like he had once been – young, eager to be led, maybe even a little naïve. Things were easier back then when he didn’t have to be strong for his whole team. _I want to feel it again_ , Martin thought, gasping for air when he felt Fabian’s fingertip tracing his lower lip.

“I don’t know…” He whispered.

“That’s not a ‘no’, hm?” Fabian grinned, slowly letting his other hand wander down the ADC’s broad back, “I can live with a ‘maybe’, you know?”

“Oh, just shut up,” Martin remarked with the hint of a smile before diving into the kiss.

It only took Fabian a couple of seconds to return the kiss with passion, pulling the Swede’s body up to make him straddle his lap. They pressed their mouths together with the same intensity they had used back then, almost as if not a single day had passed since the days of their shared adventures. Martin’s head started to spin as he felt the midlaner’s hands roaming down his body, with his tongue swirling around in his mouth. He couldn’t remember the last time his ass had been grabbed this firmly – and he couldn’t even begin to describe how wild that drove him. He ran his fingers through Fabian’s dark hair and along his neck, pulling away from the kiss as he noticed how tight his pants suddenly felt.

“Oh…?” Febiven grinned again as he looked down as well, curiously eyeing Martin’s hard-on, “that was fast.”

“You’re one to talk,” Martin mumbled, blushing slightly as he looked at the tent the other guy was pitching in his pants, “it’s just been a while, okay?”

“For you and me both, it seems…” Fabian licked his lips.

“Well… aren’t you going to do something about it?” Martin wiggled his hips suggestively, tilting his head to bring his lips closer to the midlaner’s face again.

“Me? Looks like you’ve lost your manners over the years,” Fabian sneered at the ADC and gave him a firm spank.

“Huh?” Martin hummed in confusion, “what do you mean?”

“I mean that you must have forgotten that you have to work for your pleasure,” Febiven shrugged, shoving the Swede off his lap, “down on your knees.”

“What are you talking about, why would I –“

“Just do it, would you?” The midlaner sighed, casually pulling down his pants to release his hard cock, “it’s not going to suck itself.”

“You prick…” Martin scoffed, but he couldn’t even begin to hide his grin.

It was true – none of the guys or girls that had followed Febiven had ever handled him like this. As much as he would have liked to say that he was over being treated this way, the ADC found himself being sucked right back in. Carefully, he let himself slip off the couch. After pushing the coffee table away to make some space, Martin kneeled down in between Fabian’s open legs. The midlaner was towering over him, casually leaning back against the couch as if he owned the place. As the Swede got to work, sensually licking Febiven’s full length from the base to the top, he couldn’t help but think about how wrong it felt to do this in the middle of Fnatic’s lounge, where the team was usually gathered for professional purposes only. Then again, it was also weirdly thrilling. Eagerly, Martin opened his mouth to let Fabian’s cock slide in, swallowing as much of it as possible.

“Hmm, you’ve practiced, haven’t you?” The midlaner panted, grinning into his fist, “that’s almost more than ¾ if you ask me…”

Instead of replying, Martin forced his head down a little further. He had to supress his gag reflex with all that he had, but hearing a soft moan escape the other guy’s lips was more than worth it. The ADC proceeded to move up and down Febiven’s erection, trying to use his tongue as much as possible. Suddenly, he felt the midlaner grabbing his hair, forcing him to move faster. It was almost surreal how much Martin’s whole body was tingling because of it – by now, he was simply desperate for more.

“Alright, alright…” Fabian mumbled, pulling on Martin’s hair to force his head away from his dick, “that would be enough.”

“What do you mean…?” Martin panted, glancing up with irritation in his eyes.

“Well, I don’t think this will do, Martin,” Febiven shook his head, sneering eerily, “I think you will have to try a bit harder if you want to win me back.”

“Huh?” Martin frowned, wiping his mouth with his arm angrily, “you little –“

“Oh, now you’re catching an attitude?” Febiven leaned forward to grab the ADC’s jaw, “you still remember how that turned out for you in the past, don’t you?”

“Y-yes…” Martin swallowed, considering whether snapping back was really worth it, after all.

“Good. Now, you might as well start putting on a show for me.” Fabian explained, signalling the Swede to stand up.

“A show? What do you want me to do, exactly?” Martin mumbled as he got up on his feet.

“For starters, how about you take off your shirt?” Fabian suggested with a grin.

“Fine…” Martin swiftly pulled his jersey and the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing underneath off his body in one single motion.

“Hmm, you could have put in a little more effort, dont you think...” Febiven hummed, examining the ADC’s naked body with his eyes, “but those tattoos… well, good to see you still got your broad hips.”

“Whatever,” Martin rolled his eyes as he climbed the midlaner’s lap again, “is this enough of a show for you, then?”

“Not even close…” Febiven snickered, grabbing the ADC’s sides with both of his hands, “how about you show me you still know how to work those hips of yours?”

“Fine…” Martin whispered, guiding the other guy’s hands down to his hips as he started to grind, “how about this?”

With the midlaner’s hard-on propped up against his ass, Martin rolled his hips, moving around in slow, sensual circles. He clutched onto Fabian’s shoulders for support, moving his face a little closer to the Dutch’s to tease him even more. He could see the sparks in Febiven’s dark eyes already – but, even more than that, he could clearly _feel_ just how well his moves were working. _I still got it,_ Martin thought, grinning against Fabian’s bottom lip as he went in for the kiss. It didn’t take a long time until the midlaner started to slip his hands into Martin’s sweatpants, seemingly eager to go further, judged by the way he went straight for the backdoor – but, this time, Martin pulled away.

“We can’t,” he panted, leaning his forehead against the midlaner’s.

“What, how are you getting cold feet now?” Febiven frowned, not making an attempt to move his hands away.

“I mean we can’t do it here…” Martin rolled his eyes as he got up from the Dutch’s lap.

“Why not, hm? No one will find out, come on!” The midlaner grunted.

“Yeah, probably,” the Swede mumbled as he put his shirt back on, “but I don’t have a condom with me and… no offense, but I don’t want to know what your dick has been up to lately.”

“Fair enough,” Febiven shrugged as he pulled his pants up, “but I didn’t say you could get up. Or put on your shirt.”

Martin stopped, turning to look at the midlaner, mumbling in confusion, “but what’s the point if we can’t do it…?”

“Screwing is one thing, but I don’t think I want the show to end just yet,” Febiven said with a sly grin, pointing at the ADC’s crotch, “I’m sure your cock would agree, hmm?”

“What are you saying?” Martin murmured, still standing in the middle of the room with his shirt in his hands.

“That I’m not done,” the Dutch explained, pointing at the other end of the couch, “so sit over there, facing me.”

“Ehm, what good is that going to do?” the Swede asked sceptically, crossing his arms.

“There you go again, questioning my decisions…” Febiven said, biting his lower lip, “I’m not going to give you anything if you don’t stop acting like a brat.”

It might have still felt a little weird to be ordered around like this again to Martin, but ‘nothing’ was definitely the last thing he wanted. In a way, he had been seeking this feeling for a while without even noticing – he wanted to be led again, to trust someone enough to follow their every order. If this was what it took to get there…

“Fine…” Martin whispered, letting his shirt drop onto the floor before he made his way over to the couch.

“Wait, before you sit down,” Febiven added as the ADC was now standing right in front of his destination, “take off your pants.”

“Seriously? You’re still wearing all of your clothes, and now you want me to sit around here in my underwear…” Martin scoffed, still slipping his hand under his waistband as he considered going through with it.

“You’re right, how stupid of me,” Febiven grinned, glancing up and down the Swede’s toned body, “take your underwear off, too.”

“That’s not what I meant, I –“ Martin started, blushing the tiniest bit before coming to a full stop. Now, why did his mouth just start putting up a fight?

“Yeah?” The midlaner asked calmly, with a dangerous spark in his glare.

“Fine…” The ADC mumbled, slowly pulling down his sweatpants and briefs. His cock certainly wasn’t complaining about some fresh air – it was still fully erect, despite not having been touched at all. That was just how sexually charged the atmosphere in the room was. Martin decided to turn away a little, almost hiding himself from the predatory eyes directed at him in shame.

“What’s that? Since when are you shy about showing your body?” Febiven laughed, slapping his own thigh, “come on, turn around and show me…”

“I swear to god, you just love embarrassing me…” Martin grunted, turning back around a little – but he didn’t dare to look at the other guy’s face.

“Obviously, but are you really going to deny how much that turns you on?” Fabian smirked, licking his lips as he eyed the Swede’s dick, “now, sit down and put your legs up…”

Martin followed the Dutch’s order swiftly, feeling almost relieved to be able to hide behind his knees a little. But his anticipation was much stronger still – what was Febiven planning?

“No, that won’t do… you have to spread your legs,” the midlaner explained, shaking his head a little, “how do you expect me to see anything otherwise?”

“By coming over?” Martin said with a frown, “you’re not seriously planning on just sitting over there, are you?”

“Oh, that’s grand, you thought I’d come over there to jerk you off?” Febiven laughed into his fist, “I don’t think you deserve that. I think dirty little sluts like you have to do it themselves.”

“Come again?” Martin blinked a couple of times, glancing back and forth between the midlaner and his own crotch.

“You heard me. Spread your legs and start touching yourself.” Febiven shrugged, not taking his eyes off the ADC.

“God, you’re the worst…” Martin mumbled – but he decided to go through with it regardless.

With the precum dripping off the tip of his hard cock, stopping was definitely not an option anymore. And so, Martin spread his legs a little and wrapped his fingers around his dick. He closed his eyes and bit his lip as he started to move it up and down, feeling his hand gliding along quite effortlessly. It might have been due to all the teasing he had had to endure, but finally being touched, even if it was just by his own hand, felt amazing.

“Oh, you like that, hmm?” Febiven grinned, “I didn’t say you could close your eyes, though. Look at me.”

 _Fuck off_ , Martin thought rather than saying it out loud, swallowing hard as he opened his eyes again. Fabian was looking at him with a curious stare, with his hands folded and his legs crossed one over the other. It was hard to tell since his expression remained calm, but Martin knew that Febiven liked that he saw. Slowly but surely, the ADC started to feel more at home with what he was doing – and the fact that the sight of it satisfied the guy sitting across from him only turned him on more.

“Wow, you’re doing so well,” Fabian said, nodding slightly, “good, good… but I think you should really use your other hand as well.”

“W-what do you want me to do with it?” Martin stammered, resisting to let out his moans just as much as he resisted moving his hand up and down any faster.

“Hmm, I think there’s a hole that needs filling,” Febiven smirked, nodding towards Martin’s ass, “I’d say you don’t need any lube, considering the mess you made with all of that precum…”

“You…!” Martin started – but, the more he thought about the incredible feeling of having something up his butt, the more he wanted to do it. Sure, he hadn’t stopped experimenting with that, even though it had mostly been by himself during these last couple of years. But it had been a while since he had shared the experience with someone. Ever so slowly, Martin moved his free hand, sliding it past his balls all the way down to his entrance. It didn’t take much force to push the first finger inside – it almost felt as if his hole was hungry for it, swallowing it up in a heartbeat. The sweet sensation made Martin shiver, and he couldn’t help but let out a soft moan.

“There you go, that’s better…” Febiven grinned, leaning forward to get an even better view, “but, as far I know you, you need at least two fingers, don’t you think?”

In between his heavy breathing, all Martin could do was nod – the rush had overtaken his body by now. He was burning up, feeling as if he had been starved for this sort of arousal for way too long. Without even taking a second to think about it, Martin shoved a second finger inside. And then a third. Even though he couldn’t reach inside all too deep, the ADC still felt as if he hit the right spot all of a sudden – causing him to let out another moan, much louder this time.

“Fuck, Martin, those are some sexy sounds you’re making… you’re really getting off, aren’t you?” Febiven said, sneering at the Swede, “jerking off in the middle of your team’s lounge… you’re as dirty as ever.”

“Whatever…” Martin panted, looking back at the other guy with his eyes half closed, “aren’t you going to do it, too…?”

“Interesting thought… but I’m not like you, Martin. I’m in charge of my cock, not the other way around… you’re just desperate to cum right now, aren’t you?”

But there was no way Martin could string together a whole sentence to answer that question right now. He nodded, speeding up the pace of his hand movements, fingering himself eagerly. He could feel his heart throb all the way down in his hard cock, and he felt as if he was on the verge of crossing the finish line already.

“You wouldn’t be able to stop if I told you to, would you?” Fabian pointed out with an evil grin.

“P-please, don’t,” Martin wailed, continuing to move his hands up and down and all around furiously.

“Ohh, I love to hear you beg… do it some more, maybe I’ll consider letting you finish then.”

However big and present Martin’s ego usually was, it was nowhere to be found at this moment. He felt as if he was losing his mind, slowly but surely – but it felt good enough for him not to care at all. At this point, he was ready to do anything.

“Please… please, let me cum,” he begged, moaning as he felt his body starting to get tense.

“Hmm, so good,” Febiven mumbled, licking his lips, “fine, go ahead. Cum for me.”

Immediately, Martin’s toes started to curl – hearing those words was more than enough to finally push him over the edge he had been standing on for a while now. Martin pumped his fingers inside of himself even further as he increased the pressure on his dick as well, feeling as if he was about to explode – his balls clenched up, and, seconds later, he started to shoot his load all over his own chest. As Martin kept jerking his cock, riding his own fingers through his orgasm, he caught a glimpse of Fabian’s hot and heavy stare. It was beyond sensual – and, even though Martin was starting to come down from his high, it just made him want more.

“You did well,” Febiven said, clapping his hands almost mockingly, “I knew you still had it in you…!”

“W-whatever…” the ADC panted, still trying to catch his breath, “I still want more…”

“Yeah, no kidding,” the midlaner laughed, tossing a pack of tissues over to the other guy, “get yourself cleaned up first… we’ll see about round two, then.”

“We still can’t do it here, though,” Martin mumbled as he grabbed a tissue to wipe the cum off his chest.

“I know, I know… but I’m afraid we don’t have a lot of options,” Fabian sighed, reaching into his pants to move his cock into a more comfortable position, “I can’t exactly take you to the Misfits apartment, my team is not THAT chill…”

“I don’t know just… just come to my hotel with me then,” Martin muttered as he started to get dressed again.

“Your hotel?” Febiven cocked a brow and crossed his arms, not even trying to hide the fact that he was judging the Swede, “aren’t you a fancy bastard…”

"Fancy... I wouldn't call it that," Martin muttered shyly.

"Well, I would... how did you end up living in a hotel?"

“It’s a long story, okay? You wanna come or not?” Martin glared back at the other guy as he put on his jacket.

After a moment of hesitation, another huge smile flashed across Febiven’s face.

“Well, shit,” he mumbled, swinging his arm around the ADC’s shoulder, “you can count me in…!”

"Let's go, then," Martin said, feeling weirdly excited about what was about to come.

"Sure... hey, why are you taking that dirty tissue with you?" The midlaner wondered as he watched the ADC stuff it into his bag.

"Let's just say leaving evidence behind has led to some... trouble in the past." Martin sighed, remembering the fateful day Mithy had waved around the condom wrapper he had left behind in the office.

"Sounds adventurous... speaking of which, do you remember that one time I took you on a vacation with my family?" Fabian chuckled as they exited the lounge together,"we stayed in a nice hotel back then as well..."

"Yeah... but we had to be quiet, since your parents were sleeping in the room next door," Martin snickered, starting to feel nostalgia coming up.

"Right! Oh man, hotel sex is the best, isn't it?" The midlaner said with a grin, letting one of his hands slip down to squeeze the ADC's ass.

"I've certainly made enough experiences to agree with that," Martin nodded, not even trying to get the Dutch's hands off of him anymore - it was simply too enjoyable. 

"You little slut," Febiven laughed, giving the Swede another spank, "you better show me what you learned then..."

"You just wait and see..." Martin mumbled, speeding up the pace in which he walked down the hallway.

And, as the both of them made their way outside of the studio, with the last match of the day still raging on, Martin couldn’t help but wonder whether he was making a mistake. No matter how you looked at it, jumping back into bed with Febiven could only be described as a crude form of distraction from his current misery – but, then again, he didn’t want to admit that there was a better path for him to take right now. His physical longing, as well as the midlaner’s grip on his shoulder, was simply too strong. And, as his misery was not going anywhere anytime soon, he might as well continue dwelling in it tomorrow and enjoy the rest of his night instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on another "Origin story" - what do you think? 
> 
> In a way, I've incorporated different stories in this one, even though only one of them was shown as an actual flashback. I wonder how this chapter might change some people's perception of Martin at all... gosh, I can't wait to find out! 
> 
> So please, if your busy schedule allows it, leave some thoughts in the comments! I'd really appreciate it :) Also, thank you so much for keeping the Kudos coming! It warms my heart just as much!
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!
> 
> Side note: did you catch my little nod to Kandiszucker's "zurückrudern" / phoenixsigns' "VERSATILE - or, a matter of perspective"? I had those fics at the back of my mind while designing my Rekkles/Febiven clash, hence referencing that special snapchat fiasko... in case you're reading this: you guys rock, thanks for inspiring me!
> 
> Side note 2: as Floraly and Nyal have pointed out in the comment section of the next chapter, STDs can also be transmitted through unprotected oral sex, even though the risk is not as big as it is with vaginal or anal intercourse. Now, Martin was a bit *reckless* to go through with it regardless, and, of course, I do not want to advocate for this behaviour, it was more of a stilistic choice for an idiot boy. Stay safe everyone!
> 
> UPDATE: For those of you who read the first "draft" of the chapter, what do you think of the changed ending scene? For those who are wondering: orginally, the scene basically ended after Rekkles takes off his shirt and wiggles his hips a little, so I added a whole lot of smut. Did it add to the story/atmosphere at all? I'd love to hear some thoughts!  
> 


	44. Part 10: Mihael

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to a brand-new chapter of Origin Stories! 
> 
> ...what, we already had a guest POV this Part? Ah, right... well, rules are meant to be broken around here, right? ;)
> 
> Anticipated by some, maybe dreaded by others - yes, it's finally time for the Miky POV! I couldn't be more thrilled about it. As you know, I'm a little biased when it comes to his character, which is probably why this is one of my favourite chapters of all times. But the opinions might vary on this one, as they have on Miky's character in general... so, without further ado, let's dive into it! Hope you enjoy ;)

Mihael had always been particularly proud of the wide variety of abilities he possessed. He was quite smart, funny, skilled in the rift and in the bedroom – hell, he even knew how to get people to do what he wanted most of the time. Yes, Mihael was a truly talented person. And, unlike most other people, he never let his emotions get in the way of his goals. Especially after watching countless of his teammates get burned when it came to romance, Miky was certain that that would always give him a leg up in the competition. That, and the fact that he worked harder than anyone else. _Considering how comfortable these chairs are, it’s hardly something I’d call work at all_ , the support thought, lazily spinning around in his gaming chair. The conditions he had played under back in Slovenia had been much worse than here in Berlin, and that hadn’t stopped him from spending every minute of free time he had had in front of the PC. Still, Mihael couldn’t exactly say that he was content with where he stood in the League right now.

 _It’s not worth anything if I can’t win_ , he thought with a sigh, stopping his relentless spinning by slamming his feet on the ground. Sure, he did have a lot of fun ever since he had moved to the big city, mostly because he hadn’t had easy access to the things he loved most – namely a stable internet connection and adventurous hook-ups – back in Slovenia. The support had lived his best life in Berlin, making plenty of colourful and exciting experiences with many different people. But, professionally, he was not were he had imagined himself just yet. After sitting on Fnatic’s bench, playing for Splyce and, finally, Misfits, Miky was more than disappointed that he hadn’t been able to lift a trophy yet. He surely felt as if he deserved it – he felt as if his teams had deserved it – but still, nothing. Now that he had joined a new team, Mihael felt as if his time was finally about to come. And, usually, his feeling for things like that was pretty spot on.

 _Still, I don’t know what to make of this guy_ , Miky pondered, pushing up his glasses as he glanced over to his right. He had supported many different ADC’s throughout his career, but this one was about as unusual as it got; mostly because he wasn’t one to begin with. Like anyone in the League, Mihael was painfully familiar with how chaotic G2 was by nature, but he still found it hard to believe that it was a good strategic move to let the team’s star midlaner roleswap to the botlane. Especially now that they had practiced playing together, Miky didn’t exactly have high hopes for what they could achieve as a Duo. Somehow, the other guy didn’t seem to share his concerns – he just kept checking the stats of their last game over and over again with a relaxed expression on his face, almost as if that could have changed the fact that they had lost.

“You know, we did get a little unlucky with the jungle matchup here – wanna go another round?” Perkz mumbled with a smile, turning to his support.

Mihael just stared at him. It was already dark outside, with the both of them being the last ones up to play – yet, after every game they lost, the ADC just asked whether they could cue up again. Normally, Miky would be anything but bothered by that. But, considering the results they were having right now, he couldn’t help but wonder how the Croatian could be this naïve.

“Unlucky?” He mumbled, swinging himself back to face his screen, “are you seeing something that I’m not seeing?”

“Well, if you look at the item build on this –“

“We SUCK, okay? The jungle match-up is not the problem – we are!” Miky exclaimed, glaring at the other guy.

“Huh?” Perkz frowned, crossing his arms, “where is that coming from all of the sudden?”

“All of the sudden my ass… we’ve been playing for weeks, and we’re not improving,” Miky explained angrily, opening up his match history to show as a receipt, “look at this, would you? I don’t think I’ve ever lost this many DuoQ-games in a row!”

“What? Not even with Kobbe?” The ADC scratched his head with a slight grin.

“Very funny… no, definitely not. In the end, that’s probably because he is a _real_ ADC.” The support rolled his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” Perkz scoffed, suddenly looking mad as well, “you got something to say to me, boy?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know we’re all thinking it…” Miky grumbled, staring directly into the ADC’s grim eyes, “you should have just stayed in the midlane. This will never work.”

“What…?” Perkz huffed, swiftly reaching out to grab the support’s collar to pull him up forcefully, “are you saying I’m not good enough? Hm??”

“I…uhm,” Miky stammered, caught off guard by suddenly being physically restrained by the other guy, “I mean… no, not like this. If things stay the way they are, we won’t be good enough to win botlane.”

“And you think I don’t know that??” The ADC yelled, shaking the support back and forth by his collar, “why do you think we’re still here, practicing? Don’t you think I’m trying to give it all I have?”

“I…” Mihael started, but he didn’t know what to say.

In his mind, two very different wars were raging on. For one, he was pleasantly surprised by seeing this different side of the usually so collected guy in front of him – one that didn’t hesitate to get physical to put him in his place. As he hadn’t taken the liberty to go on any kinky adventures since he had joined G2, Miky was in desperate need for some rough handling, and the way in which Perkz was grabbing his collar was already enough to make his pants feel a little tight. Of course, that was never something he’d want to pursue – Mihael had always made sure to separate his private from his professional life as much as possible. The other thing that was occupying his mind was probably more relevant for his current situation: he had gravely underestimated his ADC when it came to his conviction. By assuming that the Croatian had agreed to the roleswap purely on a whim, he had done him wrong. And, although the Slovenian was a proud man, he was determined to make it right. Slowly, he put his hands on top of the one’s that were still clutching onto the collar of his jersey.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He said, meeting the ADC’s diffuse gaze to emphasize that he really meant it.

It took Perkz a moment to loosen his grip. He still seemed to be quite agitated when he did, slowly averting his eyes.

“I just don’t want it to be true… I don’t want it to be a mistake, you know?” The Croatian mumbled, folding his hand on his lap, “and I don’t want anyone to know that I have all these… doubts.”

“That’s probably for the best, the others would freak out,” Miky shrugged, closing his eyes, “you don’t want to see Wunder when he’s mad, it used to be hell back when we were on Splyce…”

“Ehm, trust me, I know,” Perkz scoffed, “aren’t you supposed to cheer me up or something?”

“By lying to you? It is a really shit idea to tell the others, okay?” Mihael squinted at his ADC.

“But I don’t think that –“

“However…” He mumbled, cutting the other guy off by giving him a determined look, “you should always tell me. If you want this to work, then we need to be a team of our own – the two of us.”

“Hmm….a team of our own, huh?” Perkz scratched his chin pensively, “I guess that makes sense… I don’t know too much about being a Duo to be honest, me and Jankos did have somewhat of a synergy but not quite like this so… what do we do to improve?”

“Well, we’re already doing what we can,” Mihael sighed, pointing towards his screen, where their sad match-history was still being displayed, “we play the game.”

“Noooo,” Perkz wailed, grinning a second after, “there has to be another way to help us build some synergy, don’t you think?”

“Enlighten me then…” Miky rolled his eyes, “but if you can’t come up with anything in the next minute, we’re cueing up again.”

“One minute??” Perkz huffed, “that’s insane! At least give me five or something…”

“50 seconds…” Mihael smirked, glancing down at his phone.

“Fine, fine! Let’s see, the best botlane I know was… and they…hmm…” The ADC mumbled to himself, not really forming full sentences. He seemed to be lost in thought within seconds.

“Well, time’s almost up…” the support mumbled, reaching for his mouse to join a new game lobby.

“Stop, wait, I got something!” Perkz exclaimed, slamming his flat hand onto his desk.

“Really?” Miky frowned, reluctantly turning back to the Croatian beside him.

“Yes… it’s the ultimate plan, actually – I came up with it by considering what the best botlane I ever played with did differently than the rest of the League.”

“That sounds ominous…” Mihael cocked a brow, suddenly sparking some interest, “what is it, exactly?”

“It’s easy…” The ADC grinned triumphantly, leaning in a bit closer to the other guy, “they fucked.”

“They did – what now?” The support stuttered, blinking a couple times as he could have only misheard the Croatian’s suggestion.

“You know, they had sex? Probably also more than that, but who cares – I think it’s genius, of course their minds would be more in sync after their bodies were!” The ADC explained with a huge smile, gesturing with both of his hands.

“I don’t understand… you’re gay?” Miky tilted his head in confusion.

He didn’t know what surprised him more – two professional League of Legends players getting it on or his teammate actually voicing the interest to do the same. Miky had never considered a work place affair, mostly because it just wouldn’t be worth the trouble of possibly being frowned upon by the public. In addition, his desires were mostly something that not just anyone could satisfy, and most professional gamers just gave off these tragic virgin vibes – but maybe he had been too closed-minded on this one?

“What? No, I’m not,” the ADC laughed, putting his hands on his hips, “I’ve only been with women so far… but I’m curious, I guess. And if this works…”

“Yeah, no, it’s not going to work,” Miky muttered, rolling his eyes again, “what would even make you think I’d be down for a whacky plan like that?”

“Well, I thought you’d want to be a good support...” The ADC explained as if it was an absolutely normal thing to ask of someone.

“Sure, sure… how about you go ask Jankos for a blowjob and tell him he’d be a _good jungler_ if he did it?” Miky snapped back, crossing his arms sassily.

“Gross…” Perkz mumbled, rolling his gaming chair a bit closer to Miky’s, “maybe I should have started with the fact that I saw your boner when I grabbed you by the shirt, hm?”

“You…!” Mihael huffed, averting his gaze immediately, “don’t act like you’re the boss all of the sudden, okay? It’s not a good look on you, Perkz.”

“Luka…”

“Huh?” The support mumbled, glancing back at the Croatian – only to find that he had suddenly gotten up.

“My name… is Luka.” The ADC whispered, grabbing the Slovenian’s dark hair with his hand, forcing him to look up to face him, “I want you to say it. Say my name.”

“What are you doing?” Miky panted, staring up at the guy towering over him – but it was incredibly hard for him to hide his arousal.

“What I want to do,” Perkz grinned, pulling the support’s hair a bit harder, “are you gonna complain about it?”

 _Is this really what he wants?_ The support thought, and he couldn’t help but feel stunned by the overwhelming dominant presence of the Croatian. He wasn’t sure whether the other guy was just putting on a show. Still, a part of him wanted to believe that Luka was what he liked to call a _natural dom_ – someone born to rule, to punish and to crush his underlings mercilessly. Miky hadn’t encountered a lot of those in his time – but he could say for sure that nothing had ever made him feel more alive. If what he longed for so desperately was standing right in front of him, was there any way he could complain about it?

“No…” Miky sneered, licking his lips as he felt his cock swell in his pants, “but you can pull a lot harder than that… Luka.”

“Interesting…” The ADC smiled, softly patting the support’s cheek with his free hand, “what else can I do a lot harder, hm?”

“Dodge the poke of the enemy support?” Mihael remarked mockingly, clearly challenging the other guy to tighten his grip. Since the Slovenian was greedy by nature, his bratty side was only one of his many ways to ensure that he _always_ got as much punishment as he desired.

“You little twat…” Perkz grinned, pulling Miky’s head back by his hair to give himself better access to his neck, “you might want to rethink that one…!”

With his head still tightly secured by the ADC’s grasp, all Mihael could do was moan softly as the Croatian’s teeth sank into his neck. He could feel that he hadn’t pierced through his skin, as he was more sucking than biting – still, the surprising force felt incredibly sweet to the starving support. He could only imagine what else Luka must have been capable of. And he couldn’t wait to find out.

“I meant… you could choke me….” the support mumbled, trying to contain his moans.

“Hmm…?” Luka pulled away from the Slovenian’s neck, wiping his mouth with his free hand, “that’s better… oh, whoops. Guess you might want to wear a scarf tomorrow.”

“I have more than enough turtlenecks for when this happens,” Miky explained calmly after taking a few deep breaths, “you might as well go all out then…”

“Man, you sure got on board with all of this quickly, didn’t you?” The ADC laughed, letting go of Mihael’s dark hair, “just look at yourself…”

“W-well, you said it’s what we need to do,” the support said hastily, pushing up his glasses, “or was that just... another bluff…?”

 _Fuck, he sure got me_ , Miky thought, angry with himself for letting his guard down this easily. In this case, it had been his body that had given away his true desires – still, he had always been so proud for not letting _anything_ stand in between himself and his goals. But now, he found himself being ridiculed by his new ADC. He had sworn to himself that he would never let anyone make fun of him like this ever again – that he would be strong enough to prevent it. So why was this happening to him again now, so many years later?

“A bluff? That’s not my style,” Luka explained, his grin still looking as wide as ever, “I just thought we could change things up a bit to fit, well, _my_ needs a bit better.”

“Huh?” Miky huffed, staring up at his ADC since he was still sitting.

“Don’t worry little slut, I’ll choke you in a minute,” Perkz smirked, grabbing Miky’s hand by the wrist, “but for now, I want you to…”

And, in an effort to show rather than to tell, the ADC guided his support’s hand towards his crotch. As Mihael wrapped his fingers around the other guy’s hard cock, he understood that he had, yet again, misjudged the Croatian’s character. He was not only convicted to win, to become the best ADC in Europe basically overnight – he was also committed to this whacky plan of his. Out of all the things Miky had done to improve his performance over the course of his professional career, nothing had ever been quite as strange and reckless as this – but, for some reason, he felt as if he would enjoy his ride with the adventurous Croatian more than anything else.

“Fine,” Mihael grinned, squeezing Luka’s hard-on through his pants, “but you better be ready…!”

“What was that? I didn’t hear you?” The ADC put his hand up to his ear in a mocking manner.

“I said you better be –“

Out of nowhere, Mihael fell out of his bed, face-first and right onto the hard wooden floor of his room. Despite the massively hard impact, it still took the support a moment to fully wake up _. Another dream, huh_ , Mihael thought grumpily. He wondered why his dreams kept taking him back to this particular day - how was it different from any other? Sure, the possibility to live out his fantasies with a teammate changed his life, and his performance in the rift, for the better after this event, but that was about it. Then again, the Slovnian was not one to believe that dreams had to hold some sort of meaning at all. After smacking his lips a couple of times, Miky started to open his eyes, staring right into the dark abyss that was the space under his bed. Countless socks had been lost in the abyss forever, never returning to see the light of day again. But, today, just as on any other day as well, Mihael didn’t feel like cleaning it up. So, instead, he slowly sat himself up, throwing his blanket back onto his bed. Most other people would have probably been freaked out after this sort of violent awakening, but the support was kind of used to it, as he tended to move around a lot in his sleep. That was one of the reason why he didn’t particularly enjoy sharing the bed with someone. He just needed the space.

After straightening himself up, Mihael proceeded to lift his arms above his head, making his back crack viciously. Yet another thing he was used to. It might have been due to bad genes, as back problems ran in his family and most of his teammates didn’t go through the same hardships – but, then again, they hadn't had to sit on a crooked wooden chair for the majority of their youth. Sometimes, the support felt as if he could still feel the dent the hard back rest of that cursed chair had pressed into his back. Still, Mihael had never felt the urge to curse out his childhood or wished that he would have grown up differently. In the end, he had always felt like these were things that couldn’t and shouldn’t be changed. Things might have been tough, but he still loved his family, in his own way – and he definitely loved the person he was today.

With a final yank of his shoulder, Miky finally got his back to snap back into place. With a satisfied sigh, the support reached into his closet to get out some clothes for the day. But, before he could pull the dark T-shirt over his head, he realized that he hadn’t even checked the time – after all, it had not been his alarm clock that had ended his slumber. _What – how is it 9:30?_ Mihael thought with a frown, slowly sitting down on his bed again. Even on game days, he didn’t like to get up before eleven. But here he was, wide awake and ready to be bored out of his mind until the rest of his team would wake up. Miky let out a loud grunt as he reached for his phone in an effort to distract himself a little – and, conveniently so, the perfect distraction had already presented itself. _What could Tim possibly want?_ He thought, with the curiosity burning up in his chest, _he’s never asked me for anything before, so it must be good…!_

With renewed energy, Mihael swiftly put on a pair of pants before he headed towards the door. But, before he could reach for the handle, he heard the voice of his jungler echoing through the hall. He certainly didn’t want the Pole to find out about his plans, as he wouldn’t hesitate to announce Miky’s suspicious morning activities to the whole team – no, if he wanted his mission to meet up with the enemy to be a success, the support needed a valid excuse to leave the house at such an ungodly hour. And, conveniently enough, the sound of some yappy barks coming from the kitchen presented Mihael with the perfect idea. Without wasting another second, he reached into one of his closet’s drawers to pull out the necessary utensil to conduct his plan and headed out.

“Oh, morning Miky!” Jankos exclaimed over his bowl of cornflakes, sitting alone at the kitchen table.

“Yeah, morning,” Mihael said with a nod, kneeling down to call over Rocky.

“What are you up to, exactly?” The jungler asked curiously as he watched the support pull a collar out of his pocket.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking Rocky out on a walk…”

“What…” Jankos snorted, raising a brow in suspicion, “but you never do that…”

“Yeah, well, I just feel like it today, okay?” Mihael replied grumpily, trying to get Rocky to keep his head still.

“God, you’re terrible with animals!” The jungler said mockingly, pointing at the collar in Miky’s hand, “he probably doesn’t want you to put it on because it’s not his collar?”

“What are you talking about, of course it’s –“

 _Oh shit, he’s right_ , Miky thought as he stared at the black, spiky leather collar in his hand _, why in the hell did I grab this one? I guess I’m still tired_. Of course, the support wouldn’t have minded to admit that he was holding one of the many kinky accessories that he liked to use in his spare time – he had given up on hiding things away from his teammates long ago, as there was simply no point in their overly chaotic family. No, he was not ashamed of his kinks – but he’d never admit that Jankos was right. _Only over my dead body_ , Miky thought as he tried to come up with a cover up plan as fast as possible.

“Uhm, yeah, of course it’s not his normal collar, this is the…new one I bought him,” the support explained as he carefully put collar over Rocky’s head.

“You did? Geez, Miky, since when are you a good real life support…” Jankos murmured, squinting at the Slovenian, “I am weirdly touched by this…”

“Yeah, well, keep that in mind the next time you gank mid instead of botlane,” Mihael shrugged, getting back up to grab the leash from the counter where Oliver put it on days where the G2 squad kept an eye on Rocky.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Jankos laughed, “and also… I think you should get a refund on the collar, it’s way too big for Rocky!”

“That’s… yeah, uhm, I just haven’t adjusted it yet,” Miky mumbled as he guided the small dog out of the kitchen, “until later!”

“Just make sure to actually bring Rocky back with you!” The jungler shouted after the support, “I love this dog!”

“Yeah, yeah….” Mihael grumbled as he bent back down to exchange his own collar with the one still dangling on Rocky’s leash.

On his way out of the apartment, one quick stop at the door to his room was enough to throw the kinky accessory back on his bed. And, just as Miky thought that his plan had succeeded, the team’s toplaner slouched out of his room, blocking the path to the exit.

“Miky…? What are you doing with Rocky?” Wunder mumbled, seemingly still half asleep.

“Nothing, this is all just a dream,” Miky hummed, dramatically gesturing with his hands like a Jedi.

“You little shit…” The toplaner replied with a frown, blinking a couple of times, “for real, where are you going?”

“Just out for a walk, how is that so hard to believe?” The support remarked, rolling his eyes.

“Because it’s _you_?” The Dane said, the slightest hint of a smile forming on his lips due to his own joke.

“Wow, how original,” Miky sighed, squeezing past the broad toplaner, “you keep that up, and maybe, just maybe, someone will someday laugh about one of your jokes.”

“You –“ Wunder hissed, stopping himself right after, “…whatever. I’m too hungry for this. I’ll go get myself some breakfast.”

“Right – good luck with that!” Mihael cheered as he reached for the door.

“Good luck? Why?” The toplaner asked, looking puzzled by the weird hint – until he poked his head into the kitchen.

It didn’t take long until the fight that had lasted for weeks by now started to unfold once again. The voices of the team’s toplaner and jungler grew louder by the second, and the argument was still as contentless and petty as ever before. Normally, Miky took great joy in listening in on this particular quarrel, as both Wunder and Jankos were as stubborn as people could be. But he had a different objective in mind today. So, the last thing he actively heard was Jankos shouting, “SO WHAT IF I THREW YOUR GROSS CEREAL AWAY, IT’S AN INSULT TO REAL CEREAL!” – and, even though that certainly sparked an interest in the support, he could imagine what that was all about perfectly well.

Although walking Rocky, just as being outside of the house in general, was not exactly something Mihael enjoyed doing, the talk he ended up having with Nemesis turned out to be well worth the trouble. For one, the gossip was insanely satisfying, as the support had been speculating about the midlaner’s sexual preferences for a while. One might think that that is a weird hobby to have, but Mihael was incredibly proud of his ability to see right through a person when it came to their orientation – something that had proven to come in incredibly handy in a club-setting. Therefore, finding out that he had – at least somewhat – had the right idea about the mystery that was Fnatic’s midlaner was beyond gratifying. _Then again, Perkz will probably say that being a sub is just a Slovenian thing_ , Miky thought with a grin as he threw the stick Rocky had brought him back into the lake.

It was weirdly refreshing for the support to see Tim, who usually barely strung a whole sentence together, talk about what went on in his head so openly. Usually, Miky would be the one to do most of the talking, and he never really minded that set-up. Despite what other people might say, the midlaner was a great listener, and he had never really shuddered at any of Mihael’s stories, which were wild to say the least. But, then again, hearing about the other guy’s emotions like that made it hard to ignore how hurt and miserable he was. After the hard shell had been broken, Miky couldn’t help but feel bad for Tim. But his true loyalty also laid somewhere else. And, just like that, Mihael started to feel conflicted.

On one hand, he felt as if he should support Tim with getting what he wanted, as that was so obviously Fnatic’s jungler. On the other hand, said jungler was currently “dating” his own ADC, and making him quite happy on top of that. He liked having the other Pole around the G2 apartment as well – it somehow made things a lot more interesting. Plus, the thought of Rasmus getting back with Martin again, now that the Swede was single once more, sent a shiver down Mihael’s spine. He certainly didn’t want that to happen. Moral dilemmas like this one were usually completely foreign to the support, which is why he felt weirdly puzzled about what he was supposed to do. _Maybe there’s some sort of middle ground?_ He wondered after saying goodbye to the midlaner who was still sitting on the bench where they had chatted for a while. And, as Rocky was pulling him home, he tried his best to come up with a solution.

When the support finally arrived in the apartment, Rasmus called him over as soon as he took his first step inside. It was nice to see the ADC up and about – out of all of his team, he was the one he wanted to talk to most right now. _Well, he’s second on the list if I’m being honest,_ Miky thought with a smirk as he knocked on Perkz’ door after sending Rasmus off to feed Rocky. Since he had just found out about all of these things revolving the bet he had made with the midlaner when they had first played against Fnatic, how could he not want to tell him immediately, after all? There was no answer, and, usually, that meant that it was okay to come inside. And so Miky did – but, to his surprise, Luka was not sitting on his bed with a wide grin, awaiting the support eagerly. He was not half-awake with a grumpy expression gracing his face, as he was on some unfortunate mornings, either. Instead, he was holding Sam in his arms, snoring ever so peacefully all cuddled up in between the pillows. Even though the both of them were sleeping, it almost looked like they were smiling.

Swiftly, Miky closed the door. As he stood there, in the middle of the hallway, he didn’t know what it was that he was feeling – was it surprise about seeing the Blonde and the midlaner looking like an actual couple? Annoyance at not being able to share his discoveries? Or something else? Whatever it was, it didn’t particularly feel pleasant to the support. Which is exactly why he decided to let it go. Yes, Mihael was incredibly proud of the fact that he never let his emotions get in the way of his goals – and, in this case, his new goal was to whoop his ADC’s ass in a round of Magic.

“That fucker’s still sleeping,” Miky sighed as he strolled into the living room as casually as possible.

“Ha, really?” Rasmus said with a crooked smile, “lucky me, we still have enough time for a round of Magic then!”

“Fine, whatever,” Mihael grinned, sitting down next to Rasmus as he pulled his deck out of his back pocket as this was what he had anticipated from the start, “you better be prepared.”

“Woah, did you really carry that with you this whole time?” The ADC said in astonishment, “that’s what I call commitment!”

 _That sounds a lot nicer than ‘did you wear those pants for three days straight’ so… let’s go with that I guess,_ Miky thought with a slight nod.

“You know it,” he smirked, setting up his cards in record speed, “believe it or not, I’m also in a bit of a need for distraction right now.”

 _I mean, this is more fun than watching someone else sleep at least… unless you’re into that_ , Mihael considered quietly as he finished up his set-up.

“That’s pretty unusual, yeah,” Rasmus admitted as he mirrored the support’s movements, “is it because of the business you mentioned?”

 _That makes more sense than the Luka-thing so… let’s go with that I guess_ , Miky thought, feeling as if a record had just cracked in his head – but, of course, the ADC had not been completely off to begin with.

“You could say that…” Miky sighed, “I guess I should tell you about it, actually.”

 _It’s only fair for him to know, right?_ The support thought, trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing. Normally, he probably wouldn’t have cared about evaluating his choices on an ethical level – but, when it came to the happiness of people he cared about, things were different. Yes, in rare cases like these, where the Slovenian felt weirdly conflicted about what the best course of action could be, he resorted to ethics. Even though he personally didn’t approve of whatever feelings Rasmus had left for Rekkles, it didn’t feel fair not to give him a chance, at least. And, of course, the same applied to Tim’s situation.

“Hmm? Why do you sound so serious right now, Miky?” Rasmus inquired with a nervous smile, “are you trying to throw me off my game?”

 _Fun of you to assume that I’m not completely out of your league here_ , Miky thought in amusement. Rasmus did have a natural talent for any sort of games, it seemed, but he still couldn’t match the support when it came to experience and knowledge about the legendary card-game – not even close.

“You know I don’t need to do that,” the support grinned as he drew a card from his deck, “but I guess it’s kind of a serious topic.”

“Phew, I’m sweating over here,” the ADC laughed, playfully fanning himself with his hand cards, “just spit it out, would you?”

“Fine, you asked for it,” Miky shrugged, fully prepared to play this down as much as humanly possible, “it’s about Rekkles. He and Nemesis broke up, apparently.”

“What??” Rasmus spluttered, staring at the Slovenian with wide eyes, “that can’t be right, I mean… Bwipo said they were fine just a couple of days ago…”

“You asked about him again?” Mihael sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

Now that Miky thought about it, the fact that the rivalling toplaner would suggest that things were fine between Fnatic’s odd couple was suspicious. If the both of them had started to act even weirder than usual lately, anyone with eyes in their head should have noticed that something was off – then again, he didn’t really consider Bwipo to be a very perceptive, let alone intelligent person. Why would Rasmus even consider asking him for advice anyway?

Mihael went on, “you know what I think about _that_ … but I figured you should still know.”

“Geez, how gracious of you,” Rasmus scoffed, crossing his arms sullenly, “where did you even get this information from, Miky?”

“Yours truly… I mean, no, not yours I guess,” the support mumbled, supressing his desire to laugh about his own joke, “I talked to Tim about it.”

“So that’s where you were?” Rasmus stared at Mihael, and the support wondered whether he looked jealous or not, “but… when did it happen?”

“My guess is as good as yours… but at least a couple of days ago, it takes someone like Tim some time to open up about something like this,” the support explained calmly.

“Okay but,” Rasmus swallowed, “does it… does it have anything to do with Oskar?”

 _Oh Rasmus… your heart is too big for your own good_ , Mihael thought with a sigh. Even though it had only been a few weeks since the ADC had started to spend time with the enemy jungler, Miky could tell that the Dane was already attached to the Pole – to the point where any attempt of removing their connection would inevitably hurt. In moments like these, the support wished that the ones close to him could just be like him – without the need for romance, so many things came easier to him, after all. After Rasmus had told him that he wanted to quit their synergy arrangement, he didn’t feel much beyond disappointment about losing something that was fun and convenient. Considering that he had started to get back to his kinky routine with Luka around the same time, that feeling didn’t last long, either. But, alas, Mihael knew that it wasn’t the same for Rasmus. And so, he simply couldn’t get himself to tell him – not when he was looking at him with these big, sad eyes.

“I don’t know…” Miky replied slowly, scratching his chin nervously.

“But it seems like you –“

“Hey lads, I’m back!” Grabbz announced as he stepped into the gaming area, hand placed securely on his sides, “wait – where’s the rest of the gang?”

“In their rooms, I guess?” Miky remarked casually, pointing towards the hall, “Perkz is still in bed, at least.”

 _Not just Perkz, I might add_ , Mihael thought – but he didn’t want to rob his coach of the magical experience of finding out about that himself. Then again, the German probably wouldn’t be too shocked or disturbed by the sight of Luka cuddling with a girl. Not after everything Grabbz had walked in on before that. Other people might have blushed in embarrassment whilst remembering scenes like that, but, considering that he hadn't been fired because of it, Mihael felt nothing but amusement. If anything, it just made him want to be even more adventurous – if that was even possible.

“Ugh… great, I’ll collect them then,” the coach grumbled, turning back around, “there’s no time to waste! We have to get to work!”

“Weird to see him so energetic,” Miky chuckled, leaning back against the couch’s cushions, “wonder what kind of bug bit him?”

“Must have been Mithy,” Rasmus mumbled slowly.

 _Mithy? Why Mithy?_ The support wondered, squinting at his ADC as if he could read his mind telepathically. Did he really miss something as major as the team’s coach meeting up with his rival in secret? Or did Rasmus simply allude to the fact that their competition was not sleeping, which is why they had to give their next match their all? For the sake of his own sanity, Miky decided to go with the second alternative. The last thing he needed today was to doubt his skills, after all.

They needed to win the match of the day above anything else, mostly to restore their reputation as the defending EU champion after losing three times in the last two weeks. Mihael still didn’t really feel any sort of enhanced pressure. Even when he was playing on the Worlds’ stage, he was perfectly calm. Still, the fact that he couldn’t get his head to shut up when G2 took the stage on this day worried the support. _What the hell is going on with me?_ Miky thought as he adjusted his mouse settings. There was no logical reason why, and he certainly didn’t want to – but here he was, thinking about Sam laying in Luka’s arms. It didn’t make any sense at all, and yet, the image seemed to have been imprinted in his mind for the time being.

Luckily, that didn’t stop Mihael from delivering an excellent performance in the rift. G2 smashed SK mercilessly, claiming the last victory of the day. It was already late, but as the team got off the stage, it was quite apparent that they were in the mood to celebrate. Even Wunder and Jankos were somehow peacefully sitting down beside each other when the team arrived back in the lounge, despite being up each other’s throat for what seemed to be weeks by now. Miky felt a sense of relief as well – not enough to wash away these weird thoughts that were still flying around in his head, though.

“We totally showed them who’s BOSS!” Jankos exclaimed triumphantly.

“Yeah, bold of them to underestimate us!” Wunder said, almost looking surprised about agreeing with the jungler himself.

“Okay guys, winning feels great and all, but let’s not get too cocky again, okay?” Grabbz sighed, closing his notebook dramatically, “we’ve still got a long way to go until we can lift that trophy.”

“Yeah, yeah, the bigger picture and whatnot,” Luka grinned, leaning back on the couch, “still feels bad that we couldn’t close the game faster than Fnatic did today, huh?”

“Now that’s a real complaint!” Miky snickered, slapping his thigh, “we’ve got to beat their time tomorrow, boys!”

“Pff, what’s 20 minutes, we can EASILY be FASTER than that!” Jankos yelled out with the fire burning bright in his eyes.

“Yeah, right…” Grabbz let out another sigh, “good to see that you’re focussing on the important stuff.”

“This is a question of pride, okay?” Wunder said, pounding his fist against his chest a couple of times, “speaking of which – anyone else in the mood to celebrate?”

“YES! DRINKS for EVERYONE!” Jankos jumped up, looking even more excited if that was even possible.

“I mean, I guess that sounds good? Sam is waiting for me at home, but I told her we’d be out for a while,” Perkz explained calmly, with his arm lying on the backrest of the couch behind Mihael.

 _Now that’s interesting_ , the support thought, tapping his knee with his fingers as if that could help him gather his thoughts. It had been a while since he had had the chance to talk with Sam without Luka being there, mostly because the two of them were glued together for the majority of the time the Blonde spent at the apartment. She had expressed the desire to talk to him privately some days ago, but never followed up on it. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to address some of the things that had bothered him for a while now – maybe even to clear things up altogether. Sure, Miky was in the mood to go out with his team to celebrate their success; but, in the long run, going home instead would probably serve a greater purpose.

“Uhm, I think I have to pass, guys,” Rasmus mumbled with a nervous smile, “I’m really tired so… I’m just gonna go home if that’s okay.”

“Sure Rasmus, don’t worry about it… actually, one less person that could puke into my car!” The team’s coach clapped his hands together as if that was an achievement – Miky wondered what the story behind that might have been.

“Aww, come on, Caps!” Jankos wailed, “we’re a TEAM, aren’t we??”

“We could order you one of those fancy fruit juices you like so much?” Wunder added – for a moment, the ADC looked tempted.

“Hmm, that’s really nice of you – KiBa is the word you were looking for – but I really gotta go.” Rasmus explained with his usual bright smile, heading for the door with a wave.

“Good for you! See you tomorrow!” Grabbz called after him, turning back to the team’s toplaner and jungler with a serious expression.

But, as always, Miky saw right through the Dane’s smile. And, apparently, so did Luka. He jumped up to run after the other guy as soon as he had left the lounge. In a way, Miky felt as if he could kill two birds with one stone in this moment. Maybe the universe was gracious with him today after all.

“Well, guys, drinks always sound nice, but I can’t come either.”

“Whaaaat?” Jankos whined, jumping up in protest, “you can’t do this, Miky, I was just starting to accept that you could actually be an okay real life support!”

“Because he walked the dog _once?_ ” Wunder cocked a brow.

“OH COME ON, THAT’S A GREAT REASON YOU IDIOT!” Jankos snapped back, turning to glare at the toplaner.

“Guys, please…” Grabbz sighed, “let Mihael go home if he wants to. You don’t mind having an eye on Rasmus, do you…”

“Not at all,” Miky smiled, getting up to head out, “in fact, we were secretly planning to play _Magic_ instead of hanging out with you guys.”

“That… yeah, that sounds like something you’d do,” the coach mumbled with a nod, “have fun then, hm?”

“Sure, you too,” Mihael said with a wave, disappearing into the dark hallway.

In the end, his plan had worked seamlessly – but that was no surprise for the support. He knew how to get his way most of the time, and the majority of his teammates made it way too easy for him, too. All except for one. Just a few metres away from the door of the lounge, Miky almost bumped together with Perkz, who was returning from his talk with Rasmus.

“Woah – careful, hm?” The midlaner grinned, not making an effort to move his body away from the Slovenian’s, “don’t worry, I’ve got it covered, you don’t need to go after him…”

“I’m going home too, actually,” Miky explained, trying his best not to get sucked into the Croatian’s charm.

“What? No fun…” Perkz smirked, putting one hand up on the support’s neck, “I’d really prefer it if you came with us…”

Even though Luka gave off major _let’s-fuck-in-the-bar’s-restroom_ -vibes, Mihael was determined not to give in to the temptation, however easy and quick it might have been. Their shared love for taking pleasure whenever and in which form it was presented to them was one of reasons why the Slovenian and the Croatian got along so well; but still, no matter how easily accessible this pleasure might have been to him, it was something he had experienced before. And, tonight, he was gunning for something new.

“Yeah, well, I’m tired, so I won’t be having any fun with you tonight,” the support explained calmly.

“Huh?” Luka huffed, closing his hand a bit tighter before finally letting go, “…fine. But you’ll have to make up for it tomorrow when Sam’s at work, okay?”

After giving the support a soft pat on the shoulder, Perkz walked back towards the lounge.

“You know we can’t just keep doing this…” Mihael mumbled silently, staring down on the ground.

“What was that?” Luka turned around again, “did you say something?”

“…yeah, uhm, take some pictures for me when Jankos and Wunder are fighting to death with beer bottles as weapons, would you?”

“You got it!” The midlaner laughed before disappearing behind the door.

 _He doesn’t want to hear it,_ Mihael thought as he made his way to the team’s van where Rasmus was already waiting _, he doesn’t want to listen, but Sam will_. It was yet again one of these times where Miky could just see the path laid out right in front of him – all he had to do was walk it. In games, these where the times when he shined the most. It might have been cocky of him to assume that the same would apply for his private life – but, then again, being cocky was well on brand for the G2 players. When Miky finally sat down in his seat in the van, Rasmus was absolutely lost in thoughts beside him, staring out into the darkness as if it was telling him a fascinating story. The support thought about shaking his ADC out of it – it was not exactly hard to conclude that he must have been thinking about Rekkles. Or Oskar. Or maybe even both. But, then again, what could Miky do to help him right now? There was no point in meddling unless the other guys started making decisions. Of course, when Miky saw Rasmus scrolling through his contacts on his phone, he still couldn’t resist.

“What are you thinking about, Rasmus…?” Miky asked, hoping that asking the ADC would be enough to make him realize that texting Rekkles was a bad idea.

“N-nothing,” Rasmus stammered, quickly letting his phone slip back into his pocket, “it’s late already, isn’t it? Can’t wait to go to bed, haha…”

The support raised one of his brows – apparently, his guess had been spot on. He was happy enough with having kept Rasmus from making a rash decision on the spot – now, the Dane probably just needed some time to cool off. In addition, Mihael had no time to get wrapped up in another conversation about Rekkles – no, he had already given him too much screen time in his mind for a day. And so, both of the guys quickly climbed the stairs to their chambers after getting out of the car, not feeling the need to discuss either of their troubles any further.

“Well, good night,” Miky ushered, disappearing behind the first door to the right swiftly before he had even given Rasmus a chance to reply.

As he was walking through the door, he suddenly remembered that he should have knocked. Over the course of the last year, he had grown so used to entering Luka’s room as he pleased that he still had troubles with remembering common courtesy. Luckily, Sam was not really someone who minded. Even if she hadn’t been sitting at the desk, reading through some notes, as she currently was, she probably just would have laughed at the sudden intruder.

“Hi stranger,” Miky mumbled as he closed the door behind him.

“Oh, Mihael!” Sam exclaimed with a bright smile, closing her notebook before turning in her chair, “how wonderful! Oh, but you seem to have forgotten Luka in the car…?”

“Yeah, no, he learnt how to open the child safety lock by himself, actually,” Miky smirked, sitting down on the bed, “but also, I wanted to talk to you.”

“To me? Another pleasant surprise…” Sam raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows, “I wonder what you could want to talk about without having Luka around, though?”

“Hmm, well…you were the one who gave me the idea! Hanging out as the three of us is fun and all, but Luka can be a bit… stubborn sometimes, don’t you think?”

“That is more than fair, yes,” Sam nodded eagerly, swinging one leg over the other, “but what can you do? He wants what he wants…”

“And that’s a lot, apparently,” Miky sighed, leaning back against the bed’s headboard, “you know he fucks me when you’re at work, right?”

It was a blunt approach to the situation – but Mihael simply felt like the Blonde should know. It was Luka’s fault for making it sound like Valentine’s day had been a one-time-thing, right? Especially when it came to people that were close to his heart, the Slovenian liked to practice so-called ‘brutal honesty’. Now, he didn’t expect Sam to be upset about it or anything, as kinky as he thought she was – but still, the Blonde should be taken aback by this turn of events, at least. That, Miky was sure of.

“Yeah, of course,” Sam smiled, getting up to walk over to the bed, “he sometimes even summarizes some of the highlights for me!”

 _Well, fuck my judgement, right?_ The support thought, looking at the bright, genuine smile the Blonde was sporting. While one half of the Slovenian was pleasantly surprised by the midlaner’s practice of brutal honesty, the other half was wondering what exactly these ‘highlights’ looked like for him. Either way, the situation was hilarious.

“What an idiot…” Mihael chuckled, “and you really don’t mind? Most people wouldn’t be cool with shit like that…”

“Come on, Mihael, I thought you’d know me a little by now,” Sam explained, sitting down right next to the support, “I’m not like most people.”

“No kidding, you’re such an original!” Miky nodded, turning around to face the Blonde, “I must have still been dreaming when I saw you and Luka all cuddled up like a lovey-dovey couple straight out of a cheesy romcom movie, then.”

“Uhm – oh, haha, you did?” Sam laughed nervously, turning away, “I didn’t notice at all.”

“Which part? Me seeing or you cuddling up to him like a soft little kitten?” Miky tilted his head – and, immediately, he could sense his provocation working.

“What’s the big idea, Mihael? Hm? So we cuddled, that doesn’t mean we’re married or anything…” Sam crossed her arms sullenly.

“Look, I’m not saying this to attack you or anything – I’m just saying that you should tell him if you really like him. Because he’s too damn stubborn to do anything about it.”

“God – why do you even care so much?” Sam frowned.

“I just know how it works… and the way you guys keep dancing around each other is just too tragic for me to watch.” Miky shrugged, looking as unbothered as he thought he felt.

“Yeah right, because you wouldn’t care at all if Luka decided to stop screwing you again…” Sam grumbled, sitting herself up a bit straighter, “don’t pretend like you know everything when you can’t even figure out yourself, Mihael!”

 _Low swing, but okay,_ Miky thought, staring back at the weirdly furious Blonde with an irritated look on his face. It was true – losing his long-trusted fuckbuddy again would be a major inconvenience, especially since his bridge with Rasmus had burnt down recently. He would have to go back to looking around for people in his area that probably wouldn’t be able to satisfy him quite as much – but, then again, it wouldn’t be the first drawback that he would have to deal with. Still, Sam was right. Losing Perkz was more than just losing a convenient solution for his cravings. It was not like he was hoping to suddenly want to ride off into the sunset with someone, god forbid – but he also didn’t _not_ care.

“Fine… maybe I’d care a little bit,” Miky sighed, nodding reluctantly, “but we both know that’s not the only solution for this situation.”

“Oh?” Sam hummed, suddenly smiling again, “sounds like we might have a similar idea, after all…!”

“Yeah, I mean – don’t get me wrong, but I’m not here to play Amor or anything. I just think we can help each other out here.” The support explained with an evil grin, pushing up his glasses.

“I’m listening,” the Blonde chirped.

“I’ll push Luka’s boundaries a little – I think no one knows him quite as well as I do.”

“Push his boundaries? What good will that do?” Sam mumbled, looking as if the support’s hint just added to her confusion.

“Well, he needs to figure out his whole _jealousy-without-commitment-thing_ , don’t you think?” Mihael smiled knowingly, recalling the different times Luka had gone off because of something Jankos had said or done.

“Oh well, I think it’s cute when he’s jealous,” Sam said with a mischievous grin, “but it would be nice if he figured some stuff out for himself.”

“Yeah, who knows, he might even start to take you out on actual dates and…stuff like that,” Miky explained, struggling with coming up with other ways to show someone romantic affiliation.

“Fair enough… I guess it would be nice to receive some princess-treatment every now and then,” Sam smiled, tapping her high cheekbones, “but that doesn’t sound like what I had in mind… what’s in it for you?”

“ _Exactly_ what you had in mind…” Miky sneered, “I want the three of us to get it on. The full package.”

“I like the way you negotiate, Mihael,” Sam chuckled, slowly running her fingertips up the support’s thigh, “I think we – wait, did you hear that?”

“Hmm?” Mihael’s eyes flashed back and forth between Sam’s face and her hand on his thigh.

“I think I just heard someone at the door…” Sam whispered, almost as if the intruder could hear her speak at normal volume.

“Oh, right,” Mihael nodded, trying to listen to the noise erupting from the hallway a bit more closely, “…mhm, yes, it’s Rasmus. Oh, and Oskar?”

“Oskar? How nice!” Sam exclaimed with a warm smile, “it’s always great to have him around the house, don’t you think?”

“Hmm, I’m not too sure whether it’s a good sign today,” Miky murmured, considering whether this could be the jungler making a decision already.

“Aww, look at you, being all worried about Rasmus!” Sam playfully poked the support into his belly, “or could it be… jealousy, perhaps?”

“Don’t be ridiculous…” the Slovenian said with a mocking grin, “Rasmus and I had our fair share of fun, but that’s all it was. In fact, I love seeing him blossom in the arms of someone else.”

“Wow… you’re really something else, Mihael,” the Blonde whispered, slowly bringing her hand up to caress the support’s cheek.

“Why do you look so surprised?” Miky raised a brow, looking up at the curious eyes staring back at him.

“Well…” Sam chuckled, “after hearing about you and Rasmus, as well as you and Luka, I wasn’t sure whether you’d be interested in a threesome with us, since I’m a girl and all…”

“Oh, but I’m not gay,” the support explained with a shrug, “classic mistake. I can go either way.”

“Really? Hmm, that changes everything,” Sam licked her lips, slowly pushing herself up.

In one swift motion, the Blonde straddled the support, steadying herself by grabbing his shoulders. It happened so fast that Miky barely had a chance to react – of course, he didn’t mind at all. He glanced up and down Sam’s toned, yet curvy body, which was only covered by some shorts and a cropped T-shirt. It had certainly been a while since the Slovenian had been with a woman. Still, his terms and conditions hadn’t changed.

“I like the way you’re thinking,” he said in acknowledgement, looking up at Sam’s face with a half-smile, “but this is not going to work without Luka – you know, we need someone who can handle –“

“Oh, don’t worry, I know what _works_ for you,” Sam whispered as she grabbed Miky’s throat with both of her hands, “in fact, my hands have been twitching ever since Luka started telling me all about it…”

 _Hot,_ Mihael thought, swallowing hard as he felt the pressure on his neck, as well as in his pants, increase. Maybe he had underestimated the Blonde’s character – wait, why did this feel so eerily familiar?

“Looks like I got you to shut up at least…” Sam smirked, grinding against the support’s hard-on, “god, don’t you think this would drive Luka crazy…!”

“Definitely…” Miky smirked, “don’t you just love it when he’s at a loss for words…?”

“Oh, it’s the best,” Sam nodded, tightening her grip a little, “don’t think I said you could talk, though…”

Now, even though Mihael had trained himself to hold his breath for several minutes straight without feeling too bothered about it, he was a sucker for being choked. In the past, he had asked countless people to do it, which is why he could confidently say that Sam was a natural talent. It had only been a matter of minutes, but he wanted her to fuck him up completely by now.

“Good, good…” Sam whispered with the hint of a smile, “I can’t wait to show Luka what a good little slut you can be for me.”

“You – you won’t have to wait long,” Mihael stammered, breathing quite heavily, “I think I just heard the door again…”

“What?” Sam turned around, letting go a little, “but I thought Luka said he’d be back late…”

“Whatever, let’s just give him a show, shall we?” Miky grinned, tightening the Blonde’s grasp on his throat with one hand while slapping her ass playfully with the other.

And in that moment, after the faintest knock of all times, the door swung open with a bang. But, unlike the expectations of both the support and the barely dressed girl sitting on top of him, it was _not_ G2’s midlaner who entered the room.

“Hi Sam, I just wanted to check in with you since I – OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? MIKY?? WHAT IS HAPPENING??” Jankos yelled out in shock as he spotted the lewd scene happening on the bed.

“What do you think is happening?” Mihael grinned mockingly.

“Oh, hi Marcin, we were just –“ Sam started, but the jungler didn’t seem to have the patience to hear her out.

“YOU – HIM – I – KURWA!!” The Pole screamed as he turned around to run back out, not expressing much beyond the fact that he was shocked and disturbed.

“Oh-oh,” Miky laughed as the unfortunate intruder had left the stage, “that was awkward.”

“Poor Marcin…” Sam sighed, climbing off the support’s lap to close the door, “he shouldn’t have seen this.”

“Well, it’s his fault for just barging into the room,” Mihael shrugged, “what’s up with the two of you anyway?”

  
“Marcin and I? Nothing, really,” the Blonde explained as she sat back down on the bed, “… I mean we fucked once – I guess twice if you count the one time Luka was wanking in the corner.”

“Haha, classic story… but yeah, I figured he wasn’t _exciting_ enough for you,” Miky raised one of his brows suggestively.

“I guess you could say that… at least compared to Luka and, well, you,” Sam smiled brightly, patting the Slovenian’s thigh.

“The both of us, hm?” Mihael smirked, reaching out to run his fingers through Sam’s blonde curls, “let’s wait for him to make it happen then.”

“Well… if he’s drunk, maybe today’s not the best day for that, don’t you think?”

“Hmm, that’s a fair point… but you’ve got me all excited now,” Miky crossed his arms, pouting a little, “could you at least step on me with these ridiculously high heels you keep wearing? That might make up for it, you know…”

“Oh, it will be my pleasure… I mean, if the whole point is for us all to stay adventurous, we might as well see where this leads us, hm?” Sam smiled innocently as she got up to grab her heels, “now, take off your shirt and lay down on the floor for me, face up.”

 _Fuck yeah,_ Miky thought, eagerly following the Blonde’s command without thinking twice about it. Even if he had any doubts about their course of action, the Slovenian was too excited to take a step back by now. Sam just had this aura that made him want to follow her every demand – the way she was towering over him now, looking down at him ever so powerfully, reminded him of how Luka had first done the same. _She’s a natural dom_ , Mihael thought, licking his lips as he lied there, shirt- and motionless, on the floor of the midlaner’s room. After she had put on her pair of black high heels, something else had apparently caught Sam’s attention.

“Say, is this your collar, perhaps?” She said, picking up the spiked leather accessory that was lying near the foot end of Perkz’ bed.

 _Huh? Didn’t I throw that back into my room this morning? Just how tired was I?_ Mihael wondered, staring at the collar for a bit as he was forced to question his judgement once more. The doors in this apartment might all look the same, but this was a ridiculous coincidence.

“Hey, I asked you a question,” Sam grumbled, putting her foot onto the support’s chest, “I’d strongly advise you to answer me…!”

Mihael couldn’t help but gasp for air when Sam started to apply pressure – it almost felt as if she was stabbing him with her heel. It had certainly been a while since he had last experienced this kind of high. But this was, of course, only the first of many steps that he had envisioned for the night.

“It’s mine,” Miky panted, looking up at the Blonde with determination.

"And...?" She mumbled, scratching down the Slovenian's naked chest with her thin stiletto heel.

"And..." Miky gasped, almost flinching at the sensation, “you... want me to wear it…?”

“Why, it would definitely suit a little bitch like you,” Sam chirped, putting her foot back onto the ground to squat down on top of Mihael, “hold still for me, would you…”

The support didn’t dare to move an inch. He held his breath as the Blonde put the collar on his neck, pulling it with her thumb a couple of times to make sure it was secure and tight.

“Wow…” she marvelled, sitting down on the Slovenian’s lap all of the sudden, “you know, this is my first time doing anything like this… but you make it really easy for me.”

“Oh yeah?” Miky grinned, keeping up eye-contact while raising his chin.

“Yeah… it’s so different from when I’m with Luka,” Sam whispered, biting her lower lip a little, “when you look at me like that, you just make me want to fuck you up.”

“Good… that’s my intention, at least,” the support said with a cocky smile gracing his lips.

“Hmm, such a good little slut,” Sam snickered, squishing the Slovenian’s cheek with one hand, “now, what could I do to reward you for following my commands so well, hm?”

“Well, you could start by taking off your clothes,” Miky suggested casually, glancing down at the girl’s body curiously.

“Good idea… let’s start with this,” Sam said, slowly pulling her T-shirt over her head and tossing it into the corner of the room, still remaining seated on the support’s raging crotch.

With big eyes, Mihael stared at the Blonde’s big and round breasts – and, more specifically, at the jewellery that decorated parts of them. He had had a hunch for a while now but seeing this clear confirmation right in front of him was beyond satisfying.

“So you do have nipple piercings, hm?” Miky mumbled, absolutely unable to hide his excitement, “I thought I saw them rubbing through the fabric of your clothes for a while now…”

“I wasn’t trying to hide them,” Sam shrugged, “I assume you like what you see?”

“Rightfully so,” the support smirked.

“Well, forgive me for not being able to pull this through all the way, but we still got some time left until Luka comes home so…” Sam took Mihael’s hand and guided it up to her mouth, sucking on his index finger before whispering, “you wanna play?”

“Fuck yeah,” Miky whispered, grabbing the Blonde’s hips with both of his hands, following her lead eagerly.

After all, why should he decline? The pleasure he was about to receive was so fresh and new, so exciting – and, in the end, he had Luka’s best interest in mind as well. After all, he wanted the both of them, didn’t he? Why else would he have kept up this whole thing for so long? If he was to come home in this very moment, there was no way he’d want to do anything but join them. Yes, this was just another, more efficient way for all of them to get what they wanted – it was, without a doubt, the perfect plan. At least that’s what Mihael’s instincts were telling him. And he had always been able to rely on his smarts, especially when it came to Luka, who he knew better than anyone else. So why on earth did it still feel as if he was missing something?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's a wrap on Miky's POV! As I said in the beginning, I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope it was just as fun to read. Now, what are your thoughts and feelings on this? Will there be consequences? Oh, and what awaits us on the DreamServer?
> 
> I'd be thrilled to hear all about it in the comments! And, as always, thanks for tuning in!
> 
> Side note: regarding my routine when it comes to answering comments, I'd just like to point out that I try to answer all comments on a chapter on saturday before posting a new chapter on sunday - but that doesn't mean that I won't respond to comments left after that, or left on earlier chapters. To those, I'll usually respond as soon as I read them. Just wanted to explain that so that you know that your voices will always be heard and appreciated! :)


	45. Part 10: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to another episode of the DreamServer! The longest one yet, I might add - we are scratching the 10k mark already, and this chapter as a whole feels like a real journey. I'm especially excited about the format of it, because I am playing with the thought of writing another Fnatic/G2 fic based on this concept someday. But, for now, I hope that you enjoy this very special episode of the DreamServer! 
> 
> I might add that you guys have some more time to read through it / take it in this time, since I will be taking some time off. Writing has been increasingly difficult for me lately, and, as of now, I am taking more than a week to write and edit a single chapter... I need to be one part ahead at all times to guarantee that I can adjust the chapters to last-minute changes, and that is why I need some time to catch up. That, and the fact that I'm slowly but surely approaching exams in university... anyway. I know that some of you are facing similar troubles right now, and I wish you all the best! I'll definitely be back to posting weekly soon, I'll probably miss all of you too darn soon anyway!
> 
> Okay, enough of that - for now, let's dive into another episode of the DreamServer! As always, I'll update the Cheat Sheet on my profile in a couple of days for those who are interested / need to know right away! :)

_After a day that had seemed to last forever somehow, many aimless souls found themselves logged onto the DreamServer that night. By now, the return to the ominous platform at night almost felt like a routine to some of the League’s players – it was like a recurrent and never ending nightmare. Or maybe a blessing in disguise? After all, there were always more than enough troubles to discuss, and this odd, supernatural phenomenon offered the players opportunities that the outside world kept denying them. Yes, in a way, one might argue that the DreamServer’s sole purpose could potentially be to help its members out. Still, any sort of help can be hard to accept, especially when it hurts this much. But can someone’s heart even be shattered to the point of no return in a dream? We’re about to find out._

\- **[dumbfounded]** , **[reminiscent]** and **[wrecked]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[dumbfounded]** : Hi guys

 **[wrecked]** : sup

 **[reminiscent]** : Hey, how’s it going?

 **[dumbfounded]** : well…

 **[wrecked]** : what do you fucking think

 **[reminiscent]** : …

 **[reminiscent]** : how about we try something new and

 **[reminiscent]** : just pretend everything is fine for a moment?

 **[reminiscent]** : like normal people

 **[dumbfounded]** : I like the sound of that

 **[dumbfounded]** : how about this: the weather was soooo nice today

 **[dumbfounded]** : and I had this great smoothie our cook made

 **[reminiscent]** : sounds amazing!

 **[reminiscent]** : I had the most refreshing work-out this morning

 **[reminiscent]** : and you’re right, I didn’t see a single cloud!

 **[wrecked]** : ...

 **[wrecked]** : what the hell are you guys even talking about?

 **[dumbfounded]** : it’s called small-talk, look it up

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s easy, just talk about something banal but pleasant that happened to you today

 **[wrecked]** : yeah, well

 **[wrecked]** : it’s kind of hard to focus on the good

 **[wrecked]** : when you’re fucking wrecked

 **[dumbfounded]** : booooo!

 **[dumbfounded]** : that was so bad, try again

 **[reminiscent]** : yeah, we’re trying to deflect over here…

 **[wrecked]** : I’m in no mood to beat around the bush, okay?

 **[dumbfounded]** : maybe you should have had some drinks before hitting the sheets, you seem awfully tense

 **[dumbfounded]** : worked for me at least

 **[wrecked]** : what are you trying to deflect from then, smartass?

 **[dumbfounded]** : …

 **[dumbfounded]** : touché

 **[reminiscent]** : do you ever feel like things would be easier if you weren’t a professional gamer?

 **[dumbfounded]** : ...where is that coming from all of a sudden?

 **[wrecked]** : trust me when I say that that’s not the case

 **[reminiscent]** : ugh… I just feel like being in the scene for so long has changed me, you know?

 **[dumbfounded]** : well duh

 **[dumbfounded]** : how could it not?

 **[dumbfounded]** : what are you going to do about it, hm?

 **[dumbfounded]** : cry about not being the nameless nobody you were before this anymore?

 **[wrecked]** : that’s a bit… extreme

 **[wrecked]** : but I feel like regret is just a part of growing up at this point

 **[reminiscent]** : exactly!

 **[reminiscent]** : After all these years, I don’t think my past self would even recognize me anymore

 **[dumbfounded]** : wow

 **[dumbfounded]** : what are you guys, the bitter-old-ladies-club?

 **[dumbfounded]** : you’re obviously not from a country where people just don’t make it out of poverty, hm…

 **[dumbfounded]** : talk about privilege

 **[wrecked]** : god, would you stop being so condescending

 **[wrecked]** : you were the one who didn’t want to talk about serious stuff, weren’t you??

 **[reminiscent]** : uhm, right, him haha

 **[reminiscent]** : …

 **[reminiscent]** : I’m just in some deep shit right now, okay

 **[wrecked]** : yeah, well, same

 **[dumbfounded]** : ugh…

 **[dumbfounded]** : whatever, let’s talk about it, then

 **[wrecked]** : finally…

 **[wrecked]** : okay, so

 **[wrecked]** : I’m absolutely furious about my recent break-up

 **[reminiscent]** : huh, really?

 **[reminiscent]** : I just had one too – it’s still a little weird…

 **[dumbfounded]** : yeah, as far as I know this place, that can only be a coincidence…

 **[dumbfounded]** : insert me rolling my eyes here

 **[wrecked]** : wow…

 **[wrecked]** : I’ve never even met you and I can already tell nobody likes you

 **[dumbfounded]** : again, I beg to differ

 **[reminiscent]** : who cares about the specifics

 **[reminiscent]** : let’s just agree that break-ups are difficult

 **[reminiscent]** : especially when you’ve waited too long to tell anyone and now even the thought about it feels awkward…

 **[wrecked]** : what? No

 **[wrecked]** : it literally just happened to me

 **[dumbfounded]** : like, today?

 **[dumbfounded]** : yikes

 **[reminiscent]** : whoops

 **[reminiscent]** : guess that’s just me then

 **[wrecked]** : could you guys be any more sensitive?

 **[wrecked]** : I’m a mess over here, for god’s sake…

 **[dumbfounded]** : we got that

 **[reminiscent]** : uhm, well

 **[reminiscent]** : keep your head up?

 **[reminiscent]** : Or something

 **[wrecked]** : is that seriously the best advise you can come up with?

 **[reminiscent]** : Yeah, uhm, sorry?

 **[reminiscent]** : I’m not a coach or anything like that, let alone a professional comforter

 **[wrecked]** : …

 **[dumbfounded]** : okay, my turn

 **[dumbfounded]** : just M O V E O N

 **[dumbfounded]** : life’s too short to be hung up on an ex

 **[wrecked]** : you say that as if it’s the easiest thing in the world

 **[dumbfounded]** : well, it is

 **[reminiscent]** : actually

 **[reminiscent]** : I think I’m with **@wrecked** on this one…

 **[reminiscent]** : I’ve got some skeletons in my closet as well

 **[reminiscent]** : letting go of the past can be a real challenge sometimes

 **[???]** : a challenge you say?

 **[reminiscent]** : huh?

 **[wrecked]** : oh god no…

 **[dumbfounded]** : here comes another troublemaker…!

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t get it, what did I do??

 **[???]** : you just gave me a great idea

 **[???]** : I’m sure it will be lots of fun…!

 **[wrecked]** : I doubt that whatever you’re planning will be fun for us…

 **[dumbfounded]** : hey, speak for yourself!

 **[dumbfounded]** : I’ve enjoyed the shenanigans happening around here so far >:)

 **[reminiscent]** : I have a really, really bad feeling about this

 **[???]** : trust me, this will be good

 **[???]** : In a moment, you’ll get together with some very special people…!

 **[wrecked]** : who?

 **[wrecked]** : …who?

 **[wrecked]** : WHO??

 **[dumbfounded]:** are you an owl or what haha

 **[wrecked]** : shut up –

 **[wrecked]** : would you just spit it out, mysterious voice??

 **[dumbfounded]** : hmm yeah, what he said!

 **[dumbfounded]** : I can’t wait…!

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t know, maybe we can wait some longer? I’m kind of scared?

 **[???]** : …

 **[???]** : okay, you guys are really annoying

 **[???]** : think I’ll just let one of the bots explain everything

 **[dumbfounded]** : excuse me, did you just say bots?

 **[dumbfounded]** : one of the bots?

 **[dumbfounded]** : as in several?

 **[reminiscent]** : figured this place was wired or something…

 **[wrecked]** : god, is this another one of these stupid games

 **[wrecked]** : I don’t have time for this

 **[wrecked]** : let’s just move on, okay?

 **[dumbfounded]** : well, you wanna whine some more about your break-up instead?

 **[reminiscent]** : what was your ex like, anyway

 **[reminiscent]** : I’m kind of curious

 **[Phil]** : I think I can be of assistance with that

 **[wrecked]** : what in the actual fuck

 **[reminiscent]** : What? Who…?

 **[dumbfounded]** : another intruder?

 **[dumbfounded]** : who thought things would get this interesting this fast today…

 **[Phil]** : Hi, my name is Phil and I am your assigned bot for the night

 **[dumbfounded]** : Hi Phil, how are you today?

 **[Phil]** : I have just started existing and was not programmed to immitate human emotions

 **[Phil]** : but common etiquette suggests that I should answer with "good"

 **[dumbfounded]** : lol

 **[wrecked]** : don’t just get on board with this like that!!

 **[wrecked]** : It’s super weird!

 **[reminiscent]** : he seems to be less judgemental than the ominous voice at least…

 **[dumbfounded]** : less chance that he’ll harm us, too

 **[dumbfounded]** : right Phil?

 **[Phil]** : I’ve been programmed not to cause any harm

 **[dumbfounded]** : haha, see?

 **[wrecked]** : I’m not convinced…

 **[Phil]** : I have, however, also been instructed to explain today’s game

 **[reminiscent]** : a game…?

 **[dumbfounded]** : sounds fun

 **[dumbfounded]** : what are we playing

 **[wrecked]** : something that will cause us harm, apparently

 **[Phil]** : based on your thematic input of the day, a game has been created to suit your needs

 **[Phil]** : Welcome to the first ever episode of

 **[Phil]** : _Ex in the Rift_

 **[wrecked]** : is this a joke…

 **[reminiscent]** : I’m not sure I like where this is going

 **[Phil]** : I am your designated host

 **[Phil]** : Phil

 **[dumbfounded]** : ehm, yeah Phil, we’ve already established that

 **[reminiscent]** : could you just explain what’s happening??

 **[Phil]** : yes

 **[Phil]** : each of you seems to desire to talk to at least one of your ex-partners

 **[dumbfounded]** : pff no way

 **[dumbfounded]** : think I’d remember saying something like that

 **[reminiscent]** : I mean…maybe?

 **[wrecked]** : if I felt like talking to him, I would have picked up the phone instead of letting him spam my mailbox…

 **[Phil]** : I am programmed not to respond to it, but I do know when you are lying

 **[Phil]** : the game will proceed as planned

 **[Phil]** : one after the other, your exes will be brought in

 **[reminiscent]** : for real?

 **[Phil]** : yes

 **[dumbfounded]** : what, now?

 **[Phil]** : yes

 **[wrecked]** : how will we even know it’s our ex, hm?

 **[wrecked]** : we’re not exactly on a first-name-basis around here…

 **[Phil]** : you are correct

 **[Phil]** : the necessary help will be provided

 **[Phil]** : just leave it to me

 **[Phil]** : Phil

 **[Phil]** : let us begin

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t think I’m ready

 **[wrecked]** : same…

 **[dumbfounded]** : Let it rip, Phil!

\- **[ex_number_1]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Phil]** : welcome, ex number 1

 **[ex_number_1]** : uhm, hi?

 **[Phil]** : In order to identify yourself, please answer a series of questions for me

 **[ex_number_1]** : okay?

 **[Phil]** : which word describes your emotional state of the day the best?

 **[ex_number_1]** : uhm…. I don’t know, maybe ‘anxious’?

 **[Phil]** : excellent – username set

 **[anxious]** : woah

 **[Phil]** : now, do you prefer cats or dogs?

 **[anxious]** : definitely dogs

 **[Phil]** : okay

 **[Phil]** : last question: how did your last relationship end?

 **[anxious]** : my last _real_ relationship?

 **[anxious]** : hmm, I guess we just drifted apart to the point where we felt like strangers

 **[anxious]** : and then I just… left

 **[anxious]** : haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since…

 **[Phil]** : brilliant

 **[Phil]** : I’ll enable the chat for everyone again

 **[dumbfounded]** : HAHAHA

 **[dumbfounded]** : Phil, you can’t just call someone’s break-up ‘brilliant’!

 **[dumbfounded]** : you son of a bitch, I like your style

 **[reminiscent]** : didn’t exactly sound brilliant to me either…

 **[anxious]** : oh, hey other people!

 **[anxious]** : what’s up with this Phil-guy

 **[Phil]** : I am Phil, designed to guide you through the programme of the day

 **[wrecked]** : right, you’re here to ‘help’…

 **[wrecked]** : welcome to the madness, **@anxious** …

 **[dumbfounded]** : I don’t know what your problem is, Phil is already my favourite person on here

 **[Phil]** : I am flattered, but I am a bot, not a person

 **[dumbfounded]** : you see what I mean??

 **[anxious]** : haha okay

 **[anxious]** : I guess that’s kind of fun

 **[anxious]** : but why did he ask me about my last relationship…?

 **[wrecked]** : you were brought in as one of our exes, it seems

 **[wrecked]** : doesn’t look like you’re mine, though

 **[dumbfounded]** : not mine either!

 **[reminiscent]** : uhm, well, that just leaves me so…

 **[reminiscent]** : hi

 **[anxious]** : huh… this is strange

 **[reminiscent]** : yeah, no kidding

 **[reminiscent]** : you are not who I expected to come on either…

 **[anxious]** : what’s that supposed to mean?

 **[Phil]** : looks like the first ex has been identified

 **[Phil]** : excellent, now that that has been dealt with

 **[Phil]** : let’s move on to the next one

 **[wrecked]** : wait, wait, wait…

 **[wrecked]** : how has this been dealt with??

 **[reminiscent]** : would you just give us a minute??

 **[anxious]** : I kind of want to hear who he expected to –

 **[dumbfounded]** : I say full speed ahead, Phil!!

\- **[ex_number_2]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Phil]** : welcome, ex number 2

 **[ex_number_2]** : …

 **[ex_number_2]** : what

 **[Phil]** : In order to identify yourself, please answer a series of questions for me

 **[ex_number_2]** : why

 **[Phil]** : first question

 **[ex_number_2]** : are you even listening to me…

 **[Phil]** : which word describes your emotional state of the day the best?

 **[ex_number_2]** : hello?

 **[ex_number_2]** : well, how’s this different from my whole week…

 **[ex_number_2]** : I can’t seem to say what I want to say

 **[Phil]** : answer unclear, I shall assist

 **[Phil]** : calculating…

 **[Phil]** : okay, username set

 **[voiceless]** : what?

 **[voiceless]** : …

 **[voiceless]** : this is not what I meant

 **[Phil]** : moving on

 **[Phil]** : now, do you prefer cats or dogs?

 **[voiceless]** : cats

 **[Phil]** : okay

 **[Phil]** : last question: how did your last relationship end?

 **[voiceless]** : you’ve got to be kidding me…

 **[voiceless]** : It literally just happened, and I really don’t want to talk about it

 **[Phil]** : I’m afraid that is not an option

 **[Phil]** : I’ll enable the chat for everyone again

 **[dumbfounded]** : okay, first things first

 **[dumbfounded]** : you gotta pump up those questions, Phil

 **[dumbfounded]** : it’s already getting repetitive

 **[wrecked]** : the questions aren’t really helpful either…

 **[voiceless]** : helpful for what exactly...?

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t know guys, I got all the information I needed

 **[Phil]** : feedback received

 **[Phil]** : I shall ‘pump up the questions’

 **[dumbfounded]** : ahh, that’s my boy

 **[dumbfounded]** : this voiceless dude definitely doesn’t belong to me, btw

 **[anxious]** : that’s a bit rude, don’t you think

 **[voiceless]** : I don’t get it…

 **[wrecked]** : well, you’re one of our exes it seems so

 **[wrecked]** : let me just do Phil’s job and ask

 **[wrecked]** : what exactly did you mean when you said your break-up just happened…?

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh right

 **[dumbfounded]** : I completely blocked out all your whines from before

 **[voiceless]** : …

 **[voiceless]** : well, it’s been a couple of days

 **[voiceless]** : it’s not a crime to take some time to digest, is it

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t see a problem with that, no

 **[Phil]** : speaking of time

 **[Phil]** : is it correct of me to assume that you require more time to deliberate

 **[wrecked]** : YES PHIL OMG

 **[anxious]** : I mean, I kind of still didn’t get a chance to get into this whole thing mentally so

 **[dumbfounded]** : I don’t know, I’d vote for getting more people on here

 **[dumbfounded]** : I’m craving for someone who’s actually interesting…

 **[voiceless]** : wow, aren’t you a charmer

 **[reminiscent]** : uhm yeah I’d also like more time but

 **[reminiscent]** : I think it’s pretty obvious who we’re dealing with…

 **[voiceless]** : oh, is it so…

 **[wrecked]** : well if you haven’t been broken up with tonight then you’re not my ex

 **[wrecked]** : and not the one of the jackass **@dumbfounded**

 **[wrecked]** : then only one remains

 **[Phil]** : that is false

 **[wrecked]** : are you saying I can’t count, Phil??

 **[wrecked]** : don’t try me today…

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t know about the counting-thingy, but yeah

 **[reminiscent]** : we’ve ended it last week, **@voiceless**

 **[reminiscent]** : and I’m sorry about how it went down, really

 **[anxious]** : you’re sorry?

 **[anxious]** : Uhm, haha, are you serious right now

 **[anxious]** : that’s like, more than I ever got from you?

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh-oh, bring out the popcorn!

 **[Phil]** : I am unable to provide you with earthly sustenance

 **[dumbfounded]** : god, I love you Phil…

 **[voiceless]** : …uhm

 **[voiceless]** : I don’t know what to say

 **[wrecked]** : that seems to be a theme with you

 **[wrecked]** : honestly, what’s up with the algorhythm of this place??

 **[wrecked]** : how does **@reminiscent** get two exes in a row?

 **[reminiscent]** : you’re saying that as if this situation wasn’t completely awkward for everyone involved

 **[dumbfounded]** : and I thought you didn’t want to speak to your ex…?

 **[wrecked]** : …

 **[wrecked]** : shut up

 **[anxious]** : I’m sorry but I’m

 **[anxious]** : I’m still kind of agitated?

 **[voiceless]** : honestly, I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to deal with this anymore

 **[voiceless]** : I didn’t ask for an apology to begin with

 **[reminiscent]** : then why are you acting so strange?

 **[voiceless]** : well, there’s someone I want to talk to

 **[voiceless]** : but I can’t

 **[voiceless]** : it’s got absolutely nothing to do with you

 **[reminiscent]** : I mean, I’m sure you didn’t mean ABSOLUTELY nothing…

 **[Phil]** : I can confirm that he did

 **[dumbfounded]** : you’re just here to stir the pot, aren’t you Phil

 **[dumbfounded]** : you sure that you’re not just my ex disguised as a robot?

 **[dumbfounded]** : he loves cosplay

 **[wrecked]** : god you’re so annoying…

 **[anxious]** : oh my god, is anybody hearing me??

 **[anxious]** : **@voiceless** is saying he doesn’t care about you anymore after a week

 **[anxious]** : and for me it’s been over a year and I can’t forget about you and

 **[anxious]** : and you’d still rather listen to him, **@reminiscent**??

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh wow

 **[wrecked]** : yikes

 **[reminiscent]** : I…

 **[reminiscent]** : uhm

 **[Phil]** : I believe that is not a sufficient answer

 **[dumbfounded]** : you and me both, Phil

 **[reminiscent]** : I’m sorry, okay??

 **[reminiscent]** : I just don’t know what to say…

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s not like I don’t care – more the opposite

 **[voiceless]** : yep, there we go

 **[anxious]** : well

 **[anxious]** : talk to me then

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s not like you’re doing that outside of this place…

 **[reminiscent]** : you prefer running off into the sunset with

 **[reminiscent]** : …

 **[reminiscent]** : you know who

 **[dumbfounded]** : Voldemort?

 **[dumbfounded]** : now that’s a shocker

 **[wrecked]** : no one’s laughing…

 **[anxious]** : well, yeah

 **[anxious]** : I’m with him

 **[anxious]** : … for now

 **[voiceless]** : wait, what’s that supposed to mean

 **[voiceless]** : you’re not going to hurt him, are you…

 **[anxious]** : uhm, what?

 **[anxious]** : you’re the one who’s got it in the hands, really

 **[anxious]** : if he finds out about the break-up…

 **[reminiscent]** : wait, he doesn’t know but you do?

 **[reminiscent]** : how?

 **[dumbfounded]** : why do I feel like I’m missing out on some major intel here

 **[dumbfounded]** : I normally sit right at the source…

 **[wrecked]** : well, welcome to the club of never knowing what the fuck is going on

 **[wrecked]** : until you do…

 **[wrecked]** : and then you find out you were right all along and –

 **[wrecked]** : you know what, nevermind

 **[reminiscent]** : hello?

 **[reminiscent]** : I asked a question?

 **[Phil]** : yes

 **[Phil]** : working on generating an answer…

 **[voiceless]** : well, it’s kind of my fault I guess so just let me explain

 **[Phil]** : a solution has been found

 **[dumbfounded]** : sit down **@voiceless** , Phil’s got this

\- **[ex_number_3]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Phil]** : welcome, ex number 3

 **[ex_number_3]** : why, hello there

 **[ex_number_3]** : you mind telling me what’s going on

 **[Phil]** : In order to identify yourself, please answer a series of questions for me

 **[ex_number_3]** : uhh, sounds like fun

 **[Phil]** : which word describes your emotional state of the day the best?

 **[ex_number_3]** : one word?

 **[ex_number_3]** : that’s tough, hmm… maybe ‘wise’? Or ‘helpful’?

 **[ex_number_3]** : maybe ‘kinky’ or ‘stunning’

 **[ex_number_3]** : or ‘best League of Legends player in the world’?

 **[ex_number_3]** : haha, I guess that’s too many

 **[Phil]** : you seem to be indecisive

 **[Phil]** : username set

 **[puzzled]** : fun

 **[Phil]** : do you prefer cats or dogs

 **[puzzled]** : woof

 **[Phil]** : error

 **[Phil]** : I’ve been asked to revise the question

 **[Phil]** : instead, please state whether you prefer to spend your time in the house or outside

 **[puzzled]** : oh, definitely inside

 **[Phil]** : final question

 **[Phil]** : how did your last relationship end?

 **[puzzled]** : that’s a trick question, I don’t do relationships

 **[Phil]** : wonderful – chat enabled

 **[wrecked]** : am I the only one thinking I know who this guy belongs to or…

 **[voiceless]** : nope

 **[puzzled]** : not that I hate being objectified but…

 **[puzzled]** : who do I ‘belong to’, exactly?

 **[puzzled]** : and what’s up with the guy who named me

 **[dumbfounded]** : hi, you're mine, of course

 **[dumbfounded]** : and Phil’s our amazing chat bot

 **[dumbfounded]** : you’ll love him, trust me

 **[puzzled]** : huh

 **[puzzled]** : how fun

 **[anxious]** : that was awfully quick

 **[wrecked]** : well, that just means it’s gonna get worse for us all…

 **[wrecked]** : one of that kind was already more than enough

 **[reminiscent]** : I hate to be a buzz-killer but

 **[reminiscent]** : how is this an answer to my question from before, Phil…

 **[dumbfounded]** : hey, get off the poor man’s back!

 **[dumbfounded]** : I’m sure he’s working on it

 **[Phil]** : I am not a man

 **[puzzled]** : lol classic Phil

 **[dumbfounded]** : see, you just get it

 **[voiceless]** : I’m assuming he brought in the one I told about our break-up

 **[reminiscent]** : wait, so you did tell someone?

 **[reminiscent]** : I thought none of our teammates knew…

 **[puzzled]** : oh, right

 **[puzzled]** : that does sound like me!

 **[puzzled]** : trust me, I’m not one of your teammates, @douche

 **[puzzled]** : I meant **@reminiscent** whoops haha

 **[dumbfounded]** : lol haha

 **[wrecked]** : I just knew this would happen, god…

 **[anxious]** : I’m so lost right now

 **[puzzled]** : well, technically I used to be your teammate but

 **[puzzled]** : let’s not get into that, hm…

 **[voiceless]** : honestly, I should have known that you wouldn’t keep your mouth shut, **@puzzled**

 **[puzzled]** : well, duh

 **[dumbfounded]** : who can blame him… the intel is juicy

 **[dumbfounded]** : wait

 **[dumbfounded]** : WAIT, you knew about this but didn’t tell me??

 **[wrecked]** : imagine that, haha

 **[puzzled]** : so what, I just didn’t have the chance to yet

 **[puzzled]** : I was planning on talking to you, especially about the bet we made some time ago

 **[voiceless]** : ugh, let’s not talk about the bet…

 **[anxious]** : a bet?

 **[reminiscent]** : things can’t get much worse at this point, honestly

 **[puzzled]** : think again

 **[puzzled]** : I know all about your kinky adventures with **@voiceless** now

 **[puzzled]** : and I was right, so pay up, **@dumbfounded**

 **[dumbfounded]** : wow, really?

 **[dumbfounded]** : I didn’t think they had it in them

 **[anxious]** : wait, what kind of kinks are we talking about here…?

 **[anxious]** : you must be mixing things up here

 **[reminiscent]** : …

 **[reminiscent]** : it got so much worse

 **[voiceless]** : for who, hm?

 **[voiceless]** : you’re the one who left me with all of these desires that I can’t seem to deal with…

 **[wrecked]** : this change of topic is disturbing

 **[wrecked]** : I blame **@puzzled**

 **[wrecked]** : what is he doing here anyway?

 **[Phil]** : the user has been brought in as an ex

 **[wrecked]** : no shit, Sherlock…

 **[wrecked]** : what I meant is that he said he didn’t do relationships

 **[wrecked]** : so how can he be an ex?

 **[reminiscent]** : good point

 **[anxious]** : I hadn’t even thought about that!

 **[puzzled]** : pff, are you going to pretend that I’m not entertaining?

 **[Phil]** : the parameters for who qualifies to be an ex vary from person to person

 **[dumbfounded]** : well, I call him my ex all the time

 **[dumbfounded]** : the fans love it

 **[dumbfounded]** : but also, I could tell you about all the stuff he did to…well, ‘qualify’

 **[wrecked]** : gross…

 **[voiceless]** : …

 **[voiceless]** : I guess that means he’s not coming

 **[anxious]** : who?

 **[voiceless]** : he doesn’t have an ex around here so…

 **[voiceless]** : what am I still doing here

 **[reminiscent]** : I mean, you came for me?

 **[voiceless]** : but I have nothing to say to you

 **[dumbfounded]** : ouch haha

 **[puzzled]** : look at you, standing up for yourself and all

 **[puzzled]** : you just keep surprising me

 **[wrecked]** : but I mean, you still gotta stick around

 **[wrecked]** : that’s how this place works…

 **[voiceless]** : I don’t see the point, so

 **[voiceless]** : I want to leave, Phil

 **[voiceless]** : If I want to tell him about the break-up… or about how I feel?

 **[voiceless]** : I won’t be able to do it here

 **[wrecked]** : pff, nice try, but I don’t think that –

 **[Phil]** : permission granted

 **[Phil]** : I am designed to assist

 **[dumbfounded]** : and that includes assisted dying?

 **[dumbfounded]** : that’s cruel lol

 **[reminiscent]** : wait, how can you just be okay with all of this??

 **[voiceless]** : thanks Phil

 **[voiceless]** : and thanks for nothing, **@reminiscent**

 **\- [voiceless]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[puzzled]** : OHHHHHH

 **[puzzled]** : that was a sick exit line, not gonna lie

 **[anxious]** : it’s not like me to be bitter but…

 **[anxious]** : I don’t know, you kind of deserved that, **@reminiscent**

 **[reminiscent]** : what did I even do??

 **[reminiscent]** : is everyone just against me by default…?

 **[wrecked]** : for the record, the only people I’m against are **@dumbfounded** and **@puzzled**

 **[dumbfounded]** : love you too

 **[Phil]** : I am equally fond of all of you

 **[puzzled]** : aww, Phil

 **[puzzled]** : you’re going to make me cry

 **[anxious]** : I just don’t get it, I mean

 **[anxious]** : you obviously hurt him, **@reminiscent**

 **[anxious]** : and now you’re bothered about the fact that he’s not more bothered about it?

 **[reminiscent]** : ehm, that’s not what I said

 **[wrecked]** : look, you’re obviously bitter about it

 **[wrecked]** : you’ve been bitter from the beginning

 **[dumbfounded]** : riiiight, let’s not forget the whole _‘my past self wouldn’t even recognize me’_ -thing

 **[reminiscent]** : …

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s just easy to think about how good things were in the past

 **[reminiscent]** : when your life is as shitty as mine right now

 **[puzzled]** : wow

 **[puzzled]** : you’re literally young rich and famous

 **[puzzled]** : talk about privilege…

 **[dumbfounded]** : omg I know right??

 **[wrecked]** : whatever, let’s not talk about our regrets okay…

 **[Phil]** : but it is my purpose to assist you with that

 **[dumbfounded]** : exactly, don’t be rude to Phil, **@wrecked**!

 **[puzzled]** : do your thing, big boy!

 **[Phil]** : confirmed

 **[Phil]** : I shall ‘do my thing’

 **[wrecked]** : oh god, don't you dare...!

\- **[ex_number_4]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Phil]** : welcome, ex number 4

 **[ex_number_4]** : huh?

 **[ex_number_4]** : what did you just call me?

 **[Phil]** : In order to identify yourself, please answer a series of questions for me

 **[ex_number_4]** : what the hell…

 **[Phil]** : which word describes your emotional state of the day the best?

 **[ex_number_4]** : I… I honestly don’t know

 **[ex_number_4]** : I guess I’m kind of wrecked?

 **[ex_number_4]** : in more than just one sense

 **[Phil]** : error

 **[Phil]** : username taken

 **[Phil]** : calculating an alternative…

 **[Phil]** : username set

 **[ravaged]** : username taken?

 **[ravaged]** : we’re literally the only ones here

 **[Phil]** : next question

 **[Phil]** : do you prefer to drink beer or hard liquor

 **[ravaged]** : judging from what went down tonight, I shouldn’t be drinking either of those

 **[ravaged]** : but I guess it’s hard liquor

 **[Phil]** : excellent

 **[Phil]** : now, how did your last relationship

 **[Phil]** : find its end

 **[ravaged]** : well

 **[ravaged]** : I was dumped

 **[ravaged]** : for an absolutely bullshit reason

 **[Phil]** : wonderful – chat enabled

 **[puzzled]** : did you just say wonderful??

 **[puzzled]** : god Phil you are a riot

 **[Phil]** : false, I am a bot

 **[ravaged]** : you’ve got to be kidding me…

 **[dumbfounded]** : I love how you changed up the routine, Phil

 **[dumbfounded]** : but putting something into different words doesn’t turn it into something new

 **[Phil]** : noted

 **[anxious]** : is anyone else fascinated by the username-taken-thing?

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s a strange coincidence, really

 **[reminiscent]** : considering there’s tons of English words

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t even know what **@ravaged** means either

 **[Phil]** : allow me to assist you

 **[Phil]** : ‘ravaged’ is a synonym for ‘wrecked’

 **[puzzled]** : thanks Professor Phil

 **[wrecked]** : coincidence my ass…

 **[wrecked]** : you’ve got some nerves to show up here, **@ravaged**!

 **[ravaged]** : I didn’t exactly have a saying in this

 **[Phil]** : correct

 **[Phil]** : I was the one who brought you here

 **[Phil]** : Phil

 **[anxious]** : hahaha okay, I have to admit he’s kind of growing on me

 **[wrecked]** : OH MY GOD I KNOW THAT PHIL

 **[wrecked]** : I told you I don’t want to talk to him though…!

 **[reminiscent]** : oh, so he’s your ex

 **[reminiscent]** : got it

 **[ravaged]** : …

 **[ravaged]** : don’t worry, I got that you don’t want to talk to me

 **[ravaged]** : since I called you like 20 times and you didn’t pick up

 **[dumbfounded]** : ohh, the drama of it all!

 **[puzzled]** : you trying to win back the hothead over here, **@ravaged**?

 **[wrecked]** : who are you calling a hothead??

 **[wrecked]** : PUTA!

 **[anxious]** : uff

 **[puzzled]** : meh, you’re not too far off with that one

 **[ravaged]** : do I want to get back with him?

 **[ravaged]** : of course

 **[ravaged]** : I’ve never loved anyone like this

 **[ravaged]** : but you’re also in the wrong, **@wrecked** …

 **[ravaged]** : I know you don’t want to hear it, but you are

 **[wrecked]** : oh, I’M in the wrong??

 **[wrecked]** : and here I was thinking YOU were the one hooking up with your teammate??

 **[reminiscent]** : uff wait I learned what this was called

 **[reminiscent]** : infer- no wait, it was infidelity?

 **[Phil]** : that is the correct term for unfaithfulness in commited relationships

 **[Phil]** : good job

 **[puzzled]** : oh come on, don’t praise him for something like that, Phil

 **[puzzled]** : his ego is out of control anyway

 **[reminiscent]** : hey…

 **[ravaged]** : I’ve told you when we talked

 **[ravaged]** : and in every voice mail I left you

 **[ravaged]** : HE KISSED ME

 **[ravaged]** : I literally couldn’t do anything about it

 **[wrecked]** : yeah, well, I disagree

 **[wrecked]** : and I’m not going to forget about it

 **[wrecked]** : so you might as well piss off

 **[anxious]** : woah, come on

 **[anxious]** : that’s a bit harsh, it sounds like a misunderstanding to me

 **[wrecked]** : and I don’t give a shit about what you think

 **[Phil]** : watch your language, **@wrecked**

 **[Phil]** : you are violating the rules of this platform

 **[dumbfounded]** : what kind of rules are we talking about exactly

 **[wrecked]** : I don’t care, okay Phil??

 **[wrecked]** : I don’t

 **[wrecked]** : no one’s listening to me

 **[wrecked]** : my team is a fucking mess and I can’t seem to do a single thing to help them

 **[wrecked]** : instead, I’ve been wasting my time with who I thought was the love of my life

 **[wrecked]** : just to be fucking cheated on

 **[wrecked]** : everything is just going to shit

 **[wrecked]** : so no, I don’t care about your stupid game

 **[wrecked]** : or your fucking rules

 **[anxious]** : that’s just… :(

 **[reminiscent]** : I – I kind of… feel bad for you?

 **[ravaged]** : you can’t just give up like this…

 **[Phil]** : I understand your concern

 **[Phil]** : however, I cannot allow you to break the rules

 **[puzzled]** : seriously, what rules??

 **[wrecked]** : …

 **[wrecked]** : fuck you, Phil

\- **[wrecked]** has been removed from the DreamServer –

 **[dumbfounded]** : how dare you insult Phil you …!

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh, he’s gone already?

 **[reminiscent]** : I can’t believe how rude he got towards the end, geez

 **[ravaged]** : no…

 **[ravaged]** : he’s just hurt

 **[ravaged]** : he doesn’t mean it

 **[puzzled]** : shouldn’t you be a little angrier?

 **[puzzled]** : sounds like he really made a fool out of you to me

 **[ravaged]** : well, I _was_ angry

 **[ravaged]** : but now, I realize that that only leads to stupid decision-making…

 **[anxious]** : oh-oh

 **[dumbfounded]** : what did you do, lover boy?

 **[ravaged]** : …

 **[ravaged]** : don’t make it sound like I was trying to do anything bad, okay

 **[ravaged]** : I just wasn’t thinking

 **[reminiscent]** : you got drunk, didn’t you

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s an easy way out if you ask me…

 **[anxious]** : can’t relate

 **[anxious]** : still, you’re not exactly great at making decisions when you’re drunk either, **@reminiscent**

 **[dumbfounded]** : ahh, another classic!

 **[Phil]** : I do believe that intoxication heavily influences the human perception, as well as the ability to evaluate alternative courses of action

 **[reminiscent]** : uhhhh what?

 **[puzzled]** : let me rephrase that for you

 **[puzzled]** : ‘alcohol makes brain go bad-bad’

 **[dumbfounded]** : leads to mental boom-boom

 **[reminiscent]** : hey, stop it D:<

 **[reminiscent]** : I got it, ok…

 **[ravaged]** : I guess that’s the essence of it…

 **[ravaged]** : I really don’t want to talk about it though

 **[ravaged]** : you saw how mad my… my ex was already

 **[ravaged]** : man, I don’t even want to call him that

 **[anxious]** : aww :(

 **[anxious]** : well, maybe you won’t have to do it for long?

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh, I don’t see the hothead cooling down anytime soon

 **[dumbfounded]** : especially not if **@ravaged** over here did anything else to piss him off

 **[puzzled]** : speaking of which

 **[puzzled]** : what exactly happened, hm?

 **[ravaged]** : I said I don’t want to –

 **[Phil]** : let me be of assistance with that

 **[reminiscent]** : Phil, I think we’re already enough people on here

 **[reminiscent]** : please don’t make this any more complicated

 **[Phil]** : I am not making things more complicated

 **[Phil]** : I am designed to assist

 **[dumbfounded]** : exactly!

 **[dumbfounded]** : you saw what happens when you doubt or insult Phil, **@reminiscent**!

 **[dumbfounded]** : you better watch your mouth

 **[anxious]** : geez, who made you the Phil-guard, haha

 **[anxious]** : but he really is a sweet soul

 **[Phil]** : I am not a –

 **[ravaged]** : yeah, we know

 **[ravaged]** : can we just move on to someone else’s problems?

 **[ravaged]** : I need some distraction right about now…

 **[puzzled]** : oh, I don’t mind at all

 **[puzzled]** : there’s something I wanted to talk about I think, let’s see…

 **[Phil]** : I hate to interrupt, but I do believe that I have a valuable contribution to this conversation

 **[dumbfounded]** : ah, give it to us, then!

 **[dumbfounded]** : in Phil we trust

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t know about that :(

 **[reminiscent]** : sad bee emoji

\- **[ex_number_5]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Phil]** : welcome, ex number 5

 **[ex_number_5]** : uhm, what?

 **[Phil]** : In order to identify yourself, please answer a series of questions for me

 **[ex_number_5]** : where am I

 **[Phil]** : which word describes your emotional state of the day the best?

 **[ex_number_5]** : Haha I’m so confused

 **[ex_number_5]** : what is this place even…

 **[ex_number_5]** : well, I guess I’m just winning at life if that’s what you want to know

 **[Phil]** : very well

 **[Phil]** : username set

 **[triumphant]** : username?

 **[triumphant]** : oh, hey, I like the sound of that

 **[Phil]** : next question

 **[Phil]** : in a room full of people, do you prefer to blend in or to be the centre of attention

 **[triumphant]** : that’s a really random question

 **[triumphant]** : but I guess I’d want to just talk to everyone?

 **[Phil]** : excellent, last question

 **[Phil]** : how long did your longest relationship last?

 **[triumphant]** : slow down buddy, I just met you haha

 **[triumphant]** : it’s not that easy to say either… I don’t really do relationships

 **[triumphant]** : but there was this thing with my previous ADC that went on for hm…some time?

 **[Phil]** : close enough

 **[Phil]** : I’ll enable the chat for everyone again

 **[triumphant]** : wait, who’s everyone?

 **[dumbfounded]** : welcome to the party, dude

 **[puzzled]** : I have to say, I really like your style

 **[triumphant]** : uhh thanks?

 **[anxious]** : yeah you seem nice!

 **[anxious]** : but I honestly have no idea who you could belong to on here…

 **[triumphant]** : huh?

 **[reminiscent]** : I think it’s pretty clear?

 **[reminiscent]** : I’m the only ADC on here…

 **[dumbfounded]** : LIES

 **[Phil]** : I can confirm that that is incorrect

 **[anxious]** : exactly, helloooo?

 **[ravaged]** : I’m here too okay

 **[reminiscent]** : …

 **[reminiscent]** : I was about to say the only ‘real’ ADC but

 **[reminiscent]** : whatever

 **[puzzled]** : cocky boy

 **[puzzled]** : that’s about the only thing I like about you

 **[dumbfounded]** : right

 **[triumphant]** : what are you guys even talking about

 **[reminiscent]** : well, let me explain

 **[reminiscent]** : hi, I’m the ADC you were talking about

 **[reminiscent]** : which makes you my ex, basically

 **[anxious]** : wow, are you serious?

 **[anxious]** : another one?

 **[anxious]** : are you collecting badges or something

 **[dumbfounded]** : hahaha could you imagine…!

 **[puzzled]** : he’s collecting midlaners if you ask me

 **[reminiscent]** : oh, shut up!

 **[triumphant]** : I’m so confused…

 **[triumphant]** : I mean I am a midlaner, yeah

 **[triumphant]** : but you don’t sound anything like the guy I was with

 **[reminiscent]** : yeah, uhm, well

 **[reminiscent]** : I do sound a little different when I’m with you

 **[reminiscent]** : have you forgotten about last night?

 **[dumbfounded]** : UFF

 **[triumphant]** : last night, huh… :)

 **[dumbfounded]** : are you for real??

 **[puzzled]** : PHIL ARE YOU RECORDING THIS

 **[Phil]** : negative

 **[puzzled]** : god damn it…

 **[anxious]** : let me get this straight…

 **[anxious]** : last night, you were with this guy, **@reminiscent**?

 **[anxious]** : and I thought you were waiting for me in the lounge…

 **[reminiscent]** : well, I was planning to do that but

 **[reminiscent]** : he just came by and well

 **[reminiscent]** : it just happened, like it always did some years ago…

 **[ravaged]** : I feel like something doesn’t add up around here

 **[triumphant]** : me too

 **[triumphant]** : yesterday was my first time with this guy, even though I’ve fancied him for a while…

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh-oh

 **[reminiscent]** : what?

 **[reminiscent]** : no, no that’s not right

 **[reminiscent]** : …

 **[ravaged]** : shit

 **[anxious]** : uhm what’s happening?

 **[anxious]** : if this is not **@reminscent** ’s ex then… whose is it?

 **[anxious]** : is it even possible to bring in the ex of an ex…?

 **[Phil]** : of course

 **[dumbfounded]** : don’t you think you could have told us a bit earlier, Phil?

 **[triumphant]** : I don’t think I understand

 **[ravaged]** : yeah, me neither…

 **[ravaged]** : what are you doing here?

 **[ravaged]** : there’s no way I’d call you my ex we just…

 **[ravaged]** : it was a one-time-thing, okay?

 **[puzzled]** : oh my god

 **[puzzled]** : lover boy!! You sly dog!

 **[dumbfounded]** : he really did it, didn’t he??

 **[anxious]** : wait, since when is a one-night-stand enough to qualify someone as an ex??

 **[Phil]** : as I said, the variables may vary from case to case

 **[reminiscent]** : oh man, I’m in danger

 **[triumphant]** : hmm, I see

 **[triumphant]** : don’t worry, I knew it wasn’t more than sex

 **[ravaged]** : that doesn’t make things any less fucked up for me right now…

 **[puzzled]** : well, just be thankful that your wildcat of an ex is not here to witness this

 **[puzzled]** : then again, I would have loved to see him go off again

 **[dumbfounded]** : you and me both…

 **[reminiscent]** : wait, so you tried to call him all evening long to win him back

 **[reminiscent]** : just to jump into bed with someone else directly after?

 **[puzzled]** : you make that sound as if it wasn’t something you’d do…

 **[anxious]** : ouch haha

 **[ravaged]** : that’s not what happened… I was just frustrated and drunk

 **[ravaged]** : I needed some comfort

 **[triumphant]** : well, you also wanted more than that, right?

 **[triumphant]** : …right?

 **[dumbfounded]** : this is just getting better by the minute

 **[ravaged]** : I don’t know

 **[ravaged]** : I mean my body has longed for being touched for so long now…

 **[ravaged]** : and you kind of look like my ex?

 **[puzzled]** : Y I K E S

 **[puzzled]** : hahaha

 **[reminiscent]** : fuck, why do I feel like I’ve been there

 **[dumbfounded]** : that’s just something terrible people do and say, basically

 **[anxious]** : *sigh*

 **[triumphant]** : well…

 **[triumphant]** : I knew I was playing with fire here

 **[triumphant]** : you just got that special something, you know

 **[ravaged]** : god, I really don’t want to talk about this

 **[ravaged]** : I’m so ashamed of myself right now…

 **[puzzled]** : ah, well, **@reminiscent** over here knows a thing or two about the walk of shame

 **[puzzled]** : care to elaborate?

 **[reminiscent]** : screw you…

 **[dumbfounded]** : wait, there’s one thing I still don’t understand

 **[dumbfounded]** : if **@ravaged** is your ex, and you have no affiliation with **@reminiscent**

 **[dumbfounded]** : who’s that ADC you were talking about in your ‘interview’?

 **[Phil]** : very observant of you

 **[puzzled]** : would you stop being so cute, Phil?

 **[puzzled]** : you’re really starting to woo me

 **[puzzled]** : and I’ve already got enough kinks

 **[Phil]** : understood

 **[dumbfounded]** : aww you guys

 **[reminiscent]** : ugh… this is just making me sick

 **[reminiscent]** : but I also want to know about the ADC conspiracy

 **[triumphant]** : it’s hardly a conspiracy

 **[triumphant]** : it was just a guy I played with back when I was still in EU…

 **[triumphant]** : nothing too special

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh, so you’re in NA now?

 **[triumphant]** : uhh yes lol

 **[dumbfounded]** : okay… and you’re really into ADCs, huh

 **[puzzled]** : weird type, but okay

 **[reminiscent]** : hey…

 **[ravaged]** : hey!

 **[anxious]** : hey!!

 **[anxious]** : haha

 **[anxious]** : I’m still growing used to this

 **[triumphant]** : I don’t think that’s a criterium for me, haha

 **[reminiscent]** : exactly, that’s what I keep saying...

 **[ravaged]** : it doesn’t matter anyway

 **[ravaged]** : it was a mistake

 **[ravaged]** : I just want to forget about it…

 **[triumphant]** : it didn’t sound like that to me though

 **[puzzled]** : hmm delicious

 **[ravaged]** : please… just make it stop

 **[Phil]** : is it correct of me to assume that you are in distress **@ravaged**?

 **[ravaged]** : yes!!

 **[reminiscent]** : wait, since when does that bother you Phil

 **[Phil]** : I am designed to assist

 **[triumphant]** : hmm, the fun is over it seems

 **[triumphant]** : that’s alright, I enjoyed it while it lasted

 **[dumbfounded]** : I like your attitude

 **[ravaged]** : could you just get me out of here, Phil?

 **[Phil]** : of course

 **[ravaged]** : wait, really?

 **[ravaged]** : ... 

**[ravaged]** : thanks!

\- **[ravaged]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[triumphant]** : well

 **[triumphant]** : I guess I’ll just stick around for a while longer

 **[anxious]** : haha, he did say he was chatty didn’t he

 **[puzzled]** : the more the merrier

 **[dumbfounded]** : yeah…

 **[dumbfounded]** : uhm

 **[dumbfounded]** : speaking of which

 **[puzzled]** : oh, now you want to talk about what happened last night?

 **[reminiscent]** : I’m all ears…

 **[triumphant]** : hey, I want to know as well!

 **[Phil]** : I can be of assistance with that

 **[dumbfounded]** : ahh, no Phil

 **[dumbfounded]** : you know I love your whole thing but

 **[dumbfounded]** : I’d prefer it if we could just

 **[Phil]** : leave it to Phil!

\- **[ex_number_6]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Phil]** : welcome, ex number 6

 **[ex_number_6]** : Number 6?

 **[ex_number_6]** : I’m sorry, but I don’t settle for anything other than number 1

 **[Phil]** : In order to identify yourself, please answer a series of questions for me

 **[ex_number_6]** : I’d like to see you try to force me…

 **[Phil]** : which word describes your emotional state of the day the best?

 **[ex_number_6]** : Hmm okay

 **[ex_number_6]** : interesting question

 **[ex_number_6]** : I guess I let my dominant side show quite a bit today

 **[Phil]** : brilliant

 **[Phil]** : username set

 **[assertive]** : huh

 **[assertive]** : sounds about right

 **[Phil]** : next question

 **[Phil]** : do you prefer eating fast food or healthy food?

 **[assertive]** : pff, that’s a shady question

 **[assertive]** : I’m trying to keep it healthy at the moment

 **[Phil]** : excellent, last question

 **[Phil]** : what qualities do you look for in a partner?

 **[assertive]** : what do you think?

 **[assertive]** : I need them to be obedient

 **[assertive]** : and to be able to take a pounding, basically

 **[Phil]** : wonderful – chat enabled

 **[dumbfounded]** : I have an undying love for you, Phil

 **[puzzled]** : considering that you do think it’s wonderful when someone can take a pounding…

 **[puzzled]** : you and **@assertive** do kind of sound like the same person

 **[assertive]** : bold statement

 **[assertive]** : pretty sure I’m an original

 **[anxious]** : uhm, yeah, your confidence is hard to miss

 **[reminiscent]** : or is it hard to resist

 **[triumphant]** : oh wow, that took a weird turn

 **[dumbfounded]** : I mean, so what if he’s also a dom

 **[dumbfounded]** : I do like a healthy rivalry every now and then… ;)

 **[assertive]** : oh, do you?

 **[assertive]** : why do I feel like I’ve met you before, stranger?

 **[Phil]** : that is not a coincidence

 **[puzzled]** : ah yes, what Phil said

 **[puzzled]** : you’re one of our exes or whatever

 **[anxious]** : well, from the sound of it…

 **[anxious]** : I guess it would be, uhm

 **[reminiscent]** : mine

 **[dumbfounded]** : mine

 **[anxious]** : wait, what??

 **[triumphant]** : looks like we’ve got a tie, oh my :)

 **[puzzled]** : wait, wait, wait..

 **[puzzled]** : did I catch that right, **@dumbfounded**?

 **[puzzled]** : I thought you said you’d never been with a guy?

 **[dumbfounded]** : well, not before you, no

 **[dumbfounded]** : but then, last year…

 **[assertive]** : oh gosh

 **[assertive]** : Rift Rivals, huh?

 **[assertive]** : that was a real low point for me…

 **[dumbfounded]** : geez thanks

 **[dumbfounded]** : it wasn’t all that great for me either

 **[reminiscent]** : ugh, gross…

 **[anxious]** : wait, how do two doms even have sex…

 **[anxious]** : do you just kind of try to wrestle each other down until someone gives up?

 **[puzzled]** : there’s a lot of different ways actually I don’t think –

 **[dumbfounded]** : that’s kind of what happened I guess

 **[assertive]** : no winner in this match-up, though

 **[triumphant]** : another tie?

 **[triumphant]** : I mean, I think I can imagine the outcome…

 **[anxious]** : I don’t think I want to imagine it :’)

 **[puzzled]:** but I do!!

 **[puzzled]** : geez, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me

 **[puzzled]** : this is so hot…

 **[dumbfounded]** : well, it’s not like you’re doing a great job at telling me things lately

 **[puzzled]** : oh come on, would you stop being bitter about this

 **[puzzled]** : that’s **@reminiscent’s** job

 **[reminiscent]** : hey… >:(

 **[anxious]** : quick question

 **[anxious]** : if **@assertive** is **@dumbfounded’s** ex

 **[anxious]** : does that mean **@reminiscent** got something mixed up again?

 **[reminiscent]** : are you calling me stupid…

 **[assertive]** : I mean if this is about people I’ve hooked up with

 **[assertive]** : it could be anyone, really

 **[puzzled]** : hmm, such a cocky boy…

 **[puzzled]** : I’m into it

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh, I guess you’d be into him, yeah

 **[dumbfounded]** : but he wouldn’t be able to do you like I do, trust me

 **[assertive]** : I don’t think so… ;)

 **[puzzled]** : hot

 **[reminiscent]** : hot

 **[triumphant]** : phew, it’s getting steamy up in here

 **[anxious]** : this is really strange…

 **[anxious]** : since when are you into being pushed around, **@reminiscent**?

 **[reminiscent]** : uhm, well

 **[reminiscent]** : always?

 **[reminiscent]** : I just haven’t really… pursued it lately

 **[reminiscent]** : until tonight

 **[anxious]** : what…

 **[assertive]** : oh?

 **[assertive]** : I see, I know who you are then

 **[assertive]** : wasn’t really a surprise to me to hear that you couldn’t submit to anyone again after me, though

 **[dumbfounded]** : that’s huge, even from you

 **[puzzled]** : oh my god, does that mean **@dumbfounded** and **@reminiscent** actually share an ex??

 **[puzzled]** : this is some next level soap opera shit

 **[Phil]** : for the record, you also have two exes present, **@puzzled**

 **[puzzled]** : oh, I do?

 **[triumphant]** : are you saying that you had this information from the beginning, Phil?

 **[triumphant]** : that’s sick

 **[anxious]** : hmm, now that you say it

 **[anxious]** : I think he probably means me haha

 **[anxious]** : no hard feelings though, **@puzzled**

 **[puzzled]** : no feelings, yeah

 **[puzzled]** : but I am a little hard right now

 **[dumbfounded]** : hmm :’)

 **[dumbfounded]** : I could take care of that but

 **[dumbfounded]** : nope

 **[assertive]** : cruel world… you want me to help you out instead?

 **[puzzled]** : oh wow, okay

 **[puzzled]** : correction

 **[puzzled]** : I’m really hard right now

 **[triumphant]** : why don’t you guys just go out for a threesome or something

 **[dumbfounded]** : …

 **[dumbfounded]** : that’s not a great topic right now

 **[puzzled]** : oh come on, you’re the one who made it weird

 **[puzzled]** : you could have just joined us, but no

 **[puzzled]** : you had to make it all about yourself

 **[reminiscent]** : there’s a story here, isn’t there

 **[dumbfounded]** : I just can’t get over the fact that you guys just made this up behind my back

 **[dumbfounded]** : what am I, a toy?

 **[puzzled]** : oh come on, don’t pretend like you didn’t want to get in on it

 **[puzzled]** : I saw your boner okay

 **[triumphant]** : oh boy

 **[dumbfounded]** : that has nothing to do with it…

 **[dumbfounded]** : I felt like a damn fool

 **[dumbfounded]** : it was almost as bad as that one time with our idiot jungler

 **[assertive]** : oh come on, stop being a bitch about this

 **[assertive]** : if there’s a chance for a threesome, you take it

 **[assertive]** : end of discussion

 **[dumbfounded]** : see, that’s why we’re not the same person

 **[dumbfounded]** : I have a thing called dignity

 **[reminiscent]** : oh snap

 **[puzzled]** : I can’t believe I misjudged you like that…

 **[puzzled]** : well, seems to happen a lot lately

 **[puzzled]** : whatever, your girlfriend still made it worth my while

 **[dumbfounded]** : she’s not my girlfriend

 **[puzzled]** : …

 **[puzzled]** : are you serious right now

 **[triumphant]** : I can’t get over the fact that he turned down a threesome

 **[assertive]** : same

 **[reminiscent]** : sounds like a bisexual dream…

 **[anxious]** : and I still can’t get over the fact that I just could have topped **@reminiscent** the last time we hooked up :(

 **[reminiscent]** : wait, what?

 **[triumphant]** : okay no

 **[triumphant]** : I know I said I’d stay but

 **[triumphant]** : EU seems to be out of control when it comes to sexy fun nowadays and…

 **[triumphant]** : I’m just too jealous

 **[triumphant]** : this is the first time in over a year that I even had the chance to hook up with anyone and, obviously, he doesn’t want to do it again

 **[triumphant]** : I can’t

 **[dumbfounded]** : well, don’t pretend like you didn’t know NA sucked before you went overseas

 **[assertive]** : yeah, worst decision I ever made was to go there

 **[assertive]** : and the best was to come back to EU

 **[reminiscent]** : I mean, I’m sure there are also other good decisions you can think of…

 **[triumphant]** : whatever guys…

 **[triumphant]** : at least my team is dominating NA

 **[triumphant]** : see you at Worlds

 **[puzzled]** : ahh, cocky boys

 **[puzzled]** : good round today

 **[Phil]** : are you asking me to remove you from the platform, **@triumphant**

 **[triumphant]** : yeah I mean

 **[triumphant]** : my ‘ex’ or whatever left a long time ago, right?

 **[Phil]** : that is correct

 **[Phil]** : permission granted

 **[triumphant]** : thanks bro!

 **[anxious]** : aww okay, wish you all the best!

 **[reminiscent]** : see ya

\- **[triumphant]** has left the DreamServer –

 **[puzzled]** : okay, back to the sex talk

 **[puzzled]** : what was that about **@anxious** topping **@reminiscent**?

 **[reminiscent]** : uhm haha

 **[reminiscent]** : that has literally never happened

 **[anxious]** : exactly, why not?

 **[anxious]** : you never even told me you didn’t want to be on top all the time

 **[assertive]** : that really doesn’t sound like the dirty little slut I know

 **[assertive]** : you sure changed a lot

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh wow

 **[dumbfounded]** : now that certainly lifted my spirits…

 **[anxious]** : I just don’t get it…

 **[anxious]** : I might not look the part, but I can be the big man too!

 **[anxious]** : I’m a real ADC now, right **@puzzled**?

 **[puzzled]** : uhm

 **[puzzled]** : sure

 **[assertive]** : that didn’t sound awfully convincing to me

 **[reminiscent]** : things were just different

 **[reminiscent]** : after I became Captain, I just wanted to be strong for the team

 **[reminiscent]** : I mean, I understand that I kind of overdid it now…

 **[assertive]** : no kidding

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh boy, I want to hear more about **@reminiscent’s** whorish past ok

 **[reminiscent]** : do you really have to say it like that

 **[anxious]** : I think I’m interested in that as well

 **[Phil]** : I think I can be of assistance with that

 **[puzzled]:** haha, really Phil?

 **[puzzled]** : what would you know about his ways as a little slut…

 **[Phil]** : I do not know anything about this ‘little slut’

 **[dumbfounded]** : HAHAHA OMG PHIL

 **[Phil]** : but I can still assist

 **[reminiscent]** : really, again…

 **[Phil]** : yes

\- **[ex_number_7]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[Phil]** : welcome, ex number 7

 **[ex_number_7]** : oh, hey, look at that

 **[Phil]** : In order to identify yourself, please answer a series of questions for me

 **[ex_number_7]** : is this a game?

 **[ex_number_7]** : hmm I love games

 **[Phil]** : which word describes your emotional state of the day the best?

 **[ex_number_7]** : One word?

 **[ex_number_7]** : I do like a challenge

 **[ex_number_7]** : I’ve had some fun teasing my special someone again today so…

 **[ex_number_7]** : how about ‘cheeky’?

 **[Phil]** : very well

 **[Phil]** : username set

 **[cheeky]** : what’s that about a username?

 **[cheeky]** : ohhh, this place is lit

 **[Phil]** : next question

 **[Phil]** : do you prefer summer or winter

 **[cheeky]** : easy, I’d always go for summer

 **[cheeky]** : you see, I like it hot

 **[cheeky]** : well, I guess I’m able to compromise when it comes to holiday destinations every now and then ;)

 **[Phil]** : wonderful, last question

 **[Phil]** : how many people have you slept with

 **[cheeky]** : oh, haha, I think you might be the cheeky one out of us two

 **[cheeky]** : to be honest, I don’t think I’ve kept track of the exact number so

 **[cheeky]** : let’s go with ‘many’ ;)

 **[Phil]:** excellent – chat enabled

 **[anxious]** : another one, hmm…

 **[puzzled]:** my god, the line-up tonight is so hot

 **[puzzled]:** could someone turn up the aircon

 **[cheeky]** : oh, why thank you ;)

 **[dumbfounded]** : it’s certainly interesting…

 **[assertive]** : I feel like I have a hunch about who we’re dealing with here

 **[anxious]** : well, it has something to do with **@reminiscent’s** past, right?

 **[reminiscent]** : …yeah

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s been a while

 **[cheeky]** : I think I’ll need some information, sorry

 **[cheeky]** : this place is fascinating, but I don’t think I’ve been here before so

 **[cheeky]** : who are you people? Do I know you?

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh, I think you do, yeah

 **[reminiscent]** : and we all know you

 **[reminiscent]** : everyone’s still talking about how you basically invented ‘backdooring’

 **[anxious]** : ohh, right!

 **[anxious]** : man, you’re a legend

 **[cheeky]** : oh, I wouldn’t go that far…

 **[assertive]** : that’s not why you’re here though

 **[assertive]** : you were brought in as an ex

 **[assertive]** : since you were the one who first backdoored **@reminiscent** over here, weren’t you?

 **[reminiscent]** : EHM

 **[puzzled]:** oh lol, are you for real?

 **[cheeky]** : haha, did I?

 **[cheeky]** : chances aren’t exactly slim, yeah

 **[anxious]** : oh my god, how many midlaners does that make now…

 **[dumbfounded]** : okay, wow

 **[dumbfounded]** : I understand Phil’s intention now I think so

 **[dumbfounded]** : how about you start telling us about what **@reminiscent** used to be like when you picked him up as a virgin

 **[reminiscent]** : I – I was not a virgin

 **[cheeky]** : hm…

 **[cheeky]** : I mean if you’re that young, eager, and slightly naïve ADC I used to play with…

 **[puzzled]:** sounds about right

 **[puzzled]:** only that he’s none of these things anymore

 **[dumbfounded]** : oh my god…! XD

 **[reminiscent]** : you guys… >:(

 **[anxious]** : well, he’s not wrong

 **[anxious]** : I wouldn’t have chosen any of those words to describe you today

 **[assertive]** : yeah, the little guy is all grown up now…!

 **[assertive]** : he can still take it quite well though

 **[cheeky]** : ahh, I can imagine

 **[cheeky]** : it took him a while to get into it, but he got greedy real fast

 **[puzzled]:** greedy for…?

 **[cheeky]** : hmm, everything

 **[cheeky]** : he wanted to get fucked all the time, but he also wanted all of my attention

 **[cheeky]** : my boyfriend got super jealous all the time, it was kind of cute :’)

 **[anxious]** : your boyfriend…?

 **[anxious]** : oh my god, what kind of team…

 **[dumbfounded]** : I don’t think we’re the ones to judge here

 **[reminiscent]** : ehm, would you stop talking about me this way, **@cheeky**??

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s embarrassing

 **[cheeky]** : why?

 **[cheeky]** : It’s the truth…

 **[puzzled]** : I’m loving this so much

 **[assertive]** : you didn’t do a bad job at showing him how it’s done

 **[assertive]** : but I took it to the next level for sure

 **[cheeky]** : haha is that so?

 **[cheeky]** : honestly, hearing that would have probably bothered me some time ago

 **[cheeky]** : but I leave the playing to the kids nowadays

 **[dumbfounded]** : what, so you just don’t have sex anymore?

 **[dumbfounded]** : that’s depressing

 **[cheeky]** : that’s not what I said

 **[cheeky]** : I mean that I’ve just moved on from comparing dick sizes

 **[reminiscent]** : even though you’d win most of the time I mean…

 **[cheeky]** : ahh, so you still use the dildo I had made for you, hmm? ;)

 **[cheeky]** : the only replica out there, I might add

 **[puzzled]** : holy crap, are you for real??

 **[puzzled]** : I want it

 **[anxious]** : okay, this is getting a bit too weird for me…

 **[Phil]:** I am afraid our time is almost up as well

 **[dumbfounded]** : whaaaat

 **[dumbfounded]** : come on, Phil, don’t do this

 **[dumbfounded]** : I thought we had something special

 **[puzzled]** : and this topic is so juicy!

 **[cheeky]** : and I just got here?

 **[assertive]** : well, I got all the information I needed…

 **[assertive]** : I’m the baddest bitch around here

 **[reminiscent]** : well…

 **[anxious]** : uhm, yeah, I’m ready to call it a night

 **[anxious]** : way too many disturbing revelations at once

 **[Phil]** : thank you all for participating in the first episode of Ex in the Rift

 **[dumbfounded]** : please, just give me another chance, Phil :(

 **[dumbfounded]** : I promise I’ll change!

 **[Phil]** : there is no need for you to change

 **[Phil]** : you are perfectly adequate

 **[dumbfounded]** : …

 **[dumbfounded]** : PHIIIIL

 **[puzzled]** : maybe we can just adopt him or something

 **[reminiscent]** : well, knock yourselves out

 **[Phil]** : goodbye, and please come again!

\- **[anxious]** , **[dumbfounded]** and **[puzzled]** have left the DreamServer –

 **[cheeky]** : oh hey, looks like we’re still here

 **[assertive]** : that’s strange

 **[reminiscent]** : yeah…

 **[Phil]** : please excuse the inconvenience

 **[Phil]** : we appear to be experiencing technical difficulties

 **[???]** : no, I just want them to talk about their kinky past some more

 **[Phil]** : …

 **[Phil]** : as it turns out, we are not experiencing technical difficulties

 **[assertive]** : exactly who is in charge around here?

 **[cheeky]** : haha, how fun is this

 **[cheeky]** : what do you want to know, mysterious voice?

 **[reminiscent]** : if you want me to choose, then you’re out of luck

 **[reminiscent]** : both of these guys just satisfied me in very different ways

 **[cheeky]** : oh, so he wasn’t rough at all?

 **[assertive]** : pff, you wish

 **[reminiscent]** : … I meant in a metaphorical sense

 **[reminiscent]** : **@cheeky** pushed the door open

 **[reminiscent]** : and **@assertive** basically made sure it would never close again…

 **[cheeky]** : haha, who knew you were such a poet?

 **[assertive]** : you say that, but it seems like it did close after I left?

 **[assertive]** : this dude who was here earlier basically begged you to let him top, how come you never even considered it…

 **[reminiscent]** : I already told you, it was just a power thing…

 **[cheeky]** : hmm, to be honest

 **[cheeky]** : I feel like there’s more to it

 **[cheeky]** : like you’re not owning up to your feelings

 **[assertive]** : what, were you in love with me or something?

 **[reminiscent]** : ehm what

 **[reminiscent]** : definitely not

 **[assertive]** : doesn’t sound very convincing to me ;)

 **[reminiscent]** : jerk…!

 **[cheeky]** : ahh, kids, come on

 **[cheeky]** : it’s okay to play, but you have to keep the bigger picture in mind

 **[cheeky]** : for me, things have become even better ever since I decided to settle down a little…

 **[cheeky]** : I’m even engaged now, did you know?

 **[assertive]** : you??

 **[assertive]** : no way…

 **[reminiscent]** : for real?

 **[reminiscent]** : to who?

 **[cheeky]** : oh, I think you know…

 **[cheeky]** : I'm currently locked up in a snowed-in cabin because of him, and I don't even mind

 **[reminiscent]** : really, after all this time?

 **[reminiscent]** : man I'm... happy for you

 **[cheeky]** : geez, thanks ;)

 **[cheeky]** : but I also know it’s different when you’re in the spotlight

 **[cheeky]** : life is exciting, so why not grab every opportunity that comes up?

 **[assertive]** : that we can agree on at least

 **[reminiscent]** : it’s not that easy though…

 **[cheeky]** : maybe not

 **[cheeky]** : but I know you quite well, **@reminiscent**

 **[cheeky]** : you might have changed a lot and all but…

 **[cheeky]** : you just keep being your own worst enemy, you know?

 **[assertive]** : oh my god, you’re so right…

 **[cheeky]** : just stop and think about how you can have a little fun every now and then

 **[cheeky]** : I’m sure you’ll figure it out if you just stop being so darn serious all the time

 **[reminiscent]** : I mean…

 **[reminiscent]** : maybe

 **[Phil]** : is it correct of me to assume that you have come to a conclusion here?

 **[Phil]** : I’m afraid that time is really running out this time

 **[cheeky]** : ah yes, I think I’m happy with this

 **[cheeky]** : I’ll keep an eye on you kids!

 **[cheeky]** : and don’t underestimate my team, okay? ;)

 **[assertive]** : pff, I’m sorry but your players don’t stand a chance!

 **[reminiscent]** : thanks for everything, **@cheeky**

 **[reminiscent]** : I don’t feel like I’ve said that enough

 **[cheeky]** : aww, I’m touched

 **[cheeky]** : you’re welcome, hmm? ;)

 **[Phil]** : excellent

 **[Phil]** : thank you for choosing the DreamServer as your number one destination for slumber discussions

 **[reminiscent]** : Phil, again, we didn’t have a choice with –

 **[Phil]** : goodbye

\- **[assertive]** , **[cheeky]** and **[reminiscent]** have left the DreamServer **–**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Part 10 - Origin Stories! What are your thoughts on this very special episode of the DreamServer?
> 
> "Ex on the Beach" is one of my favourite trash TV programmes, and has been a clear inspiration for this fic at many points already - this time, I took it a step further... I love the idea of the League players locked up in a mansion together somewhere on a tropical island, with more and more trouble rolling their way constantly! But yeah, as I said, that's a fun fic for another time. This time, several new characters were introduced at ones, so I'm curious to see whether that was confusing or not. And what are your thoughts on Phil? Heck, I love little bot characters, so I'm a sucker for Phil. 
> 
> I'd be excited to hear all about your thoughts and feelings in the comments! Since I'll be taking a break from uploading, I'll try to reply to comments quicker now, for this chapter as well as earlier ones. Speaking of earlier ones, I happened to read through one of my first chapters and W O W it really has been a long journey, hasn't it? The word count per chapter has gone up from 3k to 10k, and the story just keeps getting more and more complex somehow... which is also why it takes longer to write the chapters. But it's worth it for me, I hope it it for you, too! 
> 
> Anyway, that's it from me. Stay safe everyone! And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	46. Part 11: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Gather around everyone, because I'm baaaaaack ;) 
> 
> It's been a while, and, to be honest, I didn't expect the break to go on for quite this long, but it really helped me out so I'd say it was worth it! I've cooked up some new chapters and came up with some new ideas for the following parts (yes, parts, I told you this wouldn't come to an end anytime soon and I wasn't lying lmao). I'm not really done with all of my exams and university stuff just yet, but I've got material for at least 5 weeks so I thought hey, why not start again now? I just miss y'all way too darn much! So, without further ado, let's get it started: Part 11, "..." 
> 
> ... oh yeah, I won't name the part just yet. As always, I'd like to hear some guesses first ;) 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: There's news! In honor of this new wave of content awaiting us all, I made a server on Discord for the community (?) surrounding this fic and others of the fandom - The DreamServer™. It's meant for announcements and discussions of any sort. If you're interested in joining, shoot me a DM on Twitter (@PiperRonnie2, yes, someone else was faster). I'd say I'd just post the invitation-link here, but I'm not too sure about that just yet. Anyway, it's still in the testing phase, so don't expect anything too fancy ;) I think it's an easier way to exchange thoughts per se, of course I'll still be reading the comments here on ao3 as well. Anyway, hope to see you there!

It almost felt as if Tim hadn’t slept at all, that’s how uneasy he had felt all night long. He couldn’t remember what exactly his dreams had revolved around, but the bittersweet taste of them still lingered in his mouth. They couldn’t have been too pleasant, that was for sure. Then again, neither was reality at the moment – something that Tim immediately remembered as he reached for his OnePlus, only to find that it had died overnight. _Of course I forgot to charge it_ , Tim thought with a grunt as he heaved himself up with all of his might. It was not like the Slovenian to forget about something this important to him, but the previous evening hadn’t exactly left him in the best headspace.

As Tim bent down to pick up the charging cable from the ground, the memories of his shameful creep moment from the night before came rushing back in. Never in a million years would he have thought that one day, he’d sit next to a sleeping guy and reach out to hold his damn foot. It was a beyond lame, embarrassing, and utterly creepy thing to do. But Tim’s heartbeat still increased in speed just by the thought of it. _Why is this even such a big deal to me?_ The midlaner thought, remaining still for a moment as he saw the yellow light of his OnePlus blink up. Secretly, Tim hoped that Oskar had bought his excuse for still sitting there when he woke up again – namely that he just forgot about time while he was playing with his OnePlus, as he often did. But would it have been the worst thing to just let the jungler find out about what was going on? Or to actually... tell him?

Now that Tim had given it some thought, it was painfully obvious to him that he had just avoided thinking about something that had been there all along. All these times in the past where Tim had asked himself whether he just didn’t understand what friendship was supposed to look like when Oskar got a little too close to him – he had been right all along. It was not what friendship was supposed to look like. _But maybe neither of us ever really wanted to be friends_ , Tim considered, slowly getting up from the bed. Then again, what good was it to question their entire history at this point – after all, it was simply too damn late.

In an attempt to figure out what time it was, Tim searched for his alarm clock on his desk, where he had tossed it onto some time ago. _Who needs an alarm clock when you’ve got a phone_ , he thought grumpily as he finally fished it out of the pile of loose papers flying around. To the midlaner’s surprise, it was still quite early – but, to be fair, he did develop the tendency to get up before the rest of his team recently. Some might call it stress-induced insomnia, but Tim preferred to look at it as efficient time management. Suddenly, something else caught the Slovenian’s eye. _It’s the 29 th of February? What the hell… _Tim pondered, staring at the manual alarm clock as if it used some weird code that the midlaner was unfamiliar with. Of course, he knew about the concept of a leap year. And no, he wasn’t necessarily a superstitious person. Still, this strange date, paired with the weird feeling he had ever since waking up, after what had happened the night before – it was hard not to think of this as a sign.

 _A sign for what, though?_ Tim thought, slowly slouching out of his room after he had put on his sweatpants, _I guess I shouldn’t think about it too much._ Yes, it was probably for the best to let this one go. At the end of the day, Oskar went back to G2’s apartment to be with Caps. Tim would like to think that the jungler would have dropped everything for him, right there and then, had he told him – but, come to think of it, was that really what he wanted? Would that still be the Oskar he knew? At this point, Tim felt as if he didn’t even know who that was anymore. Maybe Oskar really had changed ever since he got with Caps. Maybe he would keep changing. Maybe he wouldn’t even want Tim back if he laid out his heart in front of him. Suddenly, Tim found himself paralyzed by all of these fears, flying around his head like mosquitos around the brightest source of light in a dark night. As he stood there, in the middle of the hallway, unable to move an inch, Tim wished that he was as heartless as people liked to make him out to be. If the only things he cared about really were League and his OnePlus, he wouldn’t have to hurt like this, after all.

Well – maybe League was a good point to start, still. Just as he had done the rest of the week, Tim was fully prepared to head to the office first to get in some SoloQ games before the work day really began. All of these worries were just so unlike him – right now, the midlaner just longed for feeling like himself again, and Summoner’s rift was just the place for it. Tim figured that, just as on any other day of the week, his teammates must have still been asleep, which is why he stealthily tiptoed through the hallway towards the bathroom. Stealth missions were his forte, after all. He reached the door without making much of any noise at all, feeling as if his moves must have been Lara Croft approved for sure. With a small victory at the back of his mind, Tim opened the bathroom door with the hint of a smile on his lips – but the feeling didn’t last long.

For whatever reason, he was not the only one up and about in the Fnatic household. For whatever reason, he wasn’t even the only one in this particular bathroom. Yes, for whatever reason, Bwipo and Hylissang were sitting in the bathtub together, butt-naked, and suggestively close to each other. Tim blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out whether this might have been another one of his weird dreams – then again, somehow, he was pretty sure that neither the toplaner nor the support had been a part of his latest nightmarish experience. It took both of the guys a moment to figure out that they had been caught, too – as soon as the Bulgarian spotted the midlaner in the doorway, he shrieked up immediately.

“T-T-Tim, what are you doing here?” Zdravets stammered, swiftly pulling up the shower curtain to cover both of the naked bodies.

“Uhm, knock, maybe?” Bwipo mumbled with a nervous smile, looking beet-red within seconds.

“I didn’t think anyone was awake,” Tim explained, sounding and feeling mostly indifferent about the situation, “let me just get my toothbrush.”

“Would just, uhm –“ Hylissang spluttered, not really producing a full sentence as he seemed to be too flustered to do so.

“Just hurry, okay, and no peeking,” Bwipo hummed, turning his back towards the door to shield Zdravets from the midlaner’s gaze.

“Yeah, no, you don’t have to ask me twice,” Tim grumbled, fleeing the scene as soon as he had gotten his hands on his toothbrush.

After closing the door behind him, Tim could hear the support grunting in frustration.

“I can’t believe that just happened! We should have locked the door, I told you we should have…”

“Relax, Zdravets, I’m sure he has no idea what we were doing…” Bwipo murmured in a soothing voice.

 _I wish_ , Tim thought with a shudder, making his way to the second bathroom to finish up getting ready there. Even though he certainly would have a hard time with wiping that image out of his mind, Tim didn’t necessarily feel disturbed after catching the team’s toplaner and the support in the act. In a way, it was nice to know that at least some of his teammates weren’t having any troubles with their love life. With everything that was going on around him, Tim felt as if the team was in desperate need for some stability to pull through, especially since they were slowly approaching the point of the Split where every win counted. Considering that their chance for the title, as well as their legacy as a team, was on the line, seeing Bwipo and Hyli in the bathtub together was a small price to pay.

Still, Tim was not about to have that happen again. And so, after finishing up his morning routine by simply running his fingers through his messy hair and calling it a day, the midlaner decided to just store his toothbrush in his room instead of putting it back into its holder in the bathroom. As he reached for his OnePlus, which was still hooked on the charging cable, the blinking of the notification light caught his attention – who could be messaging him at this time of the day? With curiosity sparking in his eyes, Tim sat down on the bed to get to the bottom of this mystery. After what he had just experienced moments before, it was a welcome distraction to say the least.

Miky: Morning Tim, quick question

Tim: What are you doing up this early…

Miky: I just woke up, it’s a long story

About that question…

Tim: What is it

Miky: Well, this might sound a little weird

But do you think there’s a possibility that Rekkles has hooked up with xPeke in the past?

Tim stared at his screen for a moment, unable to compute where this question was coming from and why on earth the support would even want to find out more about this. But, to be fair, the other Slovenian was known for his unpredictable moves, in and outside of the rift. As Tim remembered the conversation he had had with Mihael the day before, and especially how excited the other guy had gotten when they discussed Martin’s kinky side, his current interest wasn’t much of a surprise anymore. Still, thinking about his ex and the infamous xPeke made Tim feel quite uncomfortable. It was a thought that had lingered on ever since he had first laid eyes on the content of the shoe carton, and one specific, signed item in particular. _But that’s none of my business anymore_ , Tim thought grumpily. He might as well tell Miky about everything he knew.

Miky: Hello?

Did I offend you or anything

Tim: No, why would I be offended…

I guess it could be true

Miky: Uff, I knew it

He was only 17, how scandalous…!

I love it

Tim: …

Okay?

Why are you even asking about this?

Miky: Well, I had this super weird dream tonight

Where xPeke asked Rekkles whether he still had the dildo he had made for him

Tim: Wtf Miky…

Miky: Oh come on, that was a really tame dream for me

Anyway, I’ve heard some pretty wild stories about SexPeke from Perkz

So I figured it could be true somehow?

Tim: What are you even asking me

Miky: Well, whether you might have seen a replica of xPeke’s dick in Rekkles’ collection?

Since you said you’ve used some gadgets and all…

 _What the actual fuck,_ Tim thought with a loud sigh. For a moment, he considered just ending the conversation right there and then. What was Miky even thinking? He woke up after some crazy dream and figured that he must have had some sort of divine revelation? _That’s so ridiculous… but then again_ , Tim pondered, letting himself fall back onto the bed. He could remember the image of that one particular, big pink dildo that he had examined during his first kinky adventure with Martin perfectly well. The veins, the shape, the curvature – everything beside the colour of the sex toy in question had looked suspiciously realistic. And, on top of that, there was the signature at the bottom – yes, by now, Tim wondered whether the support’s wacky suggestion could actually hold some truth. _Martin was super agitated when I touched it, too_ , Tim thought, somehow growing angry. It was not that he thought that he would have needed this information. It just felt like another thing on the pile of things that the ADC hadn’t told him.

Tim: I guess I might have seen something like that

Miky: Really??

Oh my god, that’s amazing

Describe it to me, please

Tim: What?

No way

Miky: Oh come on…

I helped you out yesterday, didn’t I?

Don’t you think you owe me one?

Tim: I thought you said you needed to walk the dog anyway…

Miky: …

Please?

Tim: Ugh…

Well, it was pink and kind of big?

Miky: …and?

Tim: Oh my god, why are you even interested in that thing

It’s weird

Miky: I told you, I’ve heard some crazy stories…

But I never got to have the full _xPekerience_ if you know what I mean

Tim: I do not

Miky: Whatever

Do you think Rekkles would consider selling it to me?

Tim: You’ll have to ask him yourself…

I really don’t want to talk or think about this anymore

Miky: Pleeeeaaase

Tim: Don’t you have other things to do than to annoy me with this

It’s a game day…

Miky: Let’s just say I’m not exactly eager to leave my room

As I said, it’s a long story

Tim: Tough luck

I gotta go play some League now

Remember? Our job?

Miky: Lol dumbass

Fine, see you later

After letting out another long sigh, Tim tried his best to push the weird thoughts Mihael had conjured into his mind once again away. He didn’t want to think about Martin, let alone Martin with xPeke, or anyone else, for that matter. Feeling as if it wasn’t any of his business anymore was one thing, but actually imagining the ADC with someone else was another. In the end, it would probably take some more time until Tim could really and honestly say that he was over him. For now, he was determined to accept what he couldn’t change in order to move forward. Slowly, he took the first step by getting off the bed. After searching for his key for a while and stuffing his barely charged OnePlus into his pocket, Tim was ready to head out. He was also fully prepared to just leave this weird morning, with all its weird revelations, behind. Sadly, the universe seemed to have different plans. Well, at least the team’s support did.

“Tim, would you join us for a moment?” Hylissang called out as soon as he spotted Tim approaching the front door.

“What? Why?” Tim mumbled reluctantly, considering whether it was too late to just run away.

“Well, you shouldn’t leave the house without having some breakfast,” the support explained with a perfectly calm smile, flipping a pancake in one of the rusty pans.

 _Wait, how did they even get here this quickly? They were in the bath just a minute ago… what kind of supersonic pancakes_ …Tim wondered, baffled at the fact that his perception of time must have been completely off again – then again, he also knew how convicted Hylissang could be once he put his mind to something. That didn’t convince the midlaner to change his mind, though.

“I’m not hungry, thanks,” he murmured as he grabbed his shoes.

“Come on! Just sit down, we need to talk to you,” Bwipo said with his mouth half-full, munching on the first pancake of the day eagerly.

“Please?” Zdravets said with an angelic smile – and, as annoying as the nosy support could be, Tim couldn’t deny the fact that he couldn’t say no when he whipped out his smile, no matter how much he wanted to.

“Ugh, fine…” Tim rolled his eyes as he slouched over to the other guys, sitting down at the very end of the counter.

“Okay, great – let’s just talk about the elephant in the room, right?” Hylissang began as he dropped the pancake onto a plate and pushed it towards the midlaner.

“Hey…” Bwipo grumbled, sullenly dropping the last bit of his pancake back onto his plate, “you were the one who said that you liked my belly…”

“Oh, of course I do, Gabriël,” Hylissang chuckled, “I didn’t mean you this time, sorry!”

“Haha, good…” the toplaner smirked in relief, resuming his attack on the pancake, “…wait, did you just say, ‘this time’?”

“Anyway,” the support quickly continued, not giving the Belgian any time to think about this last insinuation, “we need to talk about what you just saw, Tim.”

“Ah right, in the bathroom,” Bwipo nodded, somehow feeling as if that needed to be clarified.

“Ehm… there’s nothing to talk about,” Tim mumbled, cutting the tiniest bit off the pancake in front of him, “you didn’t lock the door and I didn’t knock. It happens.”

“Well, we just want to make sure that you… uhm,” Zdravets tried to explain, but he grew silent quite abruptly. He obviously had a hard time with discussing these kinds of topics.

“I think what Zdravets means to say is that we didn’t mean to spook you out or anything,” Bwipo said, holding out his empty plate for a second helping, “we were just, uhm, you know… cleaning up.”

“Right, it was a strictly hygienic activity,” Hylissang emphasized eagerly with a nervous smile.

“I honestly don’t care,” Tim shrugged, playing with the food more so than consuming it, “I’ve caught my brother doing worse… I mean, you didn’t even jerk each other off or anything.”

“T-Tim don’t just say stuff like that,” Zdravets ushered, almost dropping the pan out of his hands in shock.

Tim just stared at the red faces in front of him for a moment, blinking in irritation. Both guys in front of him were older than him, and not just by a bit. Still, Tim had a hard time with figuring out the role he was playing in this particular conversation.

“What is this? Are you my parents or something?” He mumbled with a frown, “I’m not a kid, okay…”

“We didn’t say that,” Bwipo pointed out, downing what seemed to have been a folded pancake in basically one bite, “just didn’t want you to think that, well, you know…”

“Thanks for the concern, but I’m fine… I mean, all you did was sit there. I don’t even think that counts as a sexual activity, honestly. It’s pretty lame.” Tim shrugged again, considering whether he’d get out of the situation without finishing the pancake.

“Lame? What’s that supposed to mean?” Bwipo huffed, crossing his arms sullenly, “as if that was all we were doing, I mean we –“

“Gabriël!!” Zdravets exclaimed, basically jumping forward to cover the toplaner’s mouth with his hand.

“I’m sorry, Zdravets, but I can’t just let him call us lame! What would you even know about things like that, hmm??” The Belgian grumbled angrily.

After a small pause, Tim let out a long sigh. It was certainly not the best time to remember all the things he had recently tried out in the bedroom – especially not since a certain someone was involved in all of these memories. The blindfold, the ropes, even that darn, cursed, pink dildo – it all just brought him back to Martin.

“I don’t think you want to know.” He mumbled after a moment.

“I mean, now I kind of do,” Bwipo mumbled, scratching his chin pensively, “but that also sounds just as spooky as the movie we saw last night, right Zdravets?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Hylissang sighed as he put the pan away to sit down next to Bwipo, “Tim, what’s going on? You don’t look well…”

“Huh? What do you mean, I always look like this…” Tim murmured, looking away as casually as he could.

“No more pancakes?” Bwipo asked with big eyes, staring at his empty plate as if that meant that he had to starve.

“Just ask Tim to give you his, I don’t think he’ll finish it,” the support said with a serious expression on his face, “something’s up, isn’t it? Is it about you and Martin? I thought you guys were acting strange yesterday…”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” the midlaner said, pushing his plate over to the team’s toplaner, “I’m good. I mean, we’re good. Weren’t we talking about you guys?”

“Yeah, no, I’m not buying it,” Hylissang shook his head, giving the Slovenian a determined look, “you can trust us, Tim. I know it doesn’t always feel like it lately, but we’re a team.”

“Still, I don’t think I –“

“We’ll always have your back!” Bwipo exclaimed, his eyes looking strangely touched after gurgling down the pancake Tim had given him – had that really been such a big thing?

“Uhm. Thanks.” Tim looked down at his hands, considering whether telling his truth now this was really the right move to make – but, to be fair, _not telling_ anyone had eaten away on him all week. And telling Miky the day before hadn’t exactly led to a revelation, either.

“Come on… I promise we won’t judge,” Zdravets said with a soft smile, “you don’t have to deal with this by yourself, whatever it is.”

“Well… I guess you’ll find out about it eventually anyway,” Tim sighed, folding his hands in his lap in an attempt to calm his nerves, “Martin and I… we broke up.”

“What??” Bwipo yelled out, coughing seconds after as if he was suddenly choking on a piece of pancake, “you – you did what?”

“Oh no… I was hoping my hunch was off,” Zdravets whispered, quickly reaching out to put his hand on the midlaner’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry, Tim…”

“It’s whatever, really,” Tim mumbled with a surprisingly sad smile, “with everything that was standing between us, it couldn’t have worked out anyway.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe this,” the team’s toplaner rambled on, burying his face in his hands.

“Uhm, I think Gabriël is worried about the rest of the team’s reaction to these… news?” Zdravets asked carefully, still caressing the midlaner’s shoulder empathetically.

“I haven’t told anyone else, and I don’t think Martin has, either… no idea what’s up with him, though.” Tim explained, slowly escaping the support’s touch to get up, “let’s just keep this between us, okay… I don’t want Mithy or… Oskar to know.”

“Oh my god, Oskar…” Bwipo mouthed in shock, rocking back and forth eerily.

“What’s up with him?” Tim cocked a brow, tilting his head at the toplaner’s weird reaction.

“Uhm, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Hylissang laughed nervously, trying to steady the Belgian with both of his hands, “it’s not that I mind keeping a secret, but don’t you think you should tell them? Oskar, at least…”

“I know I should but… I just didn’t have the chance to do it yet.” Tim sighed, quickly checking his OnePlus for the time.

“Well, waiting won’t make it better,” the support said with a knowing smile, glancing at the toplaner in front of him, “maybe you could do it tonight, after the game?”

“Definitely not before,” Bwipo mumbled as he shuddered visibly.

“I don’t know, maybe… but I won’t be able to do it if he just goes back to G2’s apartment right away. To Caps, I mean…” Tim said, feeling as if his heart was sinking further and further down in his chest.

“Pretty sure he’ll want to hear this,” Bwipo coughed into his hand, only to be pierced by Zdravet’s angry glare seconds later. 

“Huh?” Tim huffed, unsure of whether he had misheard.

“He meant that Oskar will listen if you ask nicely, I think…” Hylissang clarified, pinching the toplaner’s cheek. 

“Okay? I mean, it probably won’t change anything anyway.” Tim murmured, nervously tipping his foot against the counter a couple of times, “Let’s not make a big deal out of this.”

“I still think he should hear it from you, you know?” Zdravets explained, “that’s probably the most important thing right now… don’t worry about the rest. You can just leave Alfonso to me if you want.”

“What was that about me?” The team’s coach grumbled as he stepped into the kitchen area, “it’s too early to flame my draft if this is what you’re talking about…”

“Oh, uhm, not at all,” Hylissang said with a nervous smile, “I was just saying that Tim could ask you for advice if he ever decided to tame his wild hair, since you’re always so put together?”

“Oh… I could recommend you some products I guess,” Alfonso muttered as he tried to get the coffee machine to follow his will. If there was one way to get the fiery coach off your back, it was to compliment him – something Hylissang must have figured out a long time ago, as he had never run into any sort of trouble with the Spaniard.

“Thanks?” Tim asked more than he stated.

“You should still go to the hairdresser soon, that bird’s nest on your head is getting out of control,” the coach mumbled with his eyes fixated on his little espresso cup.

“Uhm, well, I think your hair has a unique quality to it,” Hylissang said, smiling as if he could make up for the Spaniard’s rude comment somehow.

“I really don’t care what it looks like,” Tim shrugged. He was just standing there now, as he had originally planned to leave the apartment to go to the office before the coach had shown up. Now, he wasn’t sure whether he needed to ask for permission or anything like that – so, for the time being, he just stood there.

“Let’s talk about that another time…” Alfonso sighed as he sat down next to Bwipo, mug in hand, “we should focus on getting through today for now.”

“Oh boy, that sounds like we’re fighting a death match today or something,” the toplaner laughed, nudging the coach’s arm, “it’s just Schalke, right? Let’s look on the Brightside!”

“I’m really not in the mood to do that…” Alfonso groaned, downing his espresso in a single swig, “I barely got any sleep last night, and I just had the weirdest dreams…”

 _Weird dreams? Feels like that’s a theme today_ , Tim considered quietly, remembering how strange he had felt himself when he woke up that morning.

“You want some more coffee, then?” Zdravets suggested as he started to clean up the empty plates around the counter.

“Sure, that would be great,” Alfonso nodded, handing his mug over to the support, “let’s make it a double espresso, though. I literally feel like I’m going to fall asleep at any given moment…”

“You want me to scare you, maybe? I learned a move or two in last night’s spooky special,” Bwipo explained, wildly gesturing around with his hands, “I heard that can help with staying awake!”

“… I definitely don’t want that, no,” the coach replied with a grim expression on his face.

“Why did you have trouble with falling asleep anyway?” Hylissang wondered out loud as he commanded the coffee machine.

“Let’s not talk about that either,” Alfonso sighed, running his fingers through his locks, “I’d prefer us heading to the office a bit earlier today to prepare… where’s Oskar?”

After a moment of silence, everyone was suddenly looking at Tim. It might have been out of habit, since the midlaner and the jungler usually hung around each other all the time. But, ever so slowly, that had changed – it felt like a sheer coincidence that Tim happened to be the last person to have seen Oskar the night before. No, it was definitely not like they were as close as they used to be. If it hadn’t been for his weird attempt to reach out while the Pole napped on the team’s couch, he wouldn’t have known more about his whereabouts than the rest of his team.

“He went to G2’s apartment to see Caps yesterday. I guess he’s still there.” Tim mumbled after a while.

“Oh, he actually went out after passing out on the couch? Didn’t see that one coming,” Alfonso said with a slight grin, thankfully sipping on his second espresso of the morning, “I guess that makes things easier for us, though. I was scared that I would have to pull him out of bed myself.”

“He’s with Caps right now?” Bwipo asked, somehow looking incredibly nervous.

“Well, he might have headed to the office already?” Zdravets remarked, subtly massaging the toplaner’s shoulder a little to calm him down.

“That would be ideal, at least… let’s just go and see.” The coach said, slowly getting up from his chair.

“What, right now?” Bwipo mumbled, blinking a couple of times, “I’m not even dressed yet!”

Alfonso glanced up and down the toplaner’s body, inspecting his outfit thoroughly before responding, “really? I’m sorry, but isn’t this how you dress every day…”

“Hey, these aren’t even my good sweatpants!” The toplaner huffed angrily, flopping the soft fabric around demonstratively, “why are you so snappy today, huh?”

“…Just get changed. We’ll head out in five minutes.” Alfonso said, checking his fancy watch for the time.

But then, his expression changed. The stern Spaniard suddenly looked soft, almost saddened – all because he checked the time? Just a few seconds later, he took off his watch. Tim followed the coach with his gaze, wondering what could be going on in his head. But wondering was about all he could do.

“Let’s make it ten minutes, I have to deal with this…” The coach muttered as he walked back towards his room.

“What’s up with that?” Hylissang whispered, staring after the coach – he must have been wondering about the same thing.

“Something about the watch? Maybe it needs a battery change or something,” Tim suggested, remembering how agitated he had felt after looking at his dead OnePlus in the morning.

“I don’t think it’s that easy, no,” the support said as he put the coach’s espresso cup into the dishwasher, “I feel like there’s more to it. He probably won’t tell us just like that, though.”

 _You got that right_ , Tim thought, remembering the sheer torture the coach had put the team through just to avoid talking about his relationship troubles the week before. Hylissang was right – even if Tim knew what to say or ask, it probably wouldn’t have led to anything. So, instead, the midlaner reverted to his original plan: hit the office and play some SoloQ. Even though that plan didn’t involve the rest of his team, usually, Tim figured that it could still work out just fine. And so, after both the coach and the toplaner had returned from their rooms, both changed but to different degrees, Fnatic’s squad rolled out. Luckily, the office wasn’t all that far from the apartment – otherwise, the weird atmosphere surrounding the group might have gotten too awkward to stand really quickly.

“For the last time, there won’t be any ‘spooky’ picks today, what would make you think that I’d even consider that…” Alfonso sighed as he made his way through the hallway first.

“I don’t know, I just got the idea yesterday,” Bwipo explained casually, “I mean, Nocturne could work out just fine, don’t you think?”

“I just don’t understand WHY you would –“ Alfonso suddenly stopped, seemingly spotting something surprising in the gaming room, “ah, good to see you’re here already.”

 _Who is it? Oskar? Martin?_ Tim thought, growing nervous for whatever reason. He started to walk a bit quicker in order to close the distance between him and the gaming room faster – and, when he finally arrived, he realized that the coach had meant _both_ of the players that had previously been absent. Now, seeing them in a room together was beyond strange for Tim. It never happened. After they had had some sort of confrontation the week before, they had simply gone back to not speaking unless it was League-related – something that they were staying true to now as well, sitting in their spots silently, playing SoloQ on their own. Still, something felt off. Tim just couldn’t point out what it was.

“Oh hey, what’s up guys?” Zdravets said with a smile, sitting down next to Martin eagerly.

“Hope you had a good evening yesterday, Oskar?” Bwipo asked carefully as he sat down next to the jungler.

“Yeah, it was fine.” Oskar replied with his eyes still fixated on his screen.

“I see, that’s good to – HEY, look Alfonso, he’s playing Nocturne!” The toplaner exclaimed, pointing at the jungler’s screen in excitement.

“Oh, whatever…” The coach sighed, “could you finish up those games soon? I’d like to get started with our meeting.”

“But it normally wouldn’t start for another hour…” Tim murmured grumpily, slowly approaching his own desk, “I was hoping to play at least one round of SoloQ?”

“I don’t know, I just want to get it over with today, really…” Alfonso muttered, sitting down in one of the extra chairs, “but if you must…”

“Well, I’d be done now,” the team’s ADC said, turning around casually.

“That’s good… wait, Martin, why do you look like shit?” The coach squinted at the Swede, who did, in fact, look like the worst possible version of himself.

“Uhm, what?” Martin mumbled, running his fingers through his hair, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You look like you didn’t sleep at all and… ugh, what’s up with your face? Is that make-up…? Did you have an accident yesterday or what?” Alfonso said, rolling over a bit closer to inspect the ADC’s face.

Suddenly, Tim felt as if he was working up a sweat. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he had also noticed that something was off with the Swede’s look right away – he just didn’t want to think about what that could mean. Especially not since the guy had chosen to stay behind in the studio the night before, for whatever reason.

“No, of course not… I just had these… terrible dark circles under my eyes this morning,” Martin remarked, turning around to face his screen again, “I guess I didn’t sleep too much last night.”

“Isn’t this just fantastic,” the coach grumbled, “did you at least get some sleep back at G2’s place, Oskar? Or did they keep you up all night, too?”

“It was fine.” The jungler said monotonously, still seemingly focussing on his game.

But, again, Tim just couldn’t help but notice that something was off. Even while he was playing, Oskar usually didn’t become any less chatty – it was more the other way around. That, combined with this weirdly stern look on his face, emphasized that it was way more likely that nothing was fine. He couldn’t point out why, but Tim had a really bad feeling about the situation at this point.

“Well, we’ve got that going for us, at least…” The coach sighed, leaning back in his chair, “is there a reason why you’re just playing SoloQ beside each other in silence? I told you I’d prefer it if you guys played DuoQ when you can… and communication is key.”

 _That’s big coming from you_ , Tim thought, quickly launching his League client in the hopes of sneakily entering the lobby of a game before the coach noticed. The Spaniard was top notch when it came to bossing his team around, especially when it came to telling them what to do – but that didn’t automatically make him a master of communication in all other departments, too.

“That’s because I’m not talking to him,” Martin explained casually, almost as if the rest of the team should have known already.

“Same goes for me,” Oskar agreed quietly, not showing a whole lot of emotion either.

“But guys…” Hylissang said with a nervous smile, “we’ve been over this, you can’t just do this forever…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…!” Alfonso scoffed, dramatically jumping up, “what is this, Kindergarten??”

“No, but it’s not my fault that he –“ Martin began, just to be cut off mercilessly.

“I couldn’t care less about whose fault it is, okay? We need to be on top of our game, and a freaking team! And yet, you guys are not sleeping, not talking, not… I don’t know what was going on with you three this morning, actually, but it couldn’t have been good news either!” Alfonso rambled on, looking quite furious for this time of the day.

“Hey, we were just having breakfast,” Bwipo murmured, lazily spinning in his chair.

“Right, you expect me to believe that Tim over here would deliberately sit down to have breakfast with the two of you…” Alfonso grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Wow..." Tim huffed, not really trying to be a part of this. Still, the coach's bluntness never failed to surprise him.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean it that way, but that, uhm, sounded kind of mean?” Hylissang said, looking more worried than anything else, “but I guess it’s fair to say that we also wanted to talk to Tim about…uhm…”

“About what? Hmm? I’m waiting...” The coach cocked his brow in anticipation.

“It was just because I caught Bwipo and Hyli in the bathtub together,” Tim shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

At this point, the atmosphere probably couldn’t get much more uncomfortable for everyone anyway. Maybe that was the reason why Tim decided that it would be the easiest to just tell the truth to get the coach off of everyone’s backs. But, as it turns out, his sudden moment of truth took the rest of his team off guard.

“T-Tim, oh my god!” Zdravets exclaimed, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment.

“You really could have kept that to yourself, dude…” Bwipo mumbled, blushing a little on the side.

“Guys, seriously, no one cares,” Tim said calmly.

“I mean… good for you,” Martin hummed with the hint of a smile, giving his support an acknowledging nod. Oskar, on the other hand, didn't even turn around.

“God, this is just perfect…” Mithy mumbled, massaging his temples in slow circles, “is there anything else I should know, hmm?? Because right now, I feel like none of you are really telling me the truth about what’s going on… except for that last part, maybe. But eww.”

"Hey!" Bwipo exclaimed, looking almost as taken aback as when Tim had called the couple lame earlier.

"Rude..." Tim muttered under his breath.

“What do you expect us to do here, Alfonso?” Hylissang sighed, getting up to meet the coach at eye-level, “I feel like something else is going on with you… is it about Zven again?”

“Of course not!” The coach hissed, taking a step back, “this is about you guys… this is about this team! Honestly, we’re lucky to be facing a weak opponent tonight since everyone seems to have lost their damn mind around here!”

“Including you, huh?” Martin frowned, tilting his head at the coach.

“Martin…” Zdravets whispered, nervously glancing back and forth the Spaniard and the Swede.

At this point, tension was running impossibly high in the room. Tim was just glad that he was already in pick and ban for his first game of the day, escaping into a different world while the real one was crashing down around him. In a way, it was the way in which he dealt with most of his problems, really. He didn’t know what else he could say either way.

“I’m not going to stand here and listen to this,” Alfonso murmured, turning around to leave the room, “we’ll start the meeting in an hour, you guys better calm the fuck down until then.”

“Oh boy,” Bwipo sighed as soon as the Spaniard had left, “that was rough.”

"Not much more than it always is, hmm?" Martin shrugged. Tim really wondered what kind of shit the ADC must be dealing with at the moment, as there was no way he could be nearly this calm in a tense situation like this if there wasn't something going on.

“This is really bad,” Hylissang whispered, still staring into the direction the coach had disappeared into, “what can we do…”

“How about some DuoQ, maybe?” The toplaner suggested, starting up his PC swiftly.

“You big dummy…!” Zdravets laughed – as ridiculous as this change of mood was, one could always count on Bwipo to cheer the support up, no matter how dire the situation might be.

If only the same could be said about Tim. He was great at distracting himself from the troubles around him, but that didn’t solve anything. And, right now, he was trapped in between his ADC and his jungler – aka the two people he didn’t want to be trapped in between above anything else. The situation would have already been uncomfortable enough without them acting strange. Now, it was simply unbearable. Alfonso had been right – they were lucky to be playing against Schalke that day. Even though they had taken down G2, Tim didn’t really consider them to be a strong opponent. If they had been up against one of the top teams that day, they probably would have gotten stomped with the current mindset they were sporting. _So thank god it’s just Schalke_ , Tim thought as Fnatic took to the stage.

It felt weird to play as a team that night. Somehow, it was almost as if Oskar had been replaced with a completely different jungler. His synergy with Tim was off, and he ended up barely ganking mid at all. He only did the bare minimum when it came to the botlane, too – it was on a microlevel, but Tim was able to tell regardless. Martin, on the other hand, played as consistent as ever. But Tim had learned that that didn’t have to reflect his state of mind at all – that the ADC had simply drilled himself to deliver at all times, no matter how shitty he might be feeling on the inside. After somehow taking the win in the end, the midlaner had come to two central conclusions. For one, he was now sure that something was seriously wrong with Oskar. For the other, he couldn’t rule out that the same applied to Martin, although for different reasons, maybe. The question that remained was whether Tim could or should do anything about that.

After the necessary post game duties had been fulfilled, the team got ready to leave the studio. Despite their rather clean 2-0 week, no one was in the mood to celebrate. Somehow, everyone seemed to hope that tomorrow would be another day, and maybe one where they just would have forgotten about their earlier quarrel. Even if that wasn’t the case, the team was running low on energy. The odds for coming up with ground-breaking solutions for all of their problems were rather low. Now, as the squad was ready to leave the team’s lounge, Alfonso asked something that made Tim feel as if he was stuck in a déjà-vu.

“Well, Oskar, aren’t you going to stay to wait for your boyfriend?”

“Uhm, what? No, I wanna go home.” The jungler said, putting on his jacket without wasting any more time.

“Okay… uhm, hey, where’s Martin?” Alfonso asked, scratching his head as he searched the lounge with his eyes, "I wanted to talk to him about something..."

“I don’t know, I feel like he said he needed to go to the toilet?” Zdravets said, but he didn’t look confident about his intel.

“I saw him talk to some girls earlier… maybe he stayed behind to take some pictures or something?” Bwipo suggested, yawning loudly, “he’s probably going to go back to the hotel anyway, right? Let’s just go home.”

“Right.” Tim nodded slowly, walking towards the door, “let’s just go.”

“You sure that’s alright with you, Tim?” The coach sighed, following the midlaner’s lead reluctantly, “I don’t want to meddle in your relationship but… it’s not good to be apart when there’s a way not to be.”

“Oh, really? Are you speaking from experience?” Tim mumbled, turning back to look at his coach. He felt as if direct confrontation was probably the easiest way to get out of this one.

“Uhm. I don’t want to talk about it,” Alfonso replied, walking past the midlaner.

Tim almost felt like smiling since his hunch had been spot on, but, frankly, the matter at hand was to sad to smile about. The fact that they were all somehow miserable but chose to suffer in silence was more so something to scream or cry about. But he didn't feel like doing that, either. 

“Let’s just not, then.” Tim hummed, slouching after the coach.

“Guuuuys,” Hylissang wailed, following them swiftly, “you know that’s not the solution here!”

“Crazy, huh?” Bwipo said with a slight smile, poking Oskar’s side.

But the jungler didn’t say anything. He didn’t react to the toplaner’s funny remarks, and he didn’t react to the coach’s digs, and he didn’t, in fact, say a single word on the team’s way back to the gaming apartment. After more than two years of knowing the Pole, Tim couldn’t remember ever seeing him act like this. He got angry sometimes, sure – he used to yell and curse a lot, even though that seemed to have gotten better with time. He could also get frustrated with his teammates or the coach sometimes, or even sad when things went wrong in the rift. But he never stopped being vocal about his feelings. Until now. It was hard for Tim to see Oskar like this, as he could only imagine what must have been going on in his head. He wanted to help him – to hug him, hold him, talk to him, and tell him that everything would be okay eventually. But, with everything that was standing between them, that was hardly a possibility. Still, there was one thing he could do.

“So, Alfonso, I was wondering whether your nice watch broke, since you were wearing a different one today?” Bwipo asked casually as the squad entered the apartment.

“What makes you think that…” The coach said quietly, “it just clashed with my outfit.”

“But weren’t you wearing the same sweater as always when we –“

“Come on, Gabriël, let’s go watch a movie or something, okay?” Zdravets chimed in, pushing the toplaner towards his room with force, “we still have some popcorn I think…good night, guys!”

“Popcorn? That’s so pog!” The toplaner exclaimed in excitement, bopping up and down as he was navigated through the hallway.

“Yeah… you guys have fun, that’s probably for the best,” Alfonso whispered, staring down at his feet as he took off his shoes, “I just want to be alone anyway.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Tim nodded, tossing his shoes to the side before making his way inside, “do you have a moment, Oskar?”

“Sure.” The jungler said, strolling towards his room and away from the gloomy coach who was still sitting next to the shoe rack.

“Good night! Or something…” Alfonso sighed, "I'll be in my room..."

Under different circumstances, Tim might have felt bad for leaving the Spaniard by himself when he was obviously dealing with some kind of issue. But it was hard to feel sympathetic when the coach just kept attacking everyone around him, and even specifically said that he didn’t want to talk. What else could anyone do to help him?

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Oskar asked solemnly, still standing in the middle of the hallway.

“Uhm, join me in my room?” Tim asked hesitantly, as he didn’t want to take a chance on either of the other guys overhearing their conversation.

“Okay.”

“Thanks…” the midlaner mumbled, opening the door to his room slowly, roaming inside.

“You’ve been acting strange, Tim,” Oskar said with a sigh as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Well, so have you,” Tim mumbled, still standing before the bed awkwardly, as he wasn’t sure just how close he should allow himself to be to the jungler.

“Maybe… is that what you wanted to tell me?”

“No… it’s about something else… I think.” Tim swallowed – his nerves were slowly but surely taking over.

“Start talking, then… I don’t think I can be patient for much longer.” Oskar said, closing his eyes.

“Yeah just – wait, what?” Tim whispered, staring at the jungler sitting on his bed in confusion.

Barely a minute ago, Tim had felt as if there was still a chance to backpaddle. In the end, he was just too damn nervous – he wouldn’t be able to say what he wanted to say like this. But now, after hearing Oskar say these words, there was no turning back. Whatever they meant, Tim was sure of the fact that he’d finally have to go through with it this time around. And maybe that was exactly what this day had been about all along – yes, on this day, February the 29th, despite what his instincts had been telling him all along, Tim was about to take the biggest leap of faith of his life. And he couldn’t have been more freaked out about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's a wrap on the first chapter of part 11! What do you think this part will hold? And how would you name it...? Well, maybe it's too early to say. We're just getting started, right?
> 
> Isn't it good to be back? I can't wait to hear about all of your thoughts and feelings, and let me know what you've been up to as well if you like! (I'm getting greedy, huh?) 
> 
> I'll try posting every Saturday moving forward! As I said, I've got material for the next few weeks, but I'm also writing as much as my schedule allows it. If you want to laugh a bit on the side, I've also been quite active on fnatic_memes on instagram ;) A content creator at heart! Too bad Fnatic will probably never decide to milk that, but oh well. This story is where I truly come to life, and I can't tell you how excited I am to share it with you (again) :)
> 
> Okay, okay, I'll stop blabbering now - and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	47. Part 11: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to a new chapter of Part 11: ______! 
> 
> Well, I guess the title is not as spectacular as I like to make it out to be, but I'll keep it to myself a little longer... ;)
> 
> After almost one week of experimenting with The DreamServer™ on Discord, I can say that it's a lot of fun and truly enriching to my experience as an evil author! If you're interested in some insider information, story discussions & much more, you should come check it out :) in case you don't want to reach out on Twitter, I could also send a link that expires after a day in response to comments here on ao3. I'd be happy to have you!
> 
> Anyway, let's jump right into it, shall we? Hope you enjoy!
> 
> PS: Since I'm using the player's first languages occasionally, I've decided to post translations at the end of the chapter :)

If there was one thing Rasmus loved, it was waking up with the hands of someone special all over his body. Being held tightly, stroked sensually, whispered to softly – it made waking up a spectacular experience, no matter what time it was. This morning was no exception. Oskar’s hands always seemed to find the sweet spots effortlessly; that’s just how skilled he was. Rasmus’ body reacted instantly, wiggling playfully before he had even began to think about opening his eyes. A huge smile formed on the Dane’s face as he put his hand on top of the jungler’s, which was lying on his waist. Could this moment feel any more perfect?

“Hmm, morning Oskar,” Rasmus whispered, still sporting his satisfied smile.

But suddenly, the ADC remembered. _Oskar – oh no, Oskar_! He thought with his eyes flashing open. Conveniently enough, he had found a way to enjoy the sweet, sweet cuddles without thinking about what had to be done for a while. But, in the end, there was a reason why the jungler was embracing him this lovingly first thing in the morning, and, hell, even why he was in his bed to begin with. It was because he didn’t know that he could potentially share the bed with someone else right now.

“Morning Rasmus,” Oskar hummed, slowly stroking down the Dane’s naked belly, “did you sleep well?”

“I, uhm, yeah, I think so?” The ADC stammered, unsure of whether he should move or not, “I just had some, uhm, weird dreams I think…”

“Really? I feel like I had no dreams at all… I was out cold,” Oskar explained with his lips almost touching the back of Rasmus’ neck.

“That’s impossible, you always dream when you sleep but… uhm, you probably just don’t remember,” the Dane muttered, remembering a documentary he had once watched on the topic.

“Ahh, is that so? Well, blame the anaesthesia from yesterday I guess,” the jungler chuckled, slowly slipping his hand down towards Rasmus’ boxers, “…oh? You didn’t lie when you said you had weird dreams, huh?”

“Haha, what do you mean?” Rasmus laughed nervously, trying his hardest to avoid thinking about how sexy Oskar’s voice sounded right now, let alone how sensual his touch felt.

“Your dreams… looks like you found them quite enjoyable somehow,” Oskar said with a grin, slipping his hand inside the Dane’s damp boxers to inspect the damage, “all just because I didn’t take care of you yesterday? I wonder what you’ve been dreaming about…”

“I – I don’t know, uhh, I really don’t remember what my dream was about,” Rasmus spluttered, blushing as he felt the jungler enclosing his manhood in his hand.

“I’d guess it was something that really turned you on… should I be jealous? What do you think?” Oskar smirked as he pushed himself up, now towering over the other guy.

 _No, I think I’m the one who’s jealous_ , Rasmus thought, swallowing hard as he didn’t know what to say. He really felt like he should stop the Pole – like he should tell him the truth about Tim and Martin, and about how that could change everything for them. But his body was acting against his will, of course. Rasmus’ desire was so strong – and Oskar understood, even without words.

“I feel like something’s up, you know,” the jungler mumbled, swinging his leg up to straddle the ADC, not breaking eye-contact, “something’s up, and I don’t know what it is. Around here, but also with my team…”

“Oh, uhm, really?” Rasmus muttered, looking at the Pole on top of him with big eyes.

 _Oh my god, Rasmus, could he give you any better opener? Just spit it out!_ The Dane thought, cursing his inability to come forward out in his head.

“Yeah… but I think that just makes me want to hold on to this even more,” Oskar smiled, leaning his face down towards Rasmus’, “I love what we have. It’s easy, it’s good – I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“Me too…” Rasmus whispered, hoping that his smile didn’t look as sad as it felt.

And then, he felt Oskar’s lips press up against his. It was just too much for his heart to handle – how could anyone expect him to just push the jungler away? After all, he felt the exact same way. Something was up, and, even though Rasmus seemed to have been in the possession of more knowledge than the Pole, he still didn’t completely know how things would turn out. For now, he desperately wanted to hold on to what – or rather who – he adored so much. And so, despite knowing that it might be the wrong thing to do, Rasmus returned the kiss.

“You know, I feel like I’m sort of responsible for what went down in your pants so… let me make it up to you, hmm?” The jungler said, grinning seductively, as he made his way down south.

“Ahh, I mean, you don’t have to…” Rasmus stumbled, following the Pole with his eyes.

“Hmm, but I really want to do it,” Oskar said, carefully trailing soft kisses along the ADC’s hip bone, “you don’t mind, do you…?”

“Uhm, ahh, I guess I don’t…” Rasmus muttered, covering his face in embarrassment.

He couldn’t point out whether it was the special circumstances of the situation, or maybe just the fact that Oskar was so damn vocal about what he wanted all the time. It wasn’t like Rasmus was shy when it came to expressing his desires, but the way the jungler handled him made him feel flustered at times regardless.

“Lucky…!” Oskar smirked, licking his lips as he pulled the Dane’s boxers down in one, swift motion, tossing it over his shoulder, “let’s get you cleaned up, hmm?”

“Geez, don’t say it like that!” Rasmus laughed, peaking through the space in between his fingers to watch the jungler’s mouth come closer and closer to his hard-on.

As he felt Oskar’s hot breath on his cock, Rasmus held his breath. At this point, his heart was practically pounding in his chest, and the ADC could feel the blood pulsating through his whole body. Was it his nerves? Somehow, his senses seemed to be just as heightened as they had been when he had first been touched by Oskar. But, in the end, this wasn’t like their first time at all – if anything, it could be their last.

“What else do you want me to say, then?” Oskar smirked, licking Rasmus’ throbbing dick from the base to the tip ever so slowly.

“N-nothing, really,” Rasmus whispered, biting his lip in an attempt not to moan.

“That’s not going to be easy, but I can try…” The jungler mumbled, steadying himself with one hand while bending Rasmus’ cock up with the other to be able to access every side of it thoroughly.

As soon as he took the whole head into his mouth, sliding down further and further, there was no holding back for Rasmus. He let out a loud moan, fully aware of the consequences that would follow – in this very moment, he simply couldn’t do anything about it. Oskar’s tongue was too hot and wild, his movements were too precise – how was he supposed to resist? Was it his fault that no one had ever blown him like this?

“There, there…” Oskar said with a smile as he moved away, still holding Rasmus’ pulsing dick in his hand, “I think it’s all clean now but… you don’t want me to stop, do you?”

“You’re so mean…!” Rasmus panted, grinning slightly as he pushed himself up, “if this is about us enjoying ourselves, I mean, maybe we could…”

“Do more? I was thinking the same thing,” Oskar laughed, wiping his mouth with his hand, “now, does your hand on my ass mean you want to top again or…”

“Hmm, kind of, yeah,” Rasmus smirked, squeezing the bigger guy’s bottom suggestively, “I mean, if you don’t mind, of course…”

“Haha, no, I’d like that, too,” Oskar whispered, softly forcing the Dane’s chin up so their eyes could meet, “I haven’t bottomed for a lot of guys, but it feels right when I’m with you…”

 _Gosh, why do you keep saying things like that_ , Rasmus thought, swallowing hard as he felt himself getting lost in Oskar’s ice-blue eyes. He knew that the jungler didn’t realize just how dangerous his words were – just how much they made Rasmus want to keep him to himself forever.

“I’m glad,” was all Rasmus managed to say – but not all he managed to do. With his one hand still on Oskar’s ass, he reached over to the nightstand to grab a small bottle of lube. With his desire burning ever so brightly in his chest, Rasmus’ body knew exactly what to do, even though his mind was still torn about it. He hesitantly pulled on the jungler’s boxers, signalling what he wanted to do next – immediately, Oskar lifted his hips a little to wiggle out of his only item of clothing, still straddling the ADC in the process. The sight alone was enough to drive Rasmus completely crazy, as Oskar’s body was simply perfect in his eyes. And then there was this smile – oh, Rasmus knew exactly what he wanted to do next.

“Can I…” He said with an eager smile, coating two fingers with lube as he looked up at the jungler on top of him with puppy eyes.

“Of course,” Oskar laughed, swinging his arms around the Dane’s neck, “I mean, I want you to… I really do.”

He didn’t have to tell Rasmus twice. Carefully, the ADC brought his free hand back to the jungler’s ass while steadying it with his other hand, squeezing one of the cheeks firmly. He could feel the sense of anticipation in Oskar’s eyes – he was breathing a little heavier already, even though Rasmus had barely touched him. He felt the Pole’s whole body twitch as soon as he started circling his hole with his index finger – slowly, sensually. As he felt Oskar loosen up a little, Rasmus decided to let his finger slip inside, barely pushing it at all. After giving Oskar some time to adjust to the feeling, Rasmus curled up his finger, quickly managing to find the other guy’s sweet spot – something that he had been trained for thoroughly by his previous sex partner. The quite audible gasp escaping Oskar’s lips, followed by soft, subtle moans, was more than enough for the ADC to understand that it was working.

“M-more please,” Oskar panted, leaning his forehead against the Dane’s, “I want more…”

“Oh, uhm, yeah, of course,” Rasmus stammered, feeling as if his face must have resembled a tomato colour-wise.

Effortlessly, he managed to push another finger inside. The feeling, as well as the sight of Oskar trembling on top of him, was so hot – Rasmus licked his lips, moving his fingers forward rhythmically, imagining to gesture someone to come over – just minus the ‘over’-part, in this case. The Dane’s gaze dropped down, only to find that Oskar’s cock was incredibly hard and practically throbbing – it looked as if it was begging to get some attention as well. Now, who was Rasmus to deny it that? Carefully, he let go of Oskar’s ass cheek to move his hand up.

“No, no wait, Rasmus, if you do that I –“ Oskar panted, shaking his head desperately – but it was too late.

Only seconds after Rasmus had wrapped his fingers around the Pole’s dick, he shot his load with a loud, unimaginably sexy grunt, practically riding the Dane’s hand through his orgasm. As the cum just kept splashing across Rasmus’ chest, the ADC looked up to marvel at the jungler’s satisfied expression – the way he had his eyes closed, over the way his cheeks looked slightly flushed, to the way he bit his lower lip as he tried to catch his breath – it simply felt unreal. _That’s the magic of the prostate for you_ , Rasmus thought, crookedly smiling up at the jungler.

“Sorry, uhm, I told you, you shouldn’t have touched me there,” Oskar said, returning the smile hesitantly, “I don’t know what came over me there…”

“Well, I know _who_ came all over _me!_ ” Rasmus exclaimed, grinning proudly.

“Oh shut up,” Oskar laughed, “I’ll get you something to clean that up…”

“No way,” Rasmus smirked, holding the jungler by his hip to prevent him from getting up, “how did you say it, uhm… I want more!”

“Ahh… well,” Oskar mumbled, leaning forward to reach for the nightstand’s drawer, “I think I can get us something for that too… oh, what’s this?”

“Hmm?” Rasmus hummed as he was pretty distracted by the way Oskar’s ass felt in his hands.

“There’s no condom in here, damn…” Oskar sighed, sitting himself straight up this time, “what do we do…?”

“Well, safety first,” Rasmus said with an eager nod, “I think Miky should still have some in his desk – don’t ask me why I know this – I could go get us one?”

“Why am I not surprised?” Oskar chuckled, pushing himself up from the bed, “don’t worry, I’ll go get it… I don’t want you running around the house with cum on your chest!”

“That wouldn’t be the strangest thing to happen in this apartment… not even today, probably,” Rasmus smirked, imagining what kind of shenanigans his teammates would pull out on this particular day.

“Can’t argue with that…” the Pole shuddered as he wiggled into his sweatpants, “you think this is enough for me to wear? I don’t know where my T-shirt disappeared to…”

“Ahh, sure, everyone should still be sleeping,” Rasmus explained, glancing over at his alarm for the time – suddenly, the date caught his attention.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a minute,” Oskar announced as he sneaked out of the room.

 _The 29 th of February… that’s strange_, Rasmus thought, lying back down on his back. He hadn’t experienced a lot of leap years in his short life, and, just like today, they always seemed to catch him off guard. It didn’t have to mean anything, of course. But, considering how troubled he had felt all morning, and whatever had gone down in his dreams, the ominous date might just hold some meaning after all. _Maybe it’s about a leap I was too much of a coward to do_ , Rasmus thought, letting out a long sigh. Was he really a bad person for enjoying every moment he still had with Oskar to the fullest? For enjoying touching him, being close to him, seeing his face as he felt his best? _Things would be so much easier if I was like Miky_ , Rasmus pondered sullenly, covering his eyes with both of his hands, _maybe I wouldn’t have to care about what’s right or wrong then._ Well, maybe that wasn’t completely accurate, either – but it was nice to imagine a world in which these kinds of problems didn’t exist.

But, in the end, he was not living in a world like that. Rasmus had to deal with his conflicted feelings somehow, and, right now, he decided that he had to draw the line – to call the whole thing off, no matter how divine it might have felt not to. He swung his legs off the bed to get up with conviction. If he wanted to be able to look in the mirror again moving forward, he had to do this. And so, Rasmus got dressed and sat back down on the bed, preparing what he wanted to say to Oskar once the jungler returned from his adventure to the gaming room. He had already prepared what felt like a whole speech when he noticed that, for some reason, Oskar wasn’t coming back. In G2’s household, that could only mean trouble. When Rasmus heard the sound of several voices echoing through the hall, he was sure of that – and so, he jumped up from the bed again and stormed out.

 _What is it this time?_ Rasmus wondered nervously as he made his way to the gaming room of the apartment as quickly as possible. Despite feeling like he was prepared for about anything, what he found when he stepped inside the open gaming and living room area surprised him. Oskar was there, luckily – for some reason, Rasmus had feared that the jungler could have fled the scene. But there was another face looking back at him, with a weirdly serious expression.

“Uhm, what’s going on here, haha,” Rasmus mumbled, placing one of his hands on his hip to come off more confident than how he was feeling.

“It’s nothing, really,” Oskar said with a warm smile, “Luka over here just looked like he needed to talk to someone.”

“Yeah, I had a really rough night,” the midlaner sighed, pulling his blanket up to his nose – wait, a blanket?

“Luka, did you sleep on the couch?” The ADC asked, blinking a couple of times in confusion.

“Uhm, yeah. Yeah I did,” Perkz mumbled, looking away, almost shamefully, “it’s kind of a long story.”

“Which is why I didn’t come back… sorry about that,” Oskar said, scratching his head.

“It’s fine… so, Luka, what happened?” Rasmus whispered, now approaching the couch – only to be interrupted by a loud growl erupting from his belly.

“Haha, well, I can tell you over breakfast!” The midlaner laughed, getting up with slightly lifted spirits.

“Breakfast sounds amazing,” Rasmus agreed eagerly, turning around on his foot to head back to the kitchen, with Oskar and Luka close behind him.

“I guess it’s too late to sneak back into bed at least,” Oskar whispered as he swung his arm around Rasmus, catching up to his walking speed, “it’s a shame, isn’t it?”

“Ahh, yes, uhm, what can we do, right?” Rasmus mumbled nervously.

“Come on guys, I’m going through it over here,” Luka grumbled behind them, subtly signalling both of the guys to hurry into the kitchen.

“What are you going through, exactly?” Wunder scoffed, lifting his head as the intruders made their way inside the previously peaceful room.

“Oh, morning Martin,” Rasmus said with a soft smile, feeling mildly surprised about seeing the toplaner up this early.

“Ehm, well, I mean, ‘going through it’ might be an exaggeration..” Luka shrugged, reaching for the Fruit loops and some bowls, “I just had a weird night… ehm, what exactly are you eating?”

“What does it look like I’m eating, huh… it’s bread.” Wunder muttered, rolling his eyes at the stupidity of this particular question, “are you blind or what?”

“Well, even I know you normally eat cereal and… god, I’ve been staying over too much, haven’t I?” Oskar laughed, sitting down at the table with a spoon in hand.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Rasmus sighed as he took the place to Oskar’s left – in his head, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more the other way around for him. Maybe that was just because Rasmus knew that change was on the horizon – that, soon, Oskar might not be around to witness G2’s breakfast routine at all.

“Of course you wouldn’t complain about that, Rasmus,” Wunder huffed, seemingly tempted to laugh about his own joke, “anyway… I would eat cereal, yes, but _someone_ thought it was a good idea to throw the full package away…”

“Geez, I thought you and Jankos made up yesterday?” Luka remarked as he took his spot, “at least I felt like you did.”

“Yeah, kind of? But he did that last morning, I was so pissed off…” The toplaner grunted, shoving a huge piece of bread into his mouth, “he’s lucky that our cook surprised me with some Mett today!”

“Mett?” Oskar mumbled, eyeing the food in Wunder’s hand curiously, “what’s that? Some sort of minced meat?”

“Oh come on, Oskar, have you been living under a rock? Germans love this shit,” Luka explained, pointing over to the serving tray in front of Wunder, “why don’t you give it a try?”

“I don’t know… it looks like something you’d stuff in a cabbage roll,” the jungler mumbled, “you really just eat it raw like that?”

“Oh, it’s the best!” Wunder exclaimed, handing the Pole a knife, “we have a similar thing in Denmark, actually, but it doesn’t taste the same if you ask me.”

“Now that you say it, I feel like I’ve had a smørrebrød with a similar topping before… small world!” Rasmus chuckled as he filled his bowl to the brim.

“Okay, okay… fine, I’ll try it,” Oskar said, grabbing a slice of bread to give it a go.

“Does it ever bother you guys that we always eat the same things?” Perkz muttered, staring down at his bowl of Fruit loops, “I mean, I don’t think it bothers me, and I always thought I was super adventurous…”

“Does that mean you want to go have Chinese instead of Burgers tonight?” Rasmus asked with a crooked smile, “or does it have something to do with the reason why you slept on the couch tonight…”

“You slept on the couch?” Wunder cocked a brow, diverting his attention from Oskar, who was seemingly still debating whether he should take the first bite, for a moment.

“Well, it was the only gentleman-like thing to do,” Luka sighed, tipping his fingers on the table, “I couldn’t just go to bed like nothing happened.”

“Why are you being so dramatic? Just tell us what happened, geez,” Wunder scoffed, rolling his eyes as he reached for the Mett.

“Holy shit!” Oskar exclaimed, with his mouth still half full, “…what are you staring at? It’s delicious!”

“I told you…” The toplaner grinned smugly.

“Well, I’m glad that _something_ worked out around here today,” Perkz remarked with a smile that looked sad to say the least, “if you want to know this badly, I’ll tell you what happened…”

 _But that was what you wanted from the beginning_ , Rasmus thought with his mouth full of cereal. Then again, it was nothing new that the Croatian needed to set the stage for telling his story – that’s what he always did, after all.

“I heard Jankos shout something again some time before you came in here so… it must have something to do with that, hm?” The team’s toplaner shrugged, acting as if he didn’t really care – now that was something that Perkz couldn’t stand at all.

“Wow, look at you using your brain for a change… what exactly happened then, huh? If you don’t need me to tell you?” Luka grumbled, tightening his grip around the spoon in his hand.

“Don’t be like that, Luka,” Oskar sighed, trying to find the middle ground as he prepared his next slice of bread, “just tell us, would you?”

“Hey, I’m glad that you like it and all, but don’t just eat up all my Mett!” Wunder exclaimed angrily.

“Oh, sorry – last slice?” The jungler smirked, shoving the piece of bread into his mouth.

“Uhm, I’d really like to hear the story, Luka,” Rasmus said, doing his best to keep the midlaner from blowing up – he wasn’t usually one to be provoked easily, but Rasmus could sense that the Croatian was quite tense already.

“Thank you, Rasmus,” Luka replied, clearing his throat before he continued, “yes, Jankos didn’t exactly help with my mood today either… but he wasn’t the reason why I slept on the couch.”

“… and who was?” Wunder asked after another, overly dramatic pause on Luka’s behalf.

“Well, when I came home last night, I went to my room to find –“

“Morning suckers,” Miky yawned as he stepped into the kitchen, looking around to inspect the collection of guys, “oh, sorry Wunder, didn’t see you there - I guess you don’t really qualify as a sucker, do you?”

“Fuck off…” Wunder grumbled, doing his best not to pay too much attention to the support.

“Oh, morning Miky, did you sleep well?” Rasmus asked, pointing towards the empty seat next to him, “you want some cereal as well?”

“Oh, I’d love to,” the Slovenian smirked, making his way through the kitchen without looking too bothered about the Croatian’s angry glare lasting on him, “what were you talking about anyway, hmm?”

“Yeah, you’ve gotten awfully quiet, Luka…” the toplaner added, raising one brow in suspicion.

“I’m sure that’s just a coincidence, I mean… hmm, why am I even trying,” Oskar said, scratching his head sheepishly.

“I see, so you were talking shit about me,” Miky said, filling his bowl with cereal with way too much chill.

“I was not!” Luka exclaimed, crossing his arms sullenly, “… not yet, at least.”

“Wow, what a shocker… what did Miky do this time, huh?” Wunder scoffed, looking more amused than concerned.

“Oh no Miky… it’s about Sam, isn’t it?” Rasmus asked with a worried look on his face, “I was hoping Jankos was exaggerating…”

“Wait, did everyone know except me? Really…” Wunder sighed, rolling his eyes a little.

“Well, to be fair, toplane is an island of its own,” Mihael shrugged, turning to Perkz, “and I wasn’t trying to make a secret out of it. Hell, I thought we were on the same page, and you just decide to storm off all of a sudden?”

“Man, I don’t like the sound of this…” Rasmus mumbled, nervously glancing back and forth between his support and his midlaner.

“I seriously don't want to talk about that right now...!” Luka grumbled, still staring daggers at the support, “where is Sam, anyway?”

“How should I know?” Miky replied snappishly.

“What? But I thought you…” Luka grunted, balling his fist.

“Ehm, well, I definitely think she’s still here,” Oskar jumped in, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Where’s the proof?” Mihael asked casually, acting as if this whole thing was a game, “if you’re going to come up with a thesis, you gotta have some support…”

“I’m sure you’d know all about that,” Wunder snickered.

“Uhh, well, when I went to the bathroom this morning, I saw… uhh,” Oskar stuttered, scratching his head a little, “you know, something only a woman would put there.”

“Ahh, maybe make-up?” Rasmus wondered, “no wait, what about Sneaky…”

“A toothbrush? Guys, your dental hygiene sucks,” Miky said with a sly grin.

“It could be anything related to smelling good, then,” Luka laughed, tapping his thigh, “have you guys ever heard of deodorant?”

Oskar sighed, even though the hint of a smile gracing his lips revealed that he must have found the other guys’ wacky suggestions amusing, “Geez, guys, no… I was serious, it was, uhm, hygiene products for that special time of the month lying next to the toilet, okay…”

“Gross… tell your girlfriend to clean up after herself, Luka,” Wunder mumbled, turning away to look out of the window.

“… She’s not my girlfriend.” Luka replied, shrugging ever so slightly as if that didn’t bother him at all.

“Oh my god, are you kidding me?” Miky grunted, slapping his open palm against his forehead, “this is ridiculous, Luka!”

“No, you are!” The Croatian barked back.

“Guys, guys… please, let’s just settle down,” Oskar sighed, gesturing with both of his hands in an attempt to calm the storm around him, “I thought you agreed to let it go… this is not helping.”

“Uhm, exactly!” Rasmus agreed eagerly, “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I don’t see why this would be the time that your, uhm, weird arrangement would just stop working, right?”

“Well, maybe…” Luka mumbled, reaching into his pocket to check his phone for the time, “she should still be up by now at least and – oh, what’s this?”

“What is it now…” Wunder muttered with a frown, shoving his empty plate away from him.

“Just watch, he’ll find another way to deflect from the issue in a second,” Miky explained as he shoved another spoonful of cereal into his mouth, “he’s a pro when it comes to that.”

“Shut it, Miky… I got a snap. I normally wouldn’t check it out immediately, but this time… look, quickly!” Luka exclaimed, turning the screen of his phone towards the rest of the group.

At first, Rasmus didn’t understand what he was looking at. There was a huge grin on screen, but the top half of the face it belonged to was cut off. Instead, the naked back of another guy could be seen on the right. The snap must have been taken in bed, as it looked like the person turned away from the camera was sleeping. Sadly, the few seconds the app gave the guys to figure the content of the picture out were not nearly enough, at least not for Rasmus. Still, he felt as if he had just laid eyes upon something familiar.

“What was that, exactly?” Oskar asked hesitantly, tilting his head at Perkz.

“Definitely not something worth the hype you were building up just now,” Wunder said, shrugging in disappointment.

“Are you kidding me? It’s ridiculous, but Febiven keeps sending me snaps after hooking up with random people all the time… as if that made him cooler than me or anything,” Luka laughed, letting his phone slip back into his pockets, “I just needed you guys to confirm how lame he is to me.”

“Uhm, that was Febiven?” Rasmus mumbled – now, why on earth did that information make him even more nervous?

“Yeah, he’s always trying to get to me, and it’s only gotten worse since that time when we… ahh, never mind.” The midlaner said, resuming to eat his cereal which must have gotten soggy by now.

“That snap was different, though,” Miky explained, reaching for the box of Fruit loops to refill his bowl.

“Oh yeah? How so?” Luka mumbled, staring at his support in confusion.

“What, you didn’t notice?” Mihael said with a smug grin, pushing his glasses up with his index finger, “the person lying in bed with him wasn’t just anyone."

"Great, Detective Miky is on it again..." Wunder mumbled with the annoyance written all over his face.

"You recognized the guy in like, three seconds? How?" Oskar wondered, looking weirdly impressed.

"Easy...those were Rekkles’ tattoos.” 

_God damn it,_ Rasmus thought, closing his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath – he had had a bad feeling about the whole thing, yes, but he didn’t expect it to turn out this badly. Thinking about Martin with another guy, and, yet again, another midlaner, on top of that, was bad enough already – in fact, it made it a lot harder to breathe. But it didn’t take Rasmus long to understand that that wasn’t the worst thing about this. His eyes opened again in a flash. Next to him, Oskar was suddenly very quiet _. Oh god_ , Rasmus thought, swallowing hard as he tried to come up with a plan to save this situation somehow, _I should have told him before… is it too late now?_

“Uhm, Oskar, how about we just go to my room and –“

“What did you say?” Oskar said, glaring at Miky as if his look was meant to kill, “Rekkles in Febiven’s bed? Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, like, 99%,” the support shrugged, completely unbothered by the Pole’s threatening aura, “I mean, who else would get these stupid tattoos…”

“That doesn’t make much sense though, does it?” Luka shrugged, his eyes still fixated on his bowl of cereal, “Rekkles is with Nemesis, right? So why would he –“

“KURWA!” Oskar yelled out, slamming both of his fists onto the table with a sheer amount of force.

“What the –“ Wunder started, only to be drowned out by the jungler’s loud voice seconds after.

“SKURWYSYN!” Oskar shouted furiously, causing his chair to tumble over backwards as he took a step back, “Ja pierdolę!! Zabiję go…!”

"Ehm, what?" Miky squinted at the other guy as if that could help translating the words in his head.

“Oskar, please, just calm down I –“ Rasmus tried, but the jungler was already storming out of the kitchen, cursing unintelligibly on the top of his lungs in the process.

“Geez, what’s gotten into him?” Perkz remarked, turning in his chair to follow the raging Pole with his eyes.

“This is so bad,” Rasmus mumbled as he got up to follow Oskar, calling after him, “wait! Please!”

But, as it turned out, Oskar was not just furious – he was also quick. By the time Rasmus reached the hallway, the jungler was already halfway out of the front door. How he had managed to grab his jacket and put on his shoes this quickly was beyond Rasmus – in the end, it didn’t even matter. He probably wouldn’t have listened anyway, judging from how mad he had been. During their time together, Rasmus had barely ever seen Oskar get angry, despite what his reputation might have suggested. _It took something this big for him to snap_ , Rasmus thought, searching for his phone in his room to call the jungler. But, as expected, he didn’t pick up. The ADC felt defeated when he finally returned to the kitchen. It could have only taken about a minute, but it felt as if a lot more time must have passed, especially since he was greeted by two new faces.

“Morning Rasmus,” Sam said with a smile, “I’m sorry about Oskar, uhm, what exactly happened there?”

“I can tell you that he didn’t say very nice things when he walked past me,” Jankos shrugged as he stuffed his face with cereal, “it’s good for you that you didn’t understand him, trust me.”

“Uhm… well, I guess Oskar thought Rekkles was cheating on Nemesis and that just… wrecked him?” Rasmus whispered, sinking into his chair ever so slowly.

“Oh no…!” Sam gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, “that’s awful!”

“What do you mean with ‘he thought’? If that was Rekkles, then that’s what happened, isn’t it…” Perkz frowned.

“Well, no, technically he didn’t,” Miky sighed, adjusting his glasses again, “since Rekkles and Nemesis broke up last week.”

“For real? Wow,” Wunder shook his head, and Rasmus couldn’t tell whether he was mocking the support or not.

“Okay, haha, I guess that changes everything! The drama of it all…” Luka laughed, slapping his thigh with his flat hand, “… wait, Miky, you knew about that and didn’t tell me??”

“Pff, you didn’t really give me a chance to do that, did you?” Miky snapped back without wasting a second.

“Guys… please, not right now,” Rasmus whispered, burying his face in his hands, “I can’t believe this happened… he’s not picking up his phone, either, what am I going to do?”

“Oh, Rasmus… just keep trying, I think that’s all you can do…” Sam said with a sad smile, putting her hand on the ADC’s shoulder beside her.

“Actually, don’t you think you should be worried about Rekkles? Not that I encourage having any sympathy for that douche, but still…” Miky remarked calmly.

“Ohh, so he stormed out to punch him? Is that what you’re saying? Because yikes!” Wunder laughed, seemingly having no issues with not having any sympathy for the enemy ADC.

“Oh my god, I didn’t even think about that!” Rasmus exclaimed, shuddering visibly, “this is just getting worse and worse… I have to warn him, don’t I?”

“I mean, if you’re worried about his safety…” Sam mumbled, turning around to look at Luka for confirmation, “could Oskar actually hurt a fly, though? I always thought of him as a gentle soul…”

“Oh, he had major anger issues in the past,” Luka shrugged, reaching for a cup to pour some coffee into it, “you couldn’t tell by the way he yelled the place down?”

“He could probably break Rekkles’ nose with _one punch,_ don’t you think?” Mihael wondered out loud, “great anime, by the way.”

“What are you even talking about? Fucking weeb…” Wunder grunted with the disgust written all over his face.

“GUYS!” Rasmus yelled out, glancing around the room in panic, “how can you be so calm about this?? We can’t just let Oskar beat Martin up like that, he doesn’t deserve that!”

“Well, that’s debatable,” Miky smirked, “but if you’re that worried, why don’t you just call to warn him?”

“Ohh, that’s a really good idea! Good job, Mihael,” Sam smiled, patting the support’s head in acknowledgement.

“What are you, a dog…?” Luka muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Okay, yeah, I’ll try,” the ADC stammered, swiftly grabbing his phone out of his pocket.

As he tried to find the Swede’s contact as quickly as possible, Rasmus remembered that, for the longest time now, he had stared at the other ADC’s name on his screen, debating whether he should reach out or not. He didn’t feel the same hesitation now that there was a sense of urgency, though. And so, Rasmus tried to call Martin, for the first time in months – no, probably longer than that. It wasn’t really the time and day to call, after all.

“Shoot, he’s not picking up,” Rasmus mumbled, looking around at his teammates for some other ideas, “what do I do now…?”

“Why don’t you just TEXT him?” Jankos yelled out, pointing at his head as if that idea was beyond genius, “maybe he’s just too STUPID to pick up the phone??”

“To be fair, he probably wouldn’t just pick up like that, since it’s totally _out of the blue_ for him…” Luka muttered, looking weirdly annoyed by the topic.

“Geez, Luka, could you stop making everything about you?” Sam huffed, giving the midlaner a disappointed look, “Rasmus is seriously in distress, okay?”

“Fine, whatever…” Luka grumbled reluctantly after a small pause, “It’s going to be fine, Rasmus…”

“Okay, okay… I’ll try to text him,” Rasmus mumbled as he started typing one message after the other, “I just hope he reads it in time…”

“Yes, but even if he doesn’t read it, we POLISH JUNGLERS know how to HANDLE ourselves, okay?” Jankos exclaimed proudly, raising his fist into the air, “have a little FAITH in Oskar!”

“If Oskar handles things anything like you do, that’s even more of a reason to worry if you ask me,” Wunder smirked on the other side of the table.

“Don’t start me again, Wunder!” The jungler yelled out, pointing straight at the toplaner, “I was ready to make PEACE, don’t make me REGRET it!”

“Peace is overrated,” Perkz snorted in agreement.

“Guys, guys, GUYS!” Grabbz said loudly, walking into the kitchen with a huge frown on his face, “what the hell is going on? It’s too early for all of this shouting!”

“What, are we distracting you from not doing your job?” Miky said with a cocky grin.

“Miky, come on!” Sam mumbled, snipping the support against his forehead as punishment, “I thought I told you to be less condescending around your teammates!”

“Wunder started it!” Jankos shouted, crossing his arms.

“Oh my god, I really don’t care… we can’t allow this shit to show on stage, okay? I’m going to be so pissed if we lose against Vitality because of this, it was bad enough when Schalke beat us!” The coach grunted, waving his notebook through the air, “I’m doing my part, so the least thing you can do is not kill each other, okay??”

“That’s fair,” Rasmus muttered with a sad smile, “sorry, Grabbz…”

“Don’t do this, Rasmus, we all know it’s not your fault… did the rest of you clowns hear me?” Grabbz emphasized, looking into the faces of his players one after the other, “let’s talk about all of this over some beer after we win tonight.”

“Well, if it’s your treat…” Luka grinned, turning to face the coach, “then I’m in.”

“Ohh, didn’t you mean to say, ‘there’s nothing to talk about’?” Mihael remarked, earning another angry glare from Sam.

“WHATEVER, let’s just focus on kicking some VITALITY BUTTS!” Jankos shouted with all of his teeth showing, “I’m so done with LOSING!”

“That we can agree on,” Grabbz mumbled, nodding ever so slightly, “can everyone be in the gaming room in five minutes?”

Rasmus thought about trying to call Martin again. And Oskar – yes, of course he wanted to talk to Oskar, first and foremost. The thought of the Pole hurting the Swede for something that he didn’t actually do made Rasmus feel sick to his stomach, even though he had hardly finished his bowl of Fruit loops. But staring at his screen in the hopes of getting a response probably wouldn’t make him feel better, either. In this moment, Rasmus figured that it was the best strategy to get to the LEC studio as quickly as possible.

“Yeah, we can do that!” Rasmus said, jumping up to clean up the bowls around the breakfast table, “come on guys!”

“There it is again… that great can-do-attitude,” Wunder grumbled as he slowly started to clean up his plate.

“What about it, Martin?” Sam said with a bright smile, pinching the toplaner in his arm before turning to the ADC, “I love that about you, Rasmus!”

“And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it right now,” Grabbz said, turning on his heel to head over to the meeting area, “let’s get to work, guys!”

And that’s exactly what they did. Even though it took the team slightly more than five minutes to assemble in the gaming room, they managed to finish their preparations for their game against Vitality without a hitch, driving to the LEC studio even earlier than usual. As soon as they stepped into G2’s lounge, Rasmus wanted to storm out already. He wanted to check on Oskar and Martin so badly – he just needed to know that they were okay, or, at least as okay as the situation allowed them to be. But, before he could run off, Miky stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going, Rasmus?” He asked with his brows raised.

“I – uhm, well, I wanted to check on Oskar, and…” Rasmus swallowed, nervously glancing past the support and down the hallway, “please, please just let me go…!”

“Calm down, okay? How about you check your phone first…” The support sighed, grabbing his ADC by the shoulder to guide him back inside, “you can’t just storm Fnatic’s lounge like that, Rasmus. Not without an actual reason.”

“Well, I do have a reason, since –“ Rasmus started, pulling out his phone in the process – it was the sight of a notification that shut him up.

“See? I told you to look,” Mihael shrugged as he sat down on the huge couch, “less roaming, more thinking, got it?”

“That’s weird…” the Dane mumbled, “it’s from Oskar… he says everything is fine, but that’s obviously a lie, isn’t it?”

“Well, it could be… but it’s also a good sign. At least we know he’s not dead or in jail.”

“Mikyyyy!” Rasmus wailed, slumping down next to the support, “you can’t just say stuff like that!”

“Come on, just cheer up a little… we’ve got enough Debbie Downers on our team as it is,” Miky huffed, pointing over to the team’s midlaner sulking in the corner of the room.

“What’s that all about anyway?” Rasmus frowned, scrolling down to check Martin’s chat as well.

“Hmm… I guess I made the wrong call. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it happens…” Mihael mumbled, scratching his head a little, “but I won’t make the same mistake tonight.”

“You better not, Grabbz will kill us if we lose for sure,” Rasmus chuckled.

“Ehm, yeah, that’s totally what I was talking about,” Miky smirked, “what exactly are you searching for in your phone…?”

“Oh, ehm, I just wanted to check whether Martin has seen my messages but… it seems like he hasn’t even received them?” The ADC wondered, tilting his head a little, “that’s what one checkmark means, right? That’s weird…”

“Let me see,” Miky murmured, leaning over to inspect the symbol himself, “Oh honey… he blocked you.”

“What? Why would he do that?” Rasmus whispered, shocked at the support’s suggestion – even after he had left Fnatic with bad blood between them, Rasmus had never even thought about blocking Martin, after all. 

“It’s a power thing for sure,” Miky shrugged, “I told you he was a jerk…”

And, in this moment, it certainly felt like that to Rasmus. After he had worried about the other ADC all day long, it felt like a slap in the face to just be pushed away like this – even though Martin had probably blocked him some time ago, all things considered. For the first time that day, Rasmus started to feel a little angry. It just didn’t feel fair to him – and, since he couldn’t exactly go out to shout at Martin in Fnatic’s lounge to make himself feel better, Rasmus decided to channel his frustration into his performance in the rift later on. And, boy, did that work out well. The game was over in a flash, with G2 triumphing as the clear victors. Rasmus was feeling a rush that could only be compared with the exciting adventure he had had that morning – he almost didn’t notice Miky and Perkz coming to a stop behind him, in the middle of the hallway.

“What do you want, Miky?” Perkz grunted, looking weirdly annoyed for just coming off stage after a victory.

“I told you, I’ll take you somewhere special…” the support explained with one hand on his hip.

“Where are you guys going?” Rasmus asked, turning around to face the other guys.

“Oh, it’s a surprise,” the support said with a wink, bringing his index finger up to his lips.

“I’m in no mood for a surprise, especially not when it comes from you…” the midlaner scoffed, crossing his arms angrily.

“Come on, I promise I’ll make it worth your while… let’s just say I want to make it up to you. What happened yesterday, I mean.”

“Wait, Miky, did you just admit you did something wrong?” Rasmus mumbled, staring at the support with big eyes, “but that never happens!”

“Hmm, now that you say it…” Luka muttered, seemingly considering the offer, “where’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch… geez, guys, is it really that hard to believe that I can change my mind about something?” Mihael mumbled, glancing away sullenly.

“I mean, yeah, kind of?” Rasmus chuckled, poking the Slovenian’s side, “but good for you, Luka…”

“Okay, okay, fine!” The Croatian sighed, starting to walk towards the exit, “I’ll do it, okay? Let’s just go…”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Miky grinned, eagerly following the midlaner, “you won’t regret it!”

“Wait, guys!” Rasmus yelled after them, “you can’t just leave, the others are probably waiting for us!”

“Tell Grabbz we have plans, would you?” Mihael shouted over his shoulder, giving his ADC another wink.

“Uhm, okay!” Rasmus exclaimed before turning the other way, strolling towards G2’s lounge. A part of him was wondering about the surprise Miky had planned for the midlaner – or even about what had happened to inspire his whole “apology” to begin with, as he hadn’t quite gotten that, even after the intense conversation at the breakfast table the team had shared. But, in the end, he was smarter than to think about that too much. He already had enough disturbing stuff to deal with as it was.

“I’m TELLING you, just treat us to some VODKA back home!” Jankos yelled, catching Rasmus’ attention as soon as he stepped into the lounge.

“But I told you guys I wanted to go out,” Grabbz sighed, frowning at the obnoxiously loud jungler, “Luka said he was in, too…”

“Yeah, he was the only one, though,” Wunder shrugged, scrolling through something on his phone, “I’ve got plans for tomorrow, I can’t get wasted tonight.”

“Fine, as long as – oh, hey Rasmus,” the coach said, turning to the ADC, “where are Miky and Perkz? We’re kind of in the middle of a debate here…”

“It’s no DEBATE, I want to go home to STREAM! I PROMISED!” Jankos exclaimed dramatically.

“Uhm, sorry Grabbz, but Miky and Luka already left…” Rasmus mumbled with a nervous smile, “they said they had, ehh, other plans?”

“Well, I’ll be damned…” the coach sighed, looking defeated despite his team’s win, “I guess that means we’re going home, then… unless you want to grab something to drink, Rasmus? I’d buy you a juice or whatever!”

“Ahh, thanks for the offer but… going home sounds good to me,” the ADC said carefully.

“You heard him, let’s go, Grabbz!” Wunder exclaimed, jumping up to his feet.

“Fine, fine!” Let’s get our stuff and –“

“I’M CALLING SHOTGUN!” Jankos yelled as he stormed out of the lounge.

Wunder followed the Pole’s quick pace in a heartbeat, leaving Rasmus and the coach standing in the middle of the lounge all by themselves. After a long sigh, Grabbz huffed, “the best team in the West my ass” under his breath before slouching after his players, with Rasmus staying close behind him. For the second day in a row, the ADC simply felt like hiding in his bed, despite the glory that was their victorious performance on stage. He was angry, confused, and, frankly, scared. Sadly, he hadn’t gotten another message from Oskar, so the only information he had at his disposal was that everything was “fine” – and it didn’t get much more confusing than that. His only hope right now was that he might meet Sam back at the gaming apartment, and further that the Blonde might have some useful advice for him. If there was any opinion he could put his trust into right now, it was probably hers, after all.

When the team got back to their apartment, something surprising happened. After a weirdly peaceful ride home, the jungler continued to act suspiciously nice towards the team’s toplaner all of the sudden – and while Grabbz seemed to enjoy this unexpected turn of events thoroughly, it just made Rasmus more nervous. After all the curveballs that had been thrown at him lately, he simply felt as if he couldn’t trust his feeling that things might be changing for the better.

“Hey, Wunder, would you maybe want to play DuoQ on stream with me?” Jankos asked nicely as he took off his shoes in the hall, talking at an actually acceptable volume on top of that.

“Uhm… are you okay?” Wunder asked, frowning at the jungler’s attempt to socialize peacefully, “I’m done with League for the day, I got a raid coming up in WoW.”

“But Wunder, Jankos asked so nicely…” Grabbz mumbled with a smile that looked oddly forced, “maybe it would be good if you –“

“Oh, go stare at your UGLY ORC’S ASS THEN!” Jankos yelled out angrily, snapping right back to his usual tone.

“Wow, calling my char ugly… so mature,” Wunder grunted, rolling his eyes as he tossed his shoes aside.

“It’s the truth! You’re STUPID for not choosing a female character to look at if you ask me…” the jungler laughed mockingly, turning around to storm off towards the gaming room, “and don’t think I’ll ever ask you to play with me again!”

“You better not” Wunder shouted after the Pole before taking his phone out of his pocket to check something.

“Guys, would you just…” Grabbz sighed, running his hand through his hair, “…oh, you know what, I’ve had enough for a day.”

“Ahh, cheer up, Grabbz,” Rasmus mumbled with a crooked smile, “it could be worse, I mean, at least no one’s… punching anyone.”

“Where’s that coming from all of a sudden?” The coach asked with a puzzled look on his face, “I swear, if it comes to that I’ll…”

“Don’t worry, okay,” Wunder muttered behind the German, sounding as if he was genuinely trying to soothe him, “I’m not a violent person. And he’s just violently stupid.”

“Yeah, haha…” Rasmus agreed with a slight nod – but his mind was somewhere else entirely. Wunder might not have been a violent person, but what were the odds that Oskar was?

“Okay, I’ll put my trust in you on this one… but please, please just work on getting along? I’ll accept that as a late birthday present.” The coach said, looking a little more at ease.

“Wasn’t your birthday in January or something?” Rasmus wondered, faintly remembering the feeling of wearing a party hat around that time.

“Yeah, but I don’t remember getting any gifts from you?” Grabbz laughed.

“Okay, fine…” The toplaner grunted, “I’ll try. But I still don’t want to play DuoQ with him today.”

“Because of your thing, yeah,” the coach nodded, turning around to head towards the kitchen, “just work on it in the long run! And good night!”

“Aww, that’s sweet of you, Martin,” Rasmus said with a soft smile, “good luck with your raid, hmm?”

He could have stayed to ask Wunder some questions that he had been dying to ask for a while now, but Rasmus just really felt like he needed to talk to Sam instead. He felt so restless und agitated inside, it wasn’t even funny anymore. And so, he walked over to knock on the door of Perkz’ room – only to find it wide open, and the room behind it dark and deserted. _Shoot, she’s not here_ , he thought with a sigh, turning back around. To his surprise, Wunder was still standing in the hallway, staring back at him.

“Uhm, didn’t you say you had a raid?” Rasmus asked nervously, hoping that the toplaner wouldn’t question why he had looked into the midlaner’s room.

“Yeah but… I was wondering if you had a moment to talk?” Wunder murmured, looking away shyly, “I kind of need some advice and… god, I don’t want to ask any of the other clowns.”

“Oh, I see… sure, why not,” Rasmus said, glancing over the toplaner’s shoulder, “you wanna go to your room, maybe?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Wunder nodded, leading the way.

Wunder’s room was as messy as ever, but Rasmus was used to that and didn’t really mind too much. The chaos just required some strategic movements – he tried his best not to step on any of the empty Red Bull cans, dirty clothes or other unidentifiable items scattered across the floor. In a way, Rasmus liked to be reminded of the fact that, while he wasn’t the cleanliest, he also wasn’t the messiest guy of the team.

“Okay, so… _hvad jeg ville tale om_ …” Wunder started, signalling the ADC to come sit beside him before he continued.

“Hmm?” Rasmus hummed, blinking a couple of times – it actually took him longer than he’d like to admit to recognize his own first language. Since he normally only spoke English around the house and with his friends, Rasmus didn’t feel as in touch with his mother tongue anymore – he even felt like he was thinking and dreaming in English most of the time these days. _Maybe that’s why I keep forgetting Wunder and me are both Danish,_ he considered, following the toplaner’s suggestion and taking a seat as well. After a second of adjusting to it, Rasmus felt more than comfortable to speak Danish with Wunder – especially since it seemed as if the other guy felt more willing to open up this way.

“Yeah, so what’s bugging you?” Rasmus asked after a short moment of finding the right words to use, and another instance of wondering whether someone could actually forget how to speak their first language.

“I’ve had a rough day… I’m just feeling a little nervous about tomorrow, and that’s usually not my style at all…” The toplaner explained, looking weirdly ashamed and vulnerable – definitely something Rasmus had never experienced before.

“Okay…? Would you mind telling me what you’ve got planned for tomorrow, then?” The ADC asked carefully, trying to be mindful not to step on the other Dane’s toes.

“Well, it’s actually a good thing,” Wunder mumbled with the hint of a smile on his lips, “I’ve got my first date with an amazing girl…”

“Oh wow, that’s great!” Rasmus chirped, supressing the urge to actually clap in excitement, “I was hoping you would find someone nice soon!”

“Uhm, thanks?” The toplaner asked more than he stated, “it’s good and all, but I’m also really nervous about it.”

“That’s so unlike you, though,” Rasmus wondered, scratching his chin a little, “I mean, you always seem so fearless to me?”

“Haha, you think?” Wunder smirked, looking mighty pleased about the ADC’s assessment, “yeah, I guess I usually am…”

“So where is all of this coming from?”

“Hmm, for starters, I haven’t been on a date in some time, and she’s really cute…” The toplaner explained, looking as if he was caught in a daydream for a second.

“So? I think you’re a pretty good catch, too!” Rasmus said with a wide, genuine smile. Sure, he wouldn’t want to date Wunder himself – but he was family, and Rasmus could honestly say that he adored him just the way he was, quirks and all.

“See, the other guys wouldn’t give me a compliment even if it was the last thing that could save them from certain death…” Wunder grunted with a gloomy expression on his face, “so thanks, Rasmus.”

“Oh, was that really all you needed to hear?” The ADC laughed.

“No, uhm… I guess I’m also feeling like I have to prove myself a lot with the team lately. Like, for some reason, I’ve actually become more insecure?”

“Is it because of Jankos? Because I could talk to him or, ahh, maybe we should have Sam talking to him, actually…” Rasmus pondered.

“No, that’s not what I mean, I can handle Jankos…” Wunder grumbled, folding his hands on his lap, “forget what I said about the team. Maybe it’s more about Hannah, actually. At least, that seems to be the bigger issue right now.”

“Wait a second…” Rasmus mumbled, blinking a couple of times before turning to look at the toplaner, “did you just say Hannah? Like in the girl that Jankos got dumped by without ever really going out to begin with? That Hannah? Or is it just a common name around here…”

“Uhm… I guess both?” Wunder sighed, leaning back a little, “that’s the other problem… I kind of want to shove it into his face, but that would just make me an even bigger asshole than him, wouldn’t it?”

“Uhh… yeah, that sounds really mature, actually…” Rasmus said, nodding slightly.

“Why do you sound so surprised?” The toplaner asked with a slight frown on his face, “ah, whatever… I should feel good about it still, right?”

“It sounds like you should to me, yeah… dates are awesome, right?” Rasmus said with a smile – that lasted for about a second.

 _Dates with Oskar are awesome_ , he thought, trying his best not to let out a long sigh. The Pole had been the one to show him what it was like to go out on actual dates to begin with, and Rasmus treasured the special memories he had made during their rendezvous so much. What was left of that now?

“They are… I’m just scared that she won’t, uhm, you know, like the _whole_ me? I don’t know how to explain it…” Wunder mumbled, mildly gesturing with his hands.

“Well, as long as she’s fine with the fact that you play video games for about two thirds of the day, everything should be fine, don’t you think?” Rasmus chuckled, putting his hand on the other Dane’s shoulder.

“Now that you say it…” Wunder laughed.

“See, that’s more like it! And hey, if she doesn’t accept you for who you are, then she’s just not the right one for you…” The ADC said in a more serious tone, but still with a smile on his lips.

“You’re right… damn, Rasmus, when did you become this wise? Aren’t you supposed to be the baby of the family?” The toplaner chuckled, ruffling the smaller guy’s hair playfully.

“Well, I’ve had to learn a thing or two the hard way…” The ADC explained, closing his eyes as a few painful memories popped up in his mind.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Uhm, what?” Rasmus asked hesitantly.

“You know, if you wanna talk about the thing with Oskar and… uhm, Rekkles or whatever, I’m all ears.” Wunder shrugged, grabbing a pillow to lean against the wall behind them.

“Really?” Rasmus mumbled, feeling caught off guard by this sudden change of topic, “wouldn’t it make you feel uncomfortable to talk about… well, my _guy troubles_?”

“Pff, are you kidding me…” The toplaner snickered into his fist, “I’m not like Jankos, okay… I had to listen to my friend ramble on about her horrible boyfriends all the time back in Highschool. I don’t care.”

“Oh wow, I had no idea…” Rasmus muttered in astonishment, wondering why he had never really taken the time to sit down to have a serious conversation with the toplaner before.

“Plus, I’ve been on a team with Miky for a while now and, well, you know he doesn’t know when to shut up about inappropriate things, like hook-ups and – god forbid – freaking anime…” Wunder shuddered, looking more disgusted with the last part than anything else.

“Oh yeah,” the ADC chuckled, “I guess he’s great when it comes to training others in many different ways…”

“What do you mean…?”

“Uhm, nothing, haha,” Rasmus glanced away quickly, “anyway, I’m not sure there’s a lot more to say about my current situation with Oskar… he hasn’t texted me for a while now, and I have no idea what went down after he stormed out this morning.”

“Yeah, that was strange,” the toplaner nodded, crossing his arms pensively, “but I’d say we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Out of all the people roaming these halls, he’s probably one of the most decent… and he’s not even a part of our team!”

“Aww, you mean it?” Rasmus said with a sad smile, wishing he could have heard these words leave the other guy’s lips earlier.

“Yeah, but don’t quote me on that,” he added quickly.

“Okay, okay…” The ADC smirked, turning to look at the other Dane, “but do you really think it could be alright?”

“Sure, why not? If things are finally able to look up for me, why not for you?” Wunder explained calmly, holding eye contact.

“I like the thought…” Rasmus whispered.

Yes, even though Wunder didn’t have all the information here, it still felt good to hear someone say that everything would be alright – even if it was just for a moment, Rasmus felt the weight on his shoulders being lifted. Even if it wouldn’t come true at all, right now, he just needed to see some sort of silver lining to hold onto.

“Come on, don’t look so sad…” Wunder said, patting the ADC’s back, “you’ve got this, okay?”

“Yeah… man, Martin, you really are a great guy,” Rasmus said softly.

After a short pause, Rasmus felt the other guy giving his shoulder a squeeze, and it felt like they were even closer than before for a moment. Then, Wunder mumbled, “you too, Rasmus.”

 _I wouldn’t be so sure about that_ , Rasmus thought, looking down at his feet. Deep down, he still felt as if he could have avoided Oskar’s outburst, and everything else that had gone down this morning, by simply coming forth and telling the jungler the truth. But, in the end, he hadn’t had the balls to go through with it – or maybe he was simply too selfish at the time. Of course, it was too late now , as there was no way to change the past. And so, all Rasmus could really do was wait. But, this time, he didn’t have to do it by himself, at least. Somehow, it felt as if him and Wunder just couldn’t stop coming up with new topics to talk about, from childhood memories, over Danish dishes they missed, all the way to their funniest fails in the rift. The time went by without either of them noticing, as it tended to just fly by when one is having fun.

“Oh shoot, Martin, didn’t you say you had a raid coming up?” Rasmus exclaimed as he caught a glimpse of the time on his phone, “did you miss it already? I’m so sorry…!”

“Ah, no, it starts in ten minutes…” The toplaner mumbled as he did the same.

“Oh, good!” Rasmus said, feeling quite relieved inside, “I’ll just see myself out, then…”

“Actually…” Wunder said, scratching his head, “if you don’t mind, I think I’d like to chat some more? It’s the same raid every day, anyway…”

“Oh… well, in that case…” Rasmus grinned enthusiastically, “I’d love to!”

“Great…” The toplaner said with a slight smile, “sooo about me being a great guy…”

“Of course you would like to talk about that some more!” Rasmus laughed, “I don’t mind as long as we – oh, hey, give me a moment.”

Only seconds after he had felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his sweatpants, Rasmus held it in his hands to check the notifications. During any other time, he might have ignored it for the time being, for the sake of common courtesy – but, considering the events of the day, he was simply too desperate for a certain someone to get back to him. Rasmus could feel his heart pounding all the way up in his throat as he stared at the screen.

“What is it, Rasmus?” Wunder asked after a moment of watching the other Dane look at his phone silently, “you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Rasmus mumbled, turning to the toplaner with a solemn expression on his face, “it’s Oskar.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

Translations:

**Oskar**

_Skurwysyn_ = son of a bitch

 _Zabiję go_ = I’ll kill him

 _Ja pierdolę_ = fuck this shit

**Wunder**

_hvad jeg ville tale om_ = what I wanted to talk about…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap on Caps' POV! What a whooper, huh? This chapter was especially fun for me to write, partially for some very different reasons...
> 
> What are your thoughts/feelings on this? And what is going to happen in the next chapter? Questions, questions... please let me know, either in the comments or on the DreamServer™! 
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	48. Part 11: Sam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the (new) longest chapter ever! 
> 
> We're past the 14k mark with this one, and, even though I am excited about this POV, I have to admit that it was the most frustrating thing to write. I had to rewrite it countless times until me and my trusty beta bean were happy with it... which is why I'm even more excited to share it with you now! Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> (Our Discord server is growing and thriving, by the way! If you want to join, you can use this link for the first 24 hours after I posted this chapter: https://discord.gg/ysUm3j / after that, just leave a comment asking for another temporary link. Excited to meet you on the DreamServer™!)
> 
> PS: phoenixsigns made this awesome "which CSTLYG (or ayayaya) character are you?"- Quiz and shared it on the server, I wanted to make sure everyone who isn't on it can take it too, so here's the link:  
> https://uquiz.com/quiz/cQ5d2D/which-cant-seem-to-let-you-go-character-are-you  
> Which character did you get? Share if you want! :D

If there was one thing Sam truly hated, it was admitting that she was wrong. Despite priding herself with being very empathetic and generally helpful, as she was the one most people in her life came to for advice, Sam truly, truly despised apologizing herself. In the end, it was one thing to tell someone how to get out of a tricky situation, sometimes even to swallow their pride in order to make it up to the person they failed – but it was a whole nother thing to actually go through with it oneself. Yes, most people had problems with following their own advice. And so, Sam woke up in the worst mood possible that morning. _Was it really that bad?_ She thought with pouty lips, staring up at the blank ceiling. Now, the fact that she had to spend the night alone in someone else’s bed was probably more than enough to answer that. But that didn’t mean that Sam found the way in which Perkz had reacted to her and Miky’s little surprise anywhere near acceptable, or even reasonable.

Sam had been so certain that Luka would be into it. Hell, if he was into the idea of a threesome with Jankos, of all people, how could he resist the opportunity to get it on with both of his actual lovers? But no, he just had to start freaking out, yelling something about being ‘furious’ about Miky and Sam going behind his back. _Bloody hell, we didn’t go behind your back_ , Sam thought grumpily as she remembered, slowly sitting herself up, _you’re the one screwing the both of us… also,_ _ever heard of a ‘surprise’?_ It was, at least, hard to believe that the midlaner didn’t like surprises, judging by his tendencies to shake things up in his career again and again, never really knowing what kind of outcome would await him. But maybe it wasn’t the element of surprise that he had disliked about coming home to find his lovers getting steamy without him. Maybe it was something else entirely.

 _But Mihael and I didn’t even end up shagging_ , Sam thought, grunting loudly as she threw the deserted pillow beside her across the room in frustration. She had wanted to, sure. She was strangely attracted to the team’s support, even more so after experiencing his infamous tendencies in the bedroom first hand, and she had really gotten off on dominating him the night before. Still, after Perkz had announced that he’d sleep on the couch ever so dramatically, the mood shifted instantly. Both of them had been surprised by the reaction, leading to their desires ebbing out swiftly. Sam tried to run after Perkz, but he just blocked her off – and, in the end, she knew that it was no use to talk to him when he had his walls up. And so, she had decided to retreat to the midlaner’s room with her head hung down low.

 _If I could have at least talked it over with Mihael_ … Sam thought, trying to take some deep breaths to calm down. She had been relieved to find Miky still sitting on Perkz’ bed when she returned with a heavy heart, but the support didn’t look like he was in the mood to chat either. Instead, he just said he’d fix it – whatever that could imply – and left. He didn’t want to stay, not for a conversation, not for sex, not for cuddles, and certainly not for sleeping in the same bed. It was not that Sam had necessarily expected any of these things, but she had still felt weirdly abandoned as she tried to fall asleep after that catastrophic ending of what was meant to be a fun night. That was probably why she hadn’t been awfully successful with that, barely getting more than three hours of sleep in total.

 _How did I even end up in this situation? I don’t even play freaking League of Legends,_ Sam pondered as she looked around the room she currently felt trapped in, eyeing the various merchandise displayed all around. If someone had told her that she’d be sleeping in the apartment of a professional League of Legends team for the majority of her nights a couple of weeks ago, growing weirdly fond of every single one of the whacky gamers, she would have declared that person to be an absolute nutcase immediately. Sure, she worked in IT and had to deal with computers on a daily basis, but she never really considered herself to be a gamer at all. If it hadn’t been for one of her enthusiastic friends taking her into the LEC studio the summer before, she probably would have never known about Perkz, or even about the existence of his team, for that matter. But when she saw him in the studio, something clicked. Several months later, Sam wondered why she couldn’t forget about the way the midlaner had smiled after taking the win. Yeah, it all started with that darn smile. And then, after some more lonely winter nights, she finally decided to make him hers.

 _I still don’t know all the rules of the darn game_ , she thought, sighing as she swung her legs off the bed, _but I don’t want to leave, either_. In this moment, as hard as it was, Sam tried to consider whether she might have overdone it. The teasing, the banter, the endless declarations of wanting to have ‘sexy fun’ – in the past, it felt like the only way to avoid getting hurt. And she loved that Luka had a similar way of dealing with the world around him. When she jumped into this thing they had going on, Sam felt as if their arrangement might have been close to perfect, with them being there for each other, physically and emotionally, without the crushing weight of a serious relationship label pulling them down. But maybe there was a way to get hurt like this after all. Maybe, just maybe, it was even worse.

 _But he could have at least given me the chance to say something_ , Sam thought, jumping right back to sulking within seconds. Now, Perkz hadn’t exactly been vocal about his feelings, either. A small part of Sam did hold the selfish suspicion that it was because he might have fallen for her for real – but, even if he did, he spared no efforts to cover it up. They never went out, they never talked about serious matters, and feelings were certainly nothing that was ever discussed, unless the goal was to gossip about those other people held. This way, it was easy to believe that it was all just fun. Sam wondered whether her stance regarding this matter had changed at all – whether she had changed during her time with Luka. As she looked out of the midlaner’s window onto the busy streets of Berlin, she was sure that she wouldn’t have stayed in this place if it had been someone else. Maybe that was her answer – but that didn’t mean that she was ready to take the blame for everything. Although she didn’t completely count out the possibility of apologizing. But, for that, Luka would have to come to her – it was his room after all, wasn’t it?

In anticipation of their reunion, Sam put on her clothes for the day already, trying to look as good as she could without getting herself fixed up in the bathroom. _Oh yeah, looking fit_ , she thought with a smile as she eyed her reflection, using her phone as a mirror as no guy seemed to see the use of having one in their room. It was her mother who had taught her that looking good equals feeling good in difficult situations, and, especially when she had to stand her ground, Sam made sure to look her best because of that. It was a way to hit two birds with one stone in this case, as looking good couldn’t hurt her chances of getting Luka to look at her at least, either. _Gosh, I really want to see him right now_ , Sam thought, playing with the thought of storming the living room to meet the midlaner there after all. But then, almost as ordered, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” Sam chirped, wondering why Luka would even feel the need to knock in the first place.

“THANKS!” Jankos exclaimed loudly as the door swung open with a bang, “uhm, I mean, thank you.”

“Oh, Marcin,” Sam said, blinking at him in surprise, “I didn’t expect that to be you I… hey, you actually waited for me to call you in this time. Good job!”

“That’s… well, I had to learn it the hard way,” the jungler stuttered, slowly moving over to the desk to sit down in Perkz’ chair, “can I – uhm, sit down?”

“Uhh what? Of course you can,” Sam mumbled, caught off guard by the Pole’s sudden politeness.

“I came by because I wanted to… well, TALK… I hope you don’t mind.” Jankos explained, with obvious hesitation in his tone.

“Oh, not at all,” the Blonde smiled, actually feeling relieved about the chance to distract herself from her own, conflicted feelings, “what is it?”

“I’m sure you heard me, uhm, having a DISCUSSION with Perkz just now…” Jankos began, playing with his hands.

“I actually didn’t…” Sam mumbled, feeling just as surprised about missing out on that as Marcin looked, “what exactly happened?”

“Well… after what I…SAW last night, I didn’t know what to do, and when Perkz was RUDE to me again this morning, I decided to tell him about you and… Miky.” The jungler explained, hanging his head down low in shame.

“Oh… well, that’s okay, Marcin, Luka already knew so… you didn’t do anything wrong if that’s what you’re implying,” Sam said, trying to reassure the jungler. Of course, she was still curious about the midlaner’s reaction to whatever Jankos thought he had seen.

“Yes, he made sure to TELL me,” Jankos grunted, crossing his arms, “which made me WONDER… what was that all ABOUT? And WHY did he sleep on the COUCH in the first place?”

“Well… it’s a long story, really,” Sam muttered, yawning in between sentences, “I don’t know if you want to hear all about it… also, I’m totally _knackered_ over here, so I don’t know whether I’m the best storyteller at the moment.”

“You’re WHAT?” Jankos asked, looking mighty confused.

It took Sam a moment to realize why the other guy didn’t understand what she was saying. Especially in the morning, that happened with Luka all the time, too.

“Oh, I’m sorry – I meant to say that I’m very tired, I haven’t slept a lot, you see,” Sam explained, trying her best to get back to avoiding British slang as much as possible. It was something that just didn’t work around a team of non-native English speakers.

“Oh, I see!” Jankos nodded slowly, “is it because you and Miky were… uhm, busy…?”

“What? Oh no, not at all,” Sam stammered with a nervous smile, “and can I just say that I’m sorry that you saw what you saw? It was certainly not meant for your eyes…”

“It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t surprised,” the jungler admitted, looking down at his hands, “the way MIKY looked at me with his STUPID face I –”

“Marcin, please. Mihael didn’t do anything wrong. I understand that you’re upset, but please don’t blame him – if anything, I’m the one to blame.” Sam said slowly.

“What? You mean… he wasn’t the one that jumped you?” The jungler asked, somehow growing more and more quiet.

“No… and he’s not a bad person either, despite how he comes across sometimes.” Sam added quickly.

“Well, I guess he DOES always make sure to ward my buffs for me and everything…” Jankos muttered, and Sam couldn’t help but wonder what in the hell that even meant.

“I, uhm, I guess?” She mumbled, squinting at the jungler.

“He also took Rocky on a walk and bought him a new collar! He wasn’t wearing it yesterday, but still…” Jankos grunted, apparently fighting a battle in his head.

“Sure, fair point,” Sam nodded supportively, suppressing her laughter as she definitely knew what that was about.

After another moment of silent brooding, Jankos yelled out, “OKAY! Fine, so I overreacted. I WON’T put Rocky’s poop in Miky’s stupid shoes then, I get it!!”

 _Wait, were you really planning on doing that?_ Sam wondered, but she was too afraid to ask.

“STILL…” Jankos started again, leaning forward in his chair, “that DOESN’T explain what was going on with Perkz!”

“Well, that’s a bit embarrassing…” Sam admitted, even though she thought she had nothing to be ashamed of up until this point. Maybe it was saying it out loud that made it worse.

“It absolutely can’t be WORSE than what I saw,” Jankos shuddered, dramatically covering his eyes with his hands.

“Hmm, how do I explain this…” Sam sighed, trying to come up with a family friendly way of describing the unfortunate events of the night before, “okay, uhm, how about this: you remember what we did after you won that bet a couple of weeks ago, right?”

“Y-yes…” The jungler stammered, looking away swiftly – but Sam could tell that his face was as red as a beet.

“Ah, I’m sorry… I just thought it would be easy to explain with that, since Luka had voiced an interest in… joining us back then, remember?”

“OH MY GOD why are you reminding me of that?? I had ALMOST forgotten…!” The jungler cried out, looking disturbed all over again.

“Sorry, again, it’s just that… well, it seems as if that interest is gone. Poof. He didn’t want to do it when he came home yesterday and, uhm, just got angry instead.” The Blonde explained, feeling as if she still played things down a little. But maybe this was enough for now.

“Ugh, that’s so LIKE him…! He changes his mind when it suits HIS needs, but once I got used to playing with CAPS in the midlane, he just swaps BACK?? What about MY NEEDS??” Jankos yelled out, glaring into the distance.

“Ehm, what?” Sam mumbled, blinking a couple of times, “are we still talking about me?”

“AGH! Yes, yes… SORRY, this is just a touchy subject,” Jankos said, clearing his throat before continuing, “I’m just saying that Perkz is SELFISH… and that he doesn’t appreciate you enough!”

“Uhm, I mean, maybe a little…” Sam wondered.

“You deserve the WORLD!” Jankos went on, gesturing with both of his hands, “and what does he do? NOTHING!”

“Aww, you’re so sweet, Marcin, but it’s not like he does nothing at all…” Sam sighed, thinking about lying in Luka’s arms again.

“Really? Name THREE romantic activities you’ve done with him recently!” Jankos said promptly, crossing his arms.

“Uhm… well just the night before we did… maybe that’s a bit too explicit now that I think about it,” Sam smirked.

“I said ROMANTIC!! Geez woman…” The jungler shuddered, shaking his head, “that just proves my point, Perkz is simply not enough for you!”

“You make it sound so easy… tell me, Marcin, what do you think is a romantic activity?” Sam chuckled.

“WELL,” the jungler cleared his throat before continuing, “I think he should wake you up with ROSES every day, and take you OUT on nice dates, I mean I would –“

“You would…?” Sam asked carefully as the Pole had suddenly come to a stop.

“Did I say I would? I mean he should, yeah…” Jankos stammered, looking away quickly.

“Hmm… Marcin,” Sam hummed, tilting her head a little, “it really bothers you that I’m with Luka, doesn’t it?

“It – it doesn’t really BOTHER me, that would be an EXAGGERATION!” Jankos exclaimed, very obviously trying to laugh it off – but Sam just stared at him with her impossibly big eyes, and it only took the jungler about a second to grow silent again.

“I don’t know what people have been telling you your whole life, but it’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes. Even the 'best League of Legends player in the world' – was it? – doesn’t have to be strong all the time.” Sam said with a warm smile.

“What, uhm, I know that, I mean…” Jankos stammered, facing away from the Blonde before continuing, “I… just really like you. I guess I wish you would have liked me, too.”

“Oh Marcin…” Sam whispered, not really finding the words she needed in that moment – all she had at her disposal was a cliché. But what could one do if it happened to express what one felt? There was a reason why some phrases reached the status of a cliché, after all.

And so, after taking a deep breath, Sam said, “of course I like you. Yes, we’re not really a match, but I’m still thankful to have you in my life, just like the rest of the G2 squad – you’re my friend.”

 _And that’s all that I can give to you_ , she thought with a slight sigh as she watched Jankos’ expression grow a little more solemn. Sam had hoped that their decision to stick to being friends after a weird morning-after following their Valentine’s day date had been a mutual one. She had hoped that, for once, no one’s feelings would have to be hurt. Yes, ever since Sam could remember, her path had been paved by broken hearts. She had abandoned her own search for romance after getting burned badly in her youth, but, as it turned out, despite common belief, most guys DID have problems with no-strings-attached-relationships – thus resulting in bad “break-ups” that Sam hadn’t even realized were coming before they happened. She hated that, as hurting others was the last thing she wanted to do. And yet, here she was again.

“OH, come on, don’t look so sad now, Sam!” Jankos exclaimed, patting the Blonde’s back with a little too much force.

“Uhm, what?” She mumbled in return, not even realizing what her face must have looked like after she had taken a sad stroll through memory lane.

“You look like someone DIED or something, please!” He explained, shaking his head a little, “you don’t need to feel bad. I understand, and I’ll get over it in no time! In the end, I just like having you around!”

“Oh Marcin…” She whispered, smiling softly, “thank you. I can’t tell you how relieved I am, really…”

“There, there!” He said, pulling the Blonde in for a hug out of the blue, “it’s OKAY!”

It was a nice feeling. After she had slept by herself that night, Sam’s body was aching for human contact, and so she found herself enjoying the Pole’s embrace, even though it was unexpected and didn’t last for a long time. It was also a physical confirmation of the fact that, this time, she wouldn’t have to lose anyone – that, eventually, things would be okay. Maybe that could apply to other areas of her life as well? As Sam pulled away, she noticed just how much calmer she felt already.

“You’re really an amazing guy, Marcin… I feel like you’ll make someone very happy in the future if you let out this soft side more often!” She said, giving the jungler her brightest smile.

“Oh, haha, you think?” He replied with a weirdly shy smile, scratching the back of his head, “you don’t happen to KNOW someone who might be INTERESTED…?”

“What do you mean? I introduced you to Hannah, remember? I thought you guys had been talking…” Sam mumbled. 

“OH, Hannah…” Jankos sighed, playing with his hands, “no, that didn’t work out… she said she’s already seeing someone else now…”

“Oh, bollocks!” Sam exclaimed, just to earn another confused look from the jungler beside her, “uhm, I mean, damn! I’m sorry Marcin, I had no idea… I wonder why she didn’t tell me…”

“It’s okay, really… we probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway, not after the whole thing with WUNDER…!” The jungler grumbled.

“Oh, uhm, yeah…” Sam muttered, vaguely remembering this particular quarrel, even though it was hard to keep track of all of them at this point. Still, she didn’t want to stop supporting the jungler when it came to this. After a moment of thinking, she decided to just be honest and say, “maybe I can think of someone else, but I don’t really have a lot of girlfriends…”

“You don’t?” Jankos asked with a puzzled expression on his face, “but you’re so SMART and FUNNY and BEAUTIFUL, why wouldn’t other girls want to be friends with you??”

 _Gosh, Marcin, you just don’t know how vicious girls can be_ , Sam thought with a sad smile. No matter how nice she had been to them, Sam’s female classmates back in school, and at times even at university, tended to avoid her at all costs. It was tough to deal with back when she was younger, as she felt like an outcast despite being able to just hang with the boys most of the time, but she couldn’t care less about it now. Besides, even though she had never had a lot of friends, there were always a handful that she could count on. Those people were the reason why Sam had never ceased to believe that there was good in every person, no matter how hard it was to find. Of course, Sam wasn’t sure how exactly she was supposed to explain this to Jankos, who seemed to worship all women like they were goddesses walking on earth. Conveniently enough, a more suitable way of explaining came to her mind.

“Hmm, well, tell me, are you friends with a lot of _other junglers_?” She asked, tilting her head at Jankos.

“What? IMPOSSIBLE! They are all just too JEALOUS because I’m obviously the BEST and…” he paused, seemingly realizing something, “oh…oh! So THAT is what you meant! It’s LONELY at the top, isn’t it??”

“Haha, yes, something like that,” Sam chuckled, feeling a lot more at ease after seeing Jankos back at his normal, comedic self, “I still think I might have someone in mind, so just be patient for me, okay?”

“Okay, thank you!” Jankos said with an eager nod, wiggling in the gamer chair in excitement, “just to be sure… I wanted to ask…”

“Hmm?” Sam hummed, blinking a couple of times – she had been so sure about the conversation being close to over at this point already.

“WELL – listen,” the jungler started hesitantly, “I don’t like to ASK but… what do PERKZ and, well, MIKY have that I DON’T? As I said, I’m totally OVER IT and everything, but I just need to KNOW!”

“Oh… uhm,” Sam stammered, unsure of how to handle this delicate question at first, “I… I don’t know, I think I just like how open and… free they are?”

“I don’t understand…! My champion pool is HUGE, and I try out new brands of cereal ALL THE TIME!” The jungler grunted, obviously missing the girl’s point completely.

“No, Marcin, I meant that they are just as adventurous as me… in the bedroom, with each other… you know?” She explained with a soft smile on her lips.

“Oh…” Jankos frowned, visibly shuddering.

“Sorry for the imagery, but yeah, that’s just hot in my eyes,” the Blonde smirked cheekily, feeling excited by just the thought of finally seeing the action right in front of her already.

“Ugh, okay… let me get this straight… it’s… ‘hot’ for a guy to be into other guys?” The jungler muttered, still looking quite disturbed by that insinuation – maybe it was even something that clashed with his worldview altogether.

“There’s nothing _straight_ about it, actually…” the Blonde chuckled, swinging one leg above the other, “and I wouldn’t say that applies for everybody, of course, but it definitely works for me! It opens up some new… opportunities, you know?”

“I see…” Jankos nodded slowly, looking lost in thoughts, “but… that can’t really be all, right?”

“Oh Marcin, please don’t worry too much!” Sam said, trying her best to reassure the jungler, “if there’s anything you want to change, I’d say change your attitude and allow your nice side to show more often!

“Pff, but I’m NICE all the TIME!” The jungler protested promptly.

“Really? Then what about Martin?” Sam asked, causing the Pole to start sulking again, “come on! I’m sure the team would benefit from it if you stopped your quarrels with him…”

“But if he’s the one starting it…?” The jungler grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Then you can still choose to be the bigger person… just try it, okay?” Sam said, suddenly feeling her stomach growl faintly.

“Are you hungry…?” Jankos asked carefully.

“Oh… yeah, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I think I really need to get myself some breakfast now! You wanna go together?”

“I would LOVE to!” The jungler yelled out, jumping up from his chair before turning to Sam with a more serious expression, “and THANK you for taking the time to talk, I feel much better now!”

“I’m glad…” Sam smiled, walking towards the door, “me too.”

And yes, she really did feel a lot better already, even though she hadn’t exactly come up with a solution for what was going on with Luka. Still, thinking about her experiences in the past, as well as talking about the jungler’s resolution to keep pushing his luck for something new, did make Sam feel some type of way. She might have been trying to protect herself as much as possible, but she was not dumb. That fluttering sensation in her chest she felt as she was about to leave the midlaner’s room to possibly go meet him in the kitchen could only mean one thing: even though it went against everything she had believed in for many years now, she wanted more. Fun just wouldn’t cut it anymore – no, Sam didn’t want to wake up without seeing that smile flash up beside her. Or maybe she just needed to hear those ridiculously cute snores – either way, she wanted Luka to be there. Right now, that was the only thing she wanted to tell him.

But, as Jankos had already hinted at earlier, the G2 household was as lively as ever, despite the early time of the day, with various voices echoing through the hall as soon as Sam opened the door. It was the sheer volume of one particular voice, as well as the fact that she didn’t understand the language it was yelling in, that caught Sam’s attention. She shrieked up as soon as Oskar suddenly ran out of the kitchen with an immense speed, shouting out more unintelligible things as he stormed past them. Almost instinctively, Sam covered her mouth with one of her hands in shock, as she had never seen Fnatic’s jungler this furious – or even slightly angry – before. She could only imagine what must have happened to cause this outburst, but in this case, she was more worried than curious to find out. Beside her, Jankos didn’t look quite as shocked. Instead, he shouted something that Sam couldn’t make out either after Oskar, who was almost out of the door by now.

“What did he say…?” Sam inquired carefully after remembering that both of the junglers were Polish.

“Ahh, I don’t know, lots of swear words, something about killing someone…” Jankos shrugged as if it was a totally normal thing.

“What?? Marcin, you can’t be serious!” Sam gasped, quickly pulling the Pole towards the kitchen, “Come on, we need to get to the bottom of this…!”

“OKAY, okay, fine… hey guys, what was THAT all about?” Jankos asked loudly as he poked his head inside, finding the rest of the team already gathered around the breakfast table.

“Yeah, and where’s Rasmus…?” The Blonde added hesitantly, searching the room with her eyes for the ADC, “is he okay?”

“Oh, _that’s_ what you want to know…?” Luka scoffed, not even turning around to look at her – at the other end of the table, Mihael shrugged as she looked at him for answers. With a sigh, Sam took a different seat than usual in an attempt to give Perkz some space. This wasn’t the time or place to discuss their problems after all, especially not with whatever was going on at the moment.

“You should ask him yourself,” Wunder explained, looking weirdly grim, “I don’t think I even understand what happened, and I was here this whole time. Literally, I just sat here and ate my Mett and then –“

“Yeah, yeah, poor you,” Miky remarked with a mocking grin before gesturing towards the door, “but yes, let’s hear what Rasmus has to say.”

And what followed was about as bad as Sam could have imagined it in her wildest dreams. For a moment, it made her forget about everything else. She felt so bad for Rasmus, and for Oskar, too. Both of them were amazing as far as Sam was concerned, with huge smiles and even bigger hearts. In which world did they deserve this heartache? It was hard not to hate the people – or rather the person – responsible for all of this. But, in the end, Sam knew better than to believe that Rekkles would have acted out of evil intentions. If anything, he was probably just as lost as the others.

Sure, Sam had never met Fnatic’s ADC, but one didn’t exactly need a degree in psychology to figure out that he was dealing with some stuff. It still would have been nice to just push the blame onto a purely mischievous villain, who was trying to destroy Oskar’s and Rasmus’ luck. This way, she wouldn’t have to consider that even the seemingly most perfect relationships – labels being optional in this case – could just come to an end like that. _No, I don’t want it to end_ , she thought with determination as she stomped back towards Luka’s room, following the midlaner. But she wasn’t sure whether she was still thinking about Rasmus and Oskar.

“Listen, Luka…” Sam began as soon as she closed the door behind her.

“No, let me cut you off right there,” the midlaner said in a harsh tone, “I just came here for some clean clothes, nothing more than that.”

“Please, let’s just talk about what happened last night and –“

“Oh my god, did I fucking stutter?” Luka grumbled, glaring at the Blonde angrily, “I don’t want to talk… not now, at least.”

“Well, when would be a better time then? I mean…” Sam mumbled with pouty lips – even though she had expected Perkz to still be mad, she didn’t enjoy being snapped at like this.

“I don’t know,” Luka huffed, dramatically ripping a clean shirt out of his closet, “just… not now. I have to work.”

“Fine, I’ll just wait until after the meeting and then –“

“No! No, Sam…! God, I can’t do this,” Perkz grunted, “just… I don’t want you here right now, okay?”

“But Luka…” Sam mumbled, unable to say more than that in this moment.

“Please, just leave…!” he muttered as he headed for the door, not even turning back once.

“But…”

But no, it was too late now – Perkz was already gone. In this moment, Sam felt as if he had slipped through her fingers in both a literal and a metaphorical sense – a thought that scared her. Once more, she felt as if she needed to address that. But now that the Croatian was blocking her off almost mercilessly, how would she ever be able to do that? The way he treated her was harsh, and even though Sam knew that he was doing it because he was hurt, it was still hard to deal with. Slowly, the Blonde sat down on the bed. _I don’t want to leave_ , she thought again. The feeling was even stronger now than it had been that morning. Yet now that Luka had specifically asked her to go, what other options did she have? As she was trying to come up with something, there suddenly was another knock on the door.

“Yes…?” Sam asked carefully, straightening herself up to look a bit more presentable.

“Okay, so, I know it’s bad,” Mihael mumbled as he walked inside, not wasting another second on common courtesy.

“Yeah, no shit! Did you see how he just stormed out??” Sam exclaimed, staring at the support, “Mihael, we totally cocked this up!”

“What was that about a cock…” Miky wondered, raising one of his brows in confusion.

“God, you know what I mean – we, I mean, I fucked it up! I was so sure that this was right for us all, I thought he wanted it – hell, I wanted it so badly - and now he won’t even look at me, and, and…!” Sam rambled, feeling her voice starting to shake.

“Shh, okay, just calm down,” the support sighed, sitting down on the bed beside her, “I know it sucks when he’s mad, but this is nothing we can’t fix…”

“Fix…? What do you mean?” Sam mumbled, carefully wiping the corner of her eye with her sleeve, “I’m pretty sure that we shouldn’t do anything crazy again if that’s what you’re getting at…”

“Pff, no, I’m not stupid, okay…” Mihael scoffed disparagingly, “he won’t fall for any traps when he’s mad, trust me, I’ve tried.”

“Of course you have…” Sam sighed, trying to ban those lewd thoughts out of her head for now, “what exactly can we do to ‘fix this’ then? Enlighten me…”

“It’s simple, actually… we just need to adjust the conditions of the arrangement.” The support explained, pushing his glasses up with a single finger, “well… actually, you’re the one who needs to do it.”

“What?” Sam huffed, genuinely trying her best to follow the Slovenian’s suggestion, “I’m sorry, but you’re talking absolute gibberish right now.”

“God… why is it always the smart people that end up being the dumbest when it comes to this…” Miky grunted, facepalming once more, “okay, let me put this into simpler terms: you don’t want to lose him, right?”

“Yes, of course,” Sam nodded eagerly.

“Right… see, I don’t want to lose him either. It’s bothersome, but I guess that’s just the way it is,” the support said in a calm manner, “you know what I’m getting at now, right?”

“Uhh… sure, totally, yup, absolutely,” Sam lied, squinting at the Slovenian as she tried to wrap her brain around the hints she had been presented with.

“Why are you such a hopeless case all of a sudden?” Mihael smirked, now looking almost amused by the situation, “to think that I admired you for how sharp you were…”

“Hey, no fair!” Sam laughed, nudging the support’s side, “… but did you really?”

“Uhuh,” he hummed with a sly grin on his lips, “and because of that, I’m gracious enough to give you another hint… which is just that the way in which I don’t want to lose him is different from yours.”

“Well, duh, that’s painfully obvious…” Sam said, smiling nervously, “I mean, I know that I should tell him that I… uhm…”

“Yeah, you should,” the support agreed before the Blonde could even finish her sentence. She should have figured that he had known for a long time.

“Geez… even if I wanted to, there’s hardly any time, I mean he said that today he just wanted me to leave and…” Sam mumbled as she pulled out her phone to check the time, when, suddenly, something else caught her attention.

“…yeah? I don’t know if you know this, but it actually helps to finish a sentence once you’ve started it, you wanna give it a go?” Miky remarked mockingly, tilting his head.

“Sorry, it’s just… today is the 29th of February,” the Blonde said as if it explained everything.

“So what?”

“Oh, of course it would be February the 29th…!” Sam exclaimed excitingly, completely ignoring Miky’s earlier question, “Mihael, whatever you’ve got planned, it needs to happen today!”

“What kind of anime moment – ugh, you know what, there’s no time to explain,” the support sighed, slowly getting off the bed, “I gotta get back to the meeting, I’m running late already so… okay, today.”

“Great, okay, I’ll just think about what to say and… wait, where and, uhm, when are we…?” Sam asked hesitantly, realizing that Miky basically hadn’t revealed a single thing about his idea.

“Just leave that part to me…” The Slovenian smirked, “let’s just say I’m known for setting up some legendary plays…”

“So I’ve heard,” Sam replied with a warm smile, “as long as we don’t… uhm, what was it – _‘int’_ as much as we did last night, we should be fine, right?”

“Something like that…” Mihael chuckled as he reached for the door, stopping again all of a sudden, “… wait, are you on your period, actually?”

“What? No, why would you ask me that I… what?” Sam asked, giving the support a confused look.

“Huh, weird, I just thought… nevermind, there’s no time,” Miky mumbled to himself as he opened the door, “I’ll send you the details later… let’s make it happen.”

And, just like that, he was gone, too. This time, Sam didn’t feel nearly as sad about being left alone as she did the last time – no, this time, there was some sort of plan. And also, step by step, there was more clarity. It was almost as if she had watched herself through a dirty window this whole time, only to finally pick up a sponge to clean off the dirt after the catastrophe that had gone down the day before. Slowly but surely, she could see it all now – her desires, her wishes… everything. As she packed her things to go back to her own apartment for the day, Sam felt as if she was finally able to accept these things about herself. But that was not all. Now that she knew, she didn’t want to keep it to herself any longer.

The only question that remained was how exactly Miky’s infamous plan would go down – even after receiving instructions from the Slovenian a couple of hours later, Sam still had no idea regarding what the support had in mind. She’d just have to trust him blindly on this one – one could call it a _leap of faith_. She certainly wouldn’t have acted without any sort of reassurance for just anyone, but, in the end, this wasn’t about just anyone. And so, after spending some time trying to work on one of her projects from home, Sam decided that she should get going in the evening hours. Packing her bag was almost as stressful as if was before taking a two week long trip somewhere, mostly because Sam just kept second guessing every single item she wanted to take with her. After battling with her bag for what felt like ages, she ended up leaving a lot later than she had wanted to.

She knew that G2 must have taken the stage already by the time she arrived at her designated destination, which slowly but surely caused her to grow more nervous. Well, that and the fact that she had never been to such a fancy hotel before. As Sam walked down the decadently decorated hallway towards the elevators, she found herself marvelling at her surroundings, almost forgetting why she came to this gorgeous hotel in the first place. She felt like a little girl unwrapping her long awaited Christmas gifts when she opened the door to her suite, with her big eyes glistening in excitement. The place was huge and had a breath-taking skyline view, visible through the huge window front. As the sun had departed hours ago, the scene was only lit up by the various lights of the city. The sight was captivating, and it took Sam a couple of minutes to remember her whole purpose of being here.

 _Time for some touch-ups_ , Sam thought as she put her travelling bag down to head over to the bathroom with her make-up pouch in hand. To save some time, she was already wearing her outfit for the night. As Miky's instructions had called for a fancy outfit, she had decided to wear her nicest gown – a tight, black dress with elaborate beading and embroidery and a daring cleavage.It had also taken her quite some time to get into the dress, and she didn’t feel confident about being able to get it off herself. _Let’s just hope I don’t have to_ , Sam thought, smacking her lips after applying another coat of red lipstick. But not even her best lipstick could help with her uncertainty. She didn't know what she wanted to say to Luka at all - no, the only thing Sam knew for sure was that she was way too nervous – and that she needed a drink. Since it was just about 10 pm, Sam figured that she should still have time for some liquid courage. After not finding anything that suited her taste in the minibar, the Blonde made her way downstairs to the bar close to the lobby.

“A Cosmopolitan, please,” she said as she sat down on one of the tall barstools.

“Right away, Ma’am,” the bartender replied seamlessly as she got to work right away, since there was no one else sitting at the bar.

“Make it a strong one,” Sam added with a sigh.

“Of course.” The bartender said with a nod, not going easy on the Vodka.

“Thanks… you’re a lifesaver,” Sam mumbled as the cocktail was handed to her.

“I get that a lot,” the bartender smiled, looking left and right before leaning in a little.

“Figures…” The Blonde hummed, nipping on her drink.

“Look, I shouldn’t be asking this, but you look like you’re having a difficult night…” The bartender added after a moment of rather uncomfortable silence.

“I do? Well…” Sam frowned, realizing that she hadn’t exactly done a good job at hiding her nerves, “there’s something big happening tonight but… I don’t know just how well it is going to end for me.”

“That sounds tough,” the bartender said, cleaning up behind the bar casually, “am I right to assume that it’s about a guy?”

“Oh wow, you’re good at this,” Sam nodded slowly, feeling as if the bartender ticked off all the cliché boxes except for having a thick German accent, “yeah, it is about a guy… or, two actually.”

“Interesting… so, you have to make a decision?”

“What? Oh, no, this isn't anything like _Vampire Diaries_ ,” Sam chuckled, “I just… haven’t been completely honest about my feelings, I guess. It’s just scary, you know?”

“Yeah, lots of people that come here have the same problem,” the bartender said, moving on to polish one of the many, fancy glasses, “we’re instructed not to ask the guests any personal questions, but, most of the time, you don’t even have to ask…”

“Oh, I can imagine!” Sam laughed, sipping on her pink drink some more, “I don’t think there are many people who’d just sit at the bar by themselves for fun…”

“Yeah… it’s still an awful cliché, isn’t it?”

“Definitely!” The Blonde agreed with a wide grin, “you’re my kind of girl, uhm… wait, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Ah, we’re not supposed to tell guests our first name but… whatever. It’s Sarah.” The brown-haired girl said with a smile, putting the glass down on the counter.

“Sarah, you’re making my night this much sweeter!” Sam exclaimed promptly, raising her glass, “oh, and I’m Sam, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you too, Sam,” Sarah replied, pulling up a chair to sit down behind the counter, “it’s actually refreshing to talk to someone around my age, most of our guests are… uhm, let’s just say older.”

“No kidding! But, well, the prices around here are no joke… I could have gotten three Cosmos in another joint for this,” Sam explained as she turned the glass in her hand, eyeing her half-empty cocktail carefully.

“Yeah, but I don’t think you _should_ drink three of these right now,” Sarah said knowingly, “if this is an important night, you need your words, right?”

“God, don’t remind me…!” Sam grunted, feeling tempted to kick off her high heels, “I feel ridiculous as it is… I am absolutely clueless, and overdressed on top of that…”

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself… the dress is amazing if you ask me,” Sarah explained, leaning over the counter to take in all the deatils on the gown, “yeah, absolutely stunning. I think it’s a plus how fancy it’s looking!”

“Not for him… I don’t know what I was thinking, he loves it when I rock oversized T-shirts and slacks and… I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything besides sweatpants, actually.” Sam sighed, hanging her head down low.

“Haha sure, doesn’t mean he won’t appreciate this look though,” Sarah shrugged.

“You think I’m kidding, huh?” Sam frowned, “he’s a literal professional gamer.”

“Wow okay… but he’s still a guy?” The bartender laughed.

“You’ve got a point there, not gonna lie,” Sam chuckled, swinging her glass around in her hand, “but I still haven’t figured out what I actually want to SAY to him…“

“Well, maybe you should just start with ‘I’m sorry’?” Sarah suggested with a soft smile.

“Sorry? What makes you think that?”

“You know, you said you haven’t been honest… you’re all dressed up and nervous… I’m not an expert or anything, but it doesn’t look like he’s the one who needs to apologize here, you know?”

“See, that’s were you’re wrong, Sarah,” Sam grumbled, remembering how rude Luka had been to her in the morning – but, in the next second, she added, “…fine. Maybe I do have something to apologize for.”

“Okay, good, that’s a start…” The bartender smiled, glancing at the cocktail in Sam’s hand, “normally I’d ask if you wanted a refill, but…”

“Yeah, not a good idea,” Sam chuckled, placing her almost empty glass on the counter, “my hands are shaky, aren’t they?”

“Sounds like a normal reaction to me… you know, since you’re about to put yourself out there and all?”

“Geez, way to make it even harder for me!” Sam laughed nervously, running her fingers through her blonde locks, “this is SO not my style, I’m usually the one making people sweat, you know…”

“Oh, I can imagine,” Sarah hummed with a slight nod, “I would have avoided you at all costs if I had met you out on the schoolyard when I was younger…”

“Sounds about right,” Sam muttered under her breath, “I guess he’s just… different.”

“Uhm, you mean because of the sweatpants situation…?” Sarah asked cautiously, suddenly staring at something behind Sam.

“What? No, what I meant was –“

“Wait!” Sarah exclaimed suddenly, cutting Sam off, “sorry, it’s just… don’t freak out or anything, but I asked that because two guys in sweatpants just entered the lobby…”

“Oh my god, that’s them - I’m so not ready…!” Sam muttered, downing the rest of her Cosmopolitan in one go, “what am I going to do, Sarah??”

“Uhm, well, it’s too late to hide now, they are coming over… no, wait, only one of them is coming over?” Sarah tilted her head slightly.

“Okay, uhm, okay…” Sam stammered, trying to take some deep breaths, “just act natural…”

“Are you talking to me or to yourself…?” Sarah asked hesitantly – but it was too late for Sam to answer.

“Hi, I’ll have a beer, please… any brand will do,” Perkz said, sitting down at the other end of the bar, quite some seats away from Sam. She had to look around one of the massive wood pillars of the fancy construction to spot him, so she was at least certain that he was not able to notice her easily.

“Right away, Sir,” Sarah replied politely, and Sam couldn’t help but silently command her for her professional behaviour. Now, that didn’t mean that she had figured out what to do just yet – at the moment, she was trying to stay out of the midlaner’s field of vision.

“Thanks…” Perkz mumbled, ignoring the glass Sarah had given him to drink straight out of the bottle.

“Can I help you with anything else…?” Sarah asked, resuming to wipe the counter with her cloth – by now, Sam figured that she had somewhat of a strategy behind that.

“Oh, I wish…” The Croatian sighed, running his fingers over his buzz-cut pensively, “I don’t think I should be here, actually…”

 _You wish? What do you mean 'you wish'?_ Sam thought grumpily, playing with the empty glass in her hands. Normally, the fact that Perkz liked to flirt with everyone around him was something that Sam considered one of the many things that made him charming, but she couldn’t stand to see it happening today somehow. _Well, I guess I was a bit flirty too, but still_ … She pondered, trying to get another drop of liquor out of her obviously empty glass.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand,” Sarah replied, quickly glancing over to Sam in the process.

“Yeah… well, I’m here with this guy… I’m still kind of mad at him because he pulled some shit.” Perkz explained solemnly, taking a sip.

“Huh, sounds troublesome…” Sarah mumbled, glancing over to Sam again.

“Oh, he’s the definition of trouble! Normally I like what a dumb fuck he can be, but he just went to far this time…” Luka grumbled, looking down at his hands, “…sorry, I guess I shouldn’t just ramble on like that, huh.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve heard worse.” Sarah emphasized with a warm smile.

“Ah right – a bartender’s life, right?” Luka smirked, turning the bottle in his hand, “I’m sure Miky could tell you some stories that you haven’t heard though…”

“Excuse me, who?” The bartender asked carefully.

“The guy who fucked me over and – man, why am I here with him again? Anyway, he should be at the reception just –“ Luka began, attempting around to look for said guy in the lobby – but he stopped abruptly when he laid eyes on something, or rather someone, else.

“Yes, what was that?” Sarah asked carefully.

“What the hell are you doing here…” Luka mumbled, staring from across the bar at Sam.

“Uhm… well, I was just, uhm, having a drink?” Sam said, shuffling away from the wooden pillar as she figured there was no point in trying to hide anymore.

“Bullshit…” Perkz grumbled, clutching his beer bottle with his hand, “I knew it was too good to be true that Miky ACTUALLY wanted to make it up to me…”

“No, no he – I mean we – want to make it right again, okay?” Sam replied, trying to build eye contact with the midlaner.

“Fucking hell… just look at this set-up, for god’s sake! I should have known this was just another stupid game…!” Perkz almost yelled out, glaring at the Blonde.

“No, Luka, that’s not it,” Sam stammered, clumsily getting up to move a few barstools closer to the Croatian, “I swear I just wanted to talk and Mihael said he’d –”

“Sam! What the hell?” Miky announced as he approached the bar, gesturing with both of his hands, “why are you down here?”

“What do you mean? I thought I still had time to have a drink since you didn’t tell me you were done already…” Sam replied, looking at the support in confusion, “what is even going on…”

“Seriously? YOU’RE wondering what’s going on?” Perkz scoffed angrily, pushing himself up.

“Luka, would you just shut up for a minute…” Mihael remarked snappily before turning to Sam, “you were supposed to wait in the Suite to hand me the tuxedos.”

“Tuxedos?” Sam huffed, shaking her head in disbelief, “what are you even talking about?? You didn’t say anything about bloody tuxedos!”

“Of course I did, how else would we get into the Casino, huh? In these lousy sweatpants??” Miky barked back, dramatically pointing down his body.

“Oh my god, what Casino??” Sam grunted, balling her fists, “this is not what we talked about…!”

“Honestly, you guys are tragic…” Perkz muttered, slamming some money onto the counter, nodding over to Sarah, “sorry for the trouble, keep the change…”

“Wait! Uhm, I mean, wait, Sir,” Sarah stumbled as she reached out to grab the money.

“Wait for what?” The midlaner asked with an irritated expression on his face.

“Wait to, uhm, hear me out,” Sam stuttered, somehow managing to get up too, “this is all wrong, okay? I wanted to talk to you so desperately after what happened last night and… this morning, too, and Mihael said he knew a way…”

“Yeah, and if you would have just stuck with the plan…” The support mumbled, crossing his arms.

“Okay, I still don’t know what that plan even _looked_ like, but whatever – this is wrong, and I should have just asked you to talk like a normal person, so I’m sorry but – but please don’t run away again!” Sam said, taking a step into Perkz’ direction.

“You’re right, this is freaking stupid…” The Croatian huffed, somehow not attempting to move away from the Blonde, “it’s your fault for listening to him…”

“Well, I heard he was a good shot-caller…” Sam replied with the hint of a smile, almost looking down at Luka as she was wearing high heels. 

“Which, for the record, I am,” Mihael shrugged, taking a seat at the bar in a way too casual manner, “if we could just go up to the suite now and –”

“Oh, forget it, Miky,” Luka said, shaking his head, “I’m not going anywhere with you. Not after this epic mislead.”

“I don’t feel like it either,” Sam admitted, pulling out some money out of her clutch to give to Sarah, “thanks to you I look like a damn fool, Mihael…”

“Well, I’m actually not sure you look the part…” Luka mumbled, glancing down the Blonde’s body.

“Unlike us,” the support added, “seriously, how could you forget about the tuxedos?”

“Goodbye, Mihael,” Sam grumbled angrily, “Luka, could we please just… talk anyway?”

“I mean, there’s no way I’m staying here so… might as well,” the midlaner sighed, “just lead the way, hm?”

“Gladly…” Sam said, slowly walking over towards the elevators, mostly because of her highly uncomfortable shoes.

“Sure, whatever, go without me, then! I’ll just stay here!” Miky yelled after them before turning back to Sarah, “sorry for that. One Sex on the Beach, please.”

“Uhm, right away!” Sarah exclaimed, hesitantly waving after Sam and Luka.

Now, Sam would have been curious as to why the support decided to stay to drink overly pricy cocktails at the bar, but, as of right now, she was simply too furious to care. She must have gravely misjudged how much she could trust the Slovenian, considering how horribly wrong his whacky plan – if one could even call it that - had gone. It felt like sheer luck that she was still on her way back to her suite with Luka right now, even though he still looked awfully grim. As they stepped inside the fancy room, the Croatian walked over to the wide windowfront without a word, seemingly taking in the view for a moment. Sam took a deep breath as she kicked off her shoes, sitting down on one of the armchairs near the window as she felt like her legs simply wouldn’t carry her for much longer.

“Sit, please…” she said, pointing over to the chair on the other side of the small coffee table.

“Fine…” Perkz mumbled, sitting down slowly, “I honestly feel so out of place in this hotel, wearing my jersey and all…”

“Trust me, I’m not feeling much better over here,” Sam said, trying to adjust her overly tight dress to sit more comfortably, “but I’m still glad that you agreed to come up with me.”

“Yeah, well… what is it that you want to say?” The midlaner frowned, intertwining his fingers in his lap, “this stupid thing here might have been Miky’s fault but… I’m still mad at you, you know.”

“And you have every right to be,” Sam nodded slowly.

“I didn’t tell you to leave to punish you this morning… I just wanted some space.” Perkz explained, sounding less angry but just as serious.

“I know…” Sam sighed, “it’s just that… yesterday was… just stupid. We didn’t mean to… or, well, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I thought it would be fun, that you wanted it too…”

“And you thought wrong,” the Croatian grumbled.

“I know… I’m sorry. It just felt like the logical thing to do…” Sam said quietly.

“In what world would that be the logical thing to do I mean –“

“Let me finish, okay?” Sam added quickly, trying to stay calm even though she felt as if she was constantly being cut off, “what I meant is that I felt like that was the way for us to go since… we weren’t moving forward in any other regard.”

“Oh, we weren’t _going anywhere_? So it’s my fault now?” Luka scoffed.

“That’s not what I was saying! God…” Sam huffed, gritting her teeth a little, “I’m just saying that I felt like you weren’t honest about your feelings…”

There was a moment of silence. Perkz turned his head to look out of the huge window front into the dark night sky. Sam gave him a moment, but, in the end, it was just like it always was – as soon as the topic of feelings came up, he wouldn’t have anything to say.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about…” Sam murmured, crossing her arms, “I thought this was the only way to reach you since talking never worked…”

“Now that sounds like you _tried_ to talk to me about this _so many times_ , but that’s just not true?” The Croatian muttered, frowning at the girl sitting in front of him.

“Maybe not ‘so many times’ – ugh, does it really matter now?” The Blonde grunted.

“It kind of does, yeah! You could have just said something instead of…”

“See, you’re just not listening to me! This is exactly why I… why it seemed logical to do what I did.” Sam sighed.

“Right, the only way to solve this crisis was to just go behind my freaking back, is that it??” Luka exclaimed angrily, jumping up.

“No, wait, I was wrong about that!” Sam quickly got up to stop the midlaner from storming off again, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket, “…I was wrong, okay? And now, I can see that I was just too proud to be honest about my own feelings…”

“What are you saying?” Luka mumbled, glancing back and forth between the Blonde’s face and her hand on his arm.

“Well, uhm, as I thought about it today, I just figured out that… uhm…” Sam stammered, feeling her cheeks grow a little hotter, “actually, did you know that today’s the 29th of February?”

“…ehm, what? Yes?” Perkz huffed, blinking a couple of times in confusion.

“Great, okay, well, there’s this old British tradition called the ‘Bachelor’s day’ on this day, it’s kind of like the Sadie Hawkins dance in America…” Sam explained, playing with her hands.

“Ehm, what?” Luka asked, “I swear you’re being so random right now…”

“No, wait, I promise it makes sense, uhm,” Sam stuttered, trying to come up with a good way to explain, “it’s a tradition where the women propose to the men instead of the other way around, it was kind of a big deal back in the day…”

“So what? Are you asking me to marry you?” Perkz said with a mocking grin.

“Of course not, it’s just… I’m not a superstitious person, but it kind of felt like a sign to me today.” Sam explained, taking a deep breath as she remembered the impact that seeing the date had had on her this morning.

“A sign for what, huh?” The midlaner mumbled, now looking the Blonde straight into the eyes.

“Well, that I shouldn’t wait for you to make a move… that I shouldn’t expect you to take a risk without being willing to do it myself.” Sam swallowed hard, not trying to evade the Croatian’s stare this time. Since she had taken off her shoes, she didn’t have to look down to meet him on eye-level now – in height and mind, they were equals.

“Is this what I think it is…?” Luka muttered.

“Yeah… I’ve just had enough of all of these games. I know that’s not what I said before, and I really thought all I needed in life was fun but… it’s just not what I feel like anymore.”

“Okay…?”

“This is just as strange for me as it is for you, trust me…! I haven’t felt this way in years.” Sam explained with a sad smile, “it’s scary… and I might make even more of a fool of myself here but…”

Sam bit her lip slightly, forcing herself to keep up the eye-contact even though it felt like Luka was staring her down. This was her moment – no matter how impossibly hard it was, she needed to say it. Sam took another small step towards the Croatian and was now desperately close to him. But he didn’t move away. Instead, Sam felt like there was longing in his eyes – the same longing she had felt for so long now.

“I… what I mean to say is that…” She whispered, barely audible.

“Yes…?” Perkz asked just as carefully.

“I’m in love with you, Luka.”

“Are you serious…?”

“Yeah, uhm…” Sam breathed in sharply, feeling her lips starting to tremble, “are you going to say something or do I… look like an idiot yet?”

“No…” Luka whispered, bringing his hand up to stroke through Sam’s hair, “you look beautiful.”

And, before Sam could say another word, Luka closed the distance between them, pulling the Blonde into his arms to kiss her. Even though they had done so many times before, it felt different today – whether it was the tight grip the midlaner held her in, or the passion with which he pressed his lips onto hers, or maybe something else entirely, was not something Sam could say for sure. But she knew that her heart was beating like crazy – and that she didn’t want it to end. She closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around the Croatian’s waist and returned the kiss sensually, soaking up every last second of it. After what seemed to have been an eternity, Luka slowly pulled away from the kiss, embracing Sam even tighter as he rested his head on her shoulder. For a moment, they just stood there, right in front of the huge windowfront showing Berlin’s night sky, holding each other.

“So…” Sam whispered after some time, slowly opening her eyes again. Of course, she could imagine what the midlaner’s actions implied, but she needed to be sure.

“Yeah…” Luka mumbled, with his face still buried in the girl’s blonde locks, “me too.”

“You too what?” Sam asked carefully, stroking down the guy’s back, very well aware of the fact that she was posing a challenge with that question.

“Come on, don’t make me say it,” Perkz muttered with a slight grin, slowly moving away to wipe the corner of his eye.

“Oh, babe… are you crying?” Sam gasped, moving her hands up to cup the Croatian’s face.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous…” Luka laughed it off, shaking his head, “I just had something in my eye…”

“I see…” Sam chuckled, leaning her forehead against the midlaner’s shoulder, “I mean, it’s not like I’m scared of emotions…”

“It’s the surprise of the day, really,” Luka smirked, ruffling the Blonde’s hair, “I feel stupid for thinking that you and Miky just didn’t care about my feelings when you… did what you did.”

“Yeah, no… I mean, I don’t think Mihael doesn’t care either,” Sam mumbled, pulling the midlaner towards the huge bed to sit down, “his plan today was shit, but I just _know_ that he cares, you know?”

“Ugh… I hate that you’re right,” Perkz replied with a grin with his arms still wrapped around the girl’s waist, “but what are we supposed to do, hm? Assume that we hurt _his feelings_ now?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Sam laughed, stroking the Croatian’s cheek lovingly, “maybe we should at least let him know that things between us are okay now?”

“You really think he cares about that when there’s no benefit for him?” Luka frowned, obviously having a hard time with imagining the support’s soft side.

“Don’t underestimate Mihael… you know how invested he is in Rasmus’ relationship, don’t you?” Sam pointed out as she got up to get her phone.

“Now that you say it…” Luka admitted, turning his head to look out of the windowfront again, “god, this view is amazing, isn’t it… he got that right, at least.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever been in such a nice hotel before,” Sam agreed as she said down next to Perkz again, scrolling through her chats.

“It would really be a waste not to use this room to the fullest, right?” The midlaner said, seemingly lost in some sort of daydream.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Sam asked casually as she was typing out a short message for the support, only listening with one ear.

“I don’t know… after all the shit that went down today, I feel like I want this day to end with a true… banger.” Luka smirked as he let his hand slide all the way down to grab the Blonde’s ass.

“Oh…?” Sam hummed, putting her phone away swiftly after hitting send, “so that’s what you’re getting at…”

“Yeah…” Luka grinned cockily, moving in closer until their lips were almost touching again, “I figured I’d offer you some help, that dress looks awfully hard to take off by yourself…”

“Wow, aren’t you a real gentleman,” Sam laughed, throwing her arms around the midlaner’s neck, “how could I possibly resist…?”

“Easy, you can’t,” Luka snickered, playfully pushing the girl back onto the bed, towering over her.

“I can’t believe that this is real, Luka,” Sam whispered with a smile, pulling the midlaner in a bit closer, “I was really scared that I’d never be able to be this close to you again, you know?”

“Oh, come on, don’t say stuff like that now,” Luka hummed, still grinning as he stroked through the girl’s blonde locks, “I couldn’t have just given up on you like that… ever.”

“You mean it?” Sam smiled wholeheartedly, leaning her forehead against Perkz’.

 _“Would I lie to you, baby?”_ Luka smirked, cocking one of his brows suggestively.

“Oh my god, you’re the worst!” The Blonde laughed as the song started playing in her head, “just kiss me already, would you?”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me twice…” Luka grinned, coming in even closer.

And, just as their lips were about to unite again, there was a loud knock on the door, causing the lovebirds to stop in their tracks.

“ROOM SERVICE!” A loud voice announced.

“What the…” Sam mumbled immediately, turning her head towards the source of the noise.

“Huh? Did you order anything?” Luka asked, squinting into the direction of the door as if he could have seen right through it.

“No, we were literally together this whole time… no idea what that is about,” Sam muttered, feeling more annoyed than curious, “let’s just ignore it, hm?”

“Yeah, right,” Perkz nodded, leaning back down, “where were we…”

Another knock, even louder than before, prevented the revival of their act promptly.

“Oh my god…” Sam grunted, covering her face with both of her hands, “would you just…”

“Yeah, I got it,” Luka sighed, getting up from the bed to open the door. He spared no efforts to look and sound as grim as possible to scare off whomever tried to get in between them and their fun, almost yelling out, “WHAT do you WANT??”

Sam chuckled silently, feeling a little something Germans call _Schadenfreude_ , which means to relish in other people’s misery. Well, maybe that was just another time her sadist side showed outside of a sexual context. But, to Sam’s surprise, she didn’t hear the squeals of a fleeing staff member as a response. Instead, it was an awfully familiar voice that caught her attention. Luka, on the other hand, had gone silent really quickly.

“Yeah, yeah, aren’t you intimidating,” Miky laughed, walking past his midlaner casually, “took you way too long to open up, are you deaf or something?”

“Mihael? What are you doing here?” Sam mumbled, sitting herself up quickly.

“What do you mean? You texted me everything was fine, so I figured it was time for my grand entrance… you’re welcome, by the way,” the Slovenian explained, sitting down in one of the armchairs near the window, “huh… nice view.”

“Miky, what the hell…” Luka grunted, closing the door with a bang, “don’t you think you messed up enough today??”

“Yeah, could you just stop ruining everything, for the love of god??” Sam added, unable to grasp just how relaxed the support was.

“I ruined everything?” Mihael grinned, turning back around to face his angry lovers, “I don’t know what you’re talking about… from the looks of it, everything worked out perfectly well.”

“Oh my god, you can’t be serious,” Perkz groaned, stomping over towards the support.

“You must have realized it by now…” Miky smirked provocatively with one hand on his side.

“Jesus, please tell me you’re not using your _Detective Conan_ voice right now… this is not a _Detective Conan_ moment, Miky!!” Luka hissed as he took another step towards the other guy.

 _Wait, what does that even mean?_ Sam wondered, glancing back and forth the seated, calm Mihael and the standing, furious Luka. Once again, she felt like she didn’t catch the reference, but she was at least 99% sure it was not League of Legends related this time.

“Oh, but that is _exactly_ what it is!” Miky said with a smug grin, “you see, I knew that there was no way you’d listen to Sam if I just brought you here… hell, I had to go as far as to admit that I did something wrong to get you to listen to me!”

“You did?” Sam blinked a couple of times, regretting that she had not been a part of that conversation.

“Pff, so what,” Perkz grumbled, cocking one of his brows, “that doesn’t make your stupid tuxedo set-up any less of a fail…”

“Ahh, see, there it is… it was a set-up,” Miky nodded, pushing up his glasses in a dramatic manner, “since I never _actually_ said a word about the tuxedos to Sam.”

“AHA! I knew it!” Sam exclaimed, jumping up from the bed as if she was a part of the play all of the sudden – whatever this ‘ _Detective Conan moment’_ was, it definitely served up the right amount of drama for her liking.

“You’re not making any sense…” Perkz muttered with the annoyance written all over his face, “what good does it do to set you guys up for failure…”

“You keep talking about the plan failing… yet you _fail_ to see that that was the whole point,” Mihael remarked with a shrug, “you guys needed common ground to start a conversation… and the easiest way to bond is through a common enemy.”

“A common enemy…?” Sam mumbled, “are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Yep!” Miky nodded, pointing at himself with both thumbs up.

“You’re unbelievable…” Perkz mumbled, but Sam could tell that he was almost smiling at this point. Maybe because she felt the same way.

“That’s so crazy, Mihael,” Sam chuckled, swinging her legs off the bed, “to think that you’d go this far just to get us to make up…”

“Hey, don’t make it sound like it was a selfless act,” Miky scoffed, cramming for something in his pocket only to reveal that it was a bowtie that he swiftly clipped around his neck, “I wouldn’t have come here if it was.”

“Uhm, right… what do you want, though,” Luka laughed, sitting back down next to Sam.

“You can’t tell by my costume?” Mihael raised one of his brows, pointing at his bow-tie, “okay, I admit it would have been more obvious if we actually had tuxedos, I kind of had to improvise here…”

“Well, how about you give us a hint?” Sam suggested.

“How about this?” Mihael mumbled, pulling off his jersey. The no-shirt-with-a-bow-tie-look sort of resembled a cheap stripper, and his suggestive pose just made Sam laugh out loud.

“Come on…” The support sighed, adjusting his bow-tie a little, “I think it’s a nice touch… Sarah gave it to me by the way, and I’m supposed to give you her number or something, Sam…”

“Oh, you talked to Sarah?” Sam asked, suddenly remembering the pleasant acquaintance she had made that day.

“Sure, I had to pass the time it took you to get your shit together up here somehow, right…” the support shrugged, “I don’t like talking to new people usually, but I guess she’s fine. Mixes a mean Sex on the Beach.”

“Of course she’d get you with that,” Luka grinned, glancing up and down the Slovenian’s almost naked body, “now, let’s get back to the reason why you’re here… I think I’m beginning to understand.”

“Duhhh, I’m here to provide room service!” The support emphasized, striking another pose, this time resembling an anime character, “or, well, service. Period.”

“Oh, that’s great, how about you start with giving me a foot massage, hm?” Sam laughed, raising her tired feet up in the air.

“Is that a real question?” Miky chuckled.

“Okay but… you know what Sam and I talked about here, right?” Luka mumbled, sounding a bit more serious than Sam had anticipated.

“Sure I do, but please, spare me the lovey-dovey-details…” The support remarked, shuddering in an exaggerated manner.

“Come on, don’t make it sound so cringe!” Sam laughed, “we just… you know…”

“I think we’re gonna go steady,” Luka said calmly, glancing over to Sam, “…right?”

“Uhm… I mean, I wasn’t sure whether we agreed on that yet but…” Sam stammered, looking back at the midlaner with a fluttering heartbeat, “I think I want to.”

“Yeah,” Luka nodded slowly, “me too…”

“Ugh, guys, could we get to the point?” Mihael said, sighing dramatically.

“Well, the question is where that leaves you, Miky,” Perkz shrugged.

“You really don’t mind us being a… couple or whatever?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“I don’t mind, no…” Mihael smirked, walking up to the bed to kneel down in front of it, “not if I can belong to the both of you, that is…”

“The both of us…” Sam mumbled, biting her lower lip a little.

“Oh, you want to _belong_ to us?” Perkz laughed, grabbing the support’s chin to push it up.

“That’s what I said, yeah,” Mihael said, grinning ever so cockily.

Perkz smirked in response, slowly letting go of the other guy’s jaw, “that’s interesting… I mean, I never thought you’d want to be committed like that.”

“I don’t think I wanted to before you,” Miky mumbled, looking back and forth between Luka and Sam, “but I don’t see the need to go looking somewhere else when you give me with everything I want…It defies all logic.”

“Aww Mihael…” The Blonde whispered, smiling softly – of course she knew what the support said wasn’t as wholesome as it sounded, but she enjoyed hearing it, nonetheless.

“Mhm, plus, there’s this thing with the collar…” The support grinned eagerly, looking up at Sam.

“Hmm, one thing after the other,” Sam chuckled, shaking her head slightly.

“Not sure I understand the thing with the collar I mean… you wanna be a dog now?” Luka asked mockingly.

“I’ll be whatever you want… as long as you say yes this time, Luka,” Mihael said calmly, looking up to meet the midlaner’s gaze in anticipation.

“Yes to what exactly, hmm?” The Croatian mumbled, frowning at the kneeling guy in front of him.

“Look at me, asking for permission and all…” Miky sighed, “I was just hoping that we could finally finish what we barely even started yesterday?”

“Oh… right,” Sam nodded slowly, turning to Perkz as well, “it’s your call this time, okay…? You know what I want, at least…”

“I think I know what the both of you want, yeah,” the midlaner sighed, with one hand on Sam’s thigh, “you know… after everything that happened today…”

“…yeah?” Sam inquired after the Croatian paused for a bit.

“After all that… hmm… yeah, screw it, I think I want it too,” he said with his grin growing wider, clearly enjoying to keep his two lovers on their toes with this one.

“Nice…” Miky mouthed, staring up excitingly, “where do we start…?”

“I’d say with this…” Luka mumbled, leaning down to kiss the support without as much as the hint of a warning.

It happened way too quickly, and Sam’s whole body started to heat up in excitement at the sight of one of the most passionate French kisses she had ever witnessed two guys sharing – it felt too good to be true. The support did his part of buckling up to respond according to the midlaner’s lead, but he didn’t dare to move much besides that. Tension was running quite high, and Sam couldn’t wait to finally get out of her dress, not just because she was really starting to work up a sweat.

“How about that…” Perkz whispered with a smile as he pulled away.

“What about it?” Mihael replied with a challenging grin.

“Well, a little birdie told me you didn’t like doing this with anyone but me… isn’t that interesting?” The midlaner explained, instantly gaining higher ground in Sam’s mind – _what the hell is that all about?_

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” The support mumbled, “I might not do that with just _anyone_ , but I wouldn’t read too much into it…”

 _Now that I think about it, we really didn’t kiss, huh_ … Sam pondered, staring at the Slovenian’s expression as she tried to figure out whether that really was no big deal to him.

“Oh, really? Well, since we’ve agreed on you belonging to the both of us… it shouldn’t be a problem for you to kiss Sam, right?” Luka explained, nodding towards the baffled Blonde sitting beside him.

“Uhm, what?” Sam hummed, shrieking up a little as she snapped out of her thoughts, “uhh sure?”

“If this is supposed to be a 'challenge', then keep them coming…” Mihael smirked, pushing himself up to get closer to the girl’s face.

“I’m definitely not going to pretend like I don’t want to,” Sam chuckled, planting her hands on either side of the support’s face, “here we go then…”

Hesitantly at first, Sam leaned forward to make their lips meet. The Slovenian’s lips felt a little fuller than the ones Sam was used to kissing, and they were just as skilled, to her surprise. If kissing was not something that Mihael usually did, then he surely made up for his lack of experience with talent. Sam started to feel dizzy as Miky’s tongue kept swirling hers sensually with just the right amount of force – for a moment, she forgot that she was supposed to sit in the driver’s seat – or, well, at least not in the backrow.

“Hot…” Luka grinned, holding the back of both of their heads loosely, “I think I’m starting to understand what people like about this… shot-calling-thing.”

“Oh…?” Miky grinned against Sam’s lips, “that sounds promising…”

“Yeah…” Sam panted, lifting her head to look at Perkz again, “what do you want us to do next, Luka…?”

“Oh, we’re going to have a lot of fun,” the midlaner laughed, “but for that, we need a lot less clothes…”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Miky replied enthusiastically, wiggling out of his pants on the floor.

It didn’t take long until the clothes had been shed, with the exception of Sam’s dress that actually took some effort to get off. The lighting was dim, but Sam could tell that both Perkz and Miky had hunger in their eyes when they looked at her in her black, lacy lingerie, making her grow even more impatient. The support was still kneeling in front of the bed with his hands on her thighs, while Luka was sitting right next to her like he did before, just minus his shirt. Sam turned to the midlaner to touch him, letting her hand travel down his naked chest. In this moment, she couldn’t name what she wanted – she just knew that she needed more. More of all of this. But, before she could reach for the Croatian’s pants, he grabbed her by the wrist.

“No, not yet…” He grinned, nodding towards Miky on the floor, “I want to see more of the two of you before I get in on it, alright?”

“What? But Luka…” Sam pouted, pulling her hand out of his grip, “what’s the use if you only end up watching again?”

“Oh snap!” Mihael laughed mockingly.

“Please, this is not anything like that one time with Jankos…” Luka shuddered, shaking his head slightly as he got off the bed, “it’s quite the opposite… tonight, I’m going to get everything I want, right?”

“What do you mean with everything…?” Sam wondered, looking up at the standing midlaner with curious eyes.

“Wouldn’t it be boring if I just told you?” Perkz smirked, licking his lips ever so slightly, “just tell me that you’ll do anything…”

“Anything.” Miky replied instantly with a dead-serious expression on his face – Sam figured that it probably wasn’t the first time that the two guys had had this sort of exchange.

“Yeah, sure…” She whispered, reaching down to run her fingers through Mihael’s brown hair, “so… you want me to do this, Luka?”

“Way more than that,” the midlaner remarked, strolling over to one of the armchairs near the windowfront, “but it’s not a bad start… how about you just pick it back up where you left off when I walked in on you yesterday, hm?”

“Oh, you don’t sound salty at all…” Miky smirked, slowly running his hands up the Blonde’s naked thighs, “but I don’t mind giving you a show… what do you want me to do, _mistress?_ ”

“Mistress? I like the sound of that,” Sam chuckled, tightening her grip on the support’s hair ,"you want me to put my heels back on?"

"Don't ask me, I'm but a humble servant..." Mihael chuckled, tightening his grip on the girl's thighs.

"I vote 'yes' on the heels," Luka chimed in, looking quite interested.

"Oh, right away then! But first..." Sam smiled as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “I’ll tell you exactly what I want you to do, Mihael…”

“Say it loud enough so that I can hear it, though,” Luka added from a distance, eyeing the both of them with curiosity in his eyes.

“Oh, you’ll hear it, alright…” Sam said with a slight smile, “I’ll make sure of that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on this Part's guest POV! What do you think? Did your perspective on Sam as a character change at all? And what are your thoughts on our OT3? 
> 
> Please feel free to tell me all about it! Whether you do it here on ao3 or on the DreamServer (#story-discussions) is up to you, I'm excited either way!
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	49. Part 11: Oskar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to another chapter of Part 11: Leaps on Leap day! 
> 
> I forgot to put in the title last time around, but yes, it's all about the 29th of February for the guys & gals this part. Speaking of which, what is this? Another guest POV? Yes, due to popular demand, I've decided to give my boy Oskar another shot :> I hope y'all are not too disappointed? 
> 
> Anyway, let's dig in, shall we? Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> PS: You wanna join our Discord server? Use this link (https://discord.gg/kWGHMb) in the next 24 hours or ask for a new one in the comments, we're an impossibly wholesome community, I can tell you that much ;)

When Oskar woke up with Rasmus in his arms that morning, he was happy. His head still felt a little heavy from the day before, almost as if he had a small hangover, but he was happy, nonetheless. At this point, it had been too long since he had last shared a bed with someone regularly – in fact, he couldn’t remember ever having that since he started playing League professionally. Maybe that was the reason why Oskar cherished these moments with Rasmus so immensely. He loved stroking his side, holding him close, listening to his relaxed breathing and occasional snores – all of it. With a huge smile on his face, Oskar metaphorically patted his own back for somehow managing to get back to G2’s apartment the night before, considering that he had basically been asleep the whole time. It had been a struggle, but the price was more than worth it now – and, besides, being around Fnatic’s apartment felt weird to him lately. Of course, that was because of Tim. In the end, it always was.

Especially when he was with Rasmus, Oskar didn’t like to think about Tim. Even though he knew that he could always talk about things like these with the ADC, he didn’t want to make him feel bad, or, even worse, like he was just a replacement. They might have started off as each other’s consolation prices, but that’s not what Oskar felt like anymore. The Dane was special to him, and he wanted to make him feel that way every day – in a figurative and a literal sense. This morning, he figured he could start with the latter. Ever since he had started to fool around with other guys, Oskar had often been praised for his skilled tongue when it came to fellatio, and he didn’t disappoint this morning, either. The jungler loved going down on his partners, simply because he enjoyed being their source of pleasure – but, with Rasmus, he felt as if that was not a one-way street for once. Oskar would have never suspected Rasmus to possess these kinds of skills, since his personality and physique suggested he’d be more of an adorable, clumsy cinnamon roll in bed. But the ADC knew how to hit Oskar’s sweet spots too well, all while making him feel completely comfortable, and that was a hard thing to come by these days.

It was a bitter sweet feeling, since Oskar knew that it couldn’t last forever. He couldn’t explain it, but the Pole felt as if every high they experienced could be their last – which is why he tried his hardest to enjoy every second of it. He wouldn’t let the fact that he had to roam to the gaming area of the G2 apartment to get a condom get him down either. But, as soon as he laid eyes on an unexpected face in the viewing area, he wished that he had at least bothered to put on a shirt before he went out on his mission.

“Oskar… morning.” Perkz mumbled, rubbing his eyes with both of his hands.

“Oh, yes, good morning!” The jungler replied, staring at the midlaner in confusion. From the looks of it, he had spent the night on the couch – but Oskar wasn’t sure whether he should ask why.

“I wouldn’t call it a good one, no,” Perkz grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Ah, haha, is that so…” Oskar chuckled nervously, trying to move over to Miky’s desk as discretely as possible.

“Yeah… I mean, if you HAVE to know,” the Croatian sighed, leaning forwards dramatically, “…I slept on the couch tonight.”

 _But I didn’t even ask_ , Oskar thought, feeling conflicted since he did, on one hand, still feel really horny, but, on the other, Perkz really looked like he needed to talk to someone. It was the oldest question of them all – would he listen to his heart or to his dick?

“See, after what I saw yesterday… wait, what are you doing over there?” The midlaner asked, raising one of his brows in suspicion.

“Ah, uhm, funny story, Rasmus asked me to get something and…” Oskar muttered, quickly stuffing the condom in his hand into the pocket of his sweatpants.

“Condoms, huh… “ Perkz frowned, eyeing the jungler’s fidgeting hands, “funny that Miky still has some, I would have thought that he used them all up yesterday with my… with Sam.”

 _Ouch_ , Oskar thought, letting out a slight sigh as he slouched over to the couch to sit down besides the midlaner. He knew that there was no escaping now, at least not with a clear consciousness.

“Sooo… Miky and Sam, huh?” The jungler hummed, patting the midlaner on the back.

“Well… I guess they meant to surprise me, but it just felt… wrong.” Perkz muttered, running his fingers over his buzzcut with his head hung low.

“The first step of a successful threesome is open communication,” Oskar said, nodding slowly.

“Uhm, I guess… you know anything about that?” The midlaner asked carefully, still looking down at his feet as if he was ashamed to ask for advice somehow.

“Hmm, let’s just say it might have come up once or twice in the past,” Oskar smirked, “it’s not a big deal…”

“Okay, now I really want to know!” Luka chuckled.

“And I’ll never tell… anyway,” the jungler sighed, clapping his hands together, “the point is that they should have talked about that with you first, right?”

“Yeah, exactly!” The Croatian exclaimed, turning his head to the other guy with his gaze dropping down, “uhm… dude, why are you not wearing a shirt? And how are you this fit, geez…”

“What, you’re noticing that now?” Oskar laughed, holding his belly, “I mean, I don’t think you want to know why –“

“PERKZ!” Jankos exclaimed, prancing into the room all of a sudden.

“Ehm, yeah?” The midlaner mumbled, glancing over to the other jungler with an irritated look on his face. During his time in the G2 household, Oskar had concluded that that was just the effect the Pole generally had on most of his teammates, except for Rasmus, maybe.

“I have to TELL YOU something!” Jankos announced loudly, planting himself on the opposite end of the couch.

“God, could you lower your voice, like, once?” Perkz grunted, letting his annoyance show, “it’s way too early for this, seriously…”

“Well, it’s important…!” The jungler pouted, crossing his arms, “I had the PERFECT idea for our game tonight, but NO, you have to be RUDE right away!!”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to be rude, he’s just really tired, Jankos…” Oskar mumbled, trying to level with he other Polish jungler.

“Yeah, sure, sure! Then I don’t MEAN to be rude when I tell you that I saw MIKY jumping SAM yesterday when I came home!!” Jankos exclaimed snappishly.

“Well, duh…” Perkz shrugged, nodding over to the blanket next to him, “why do you think I slept on the couch?”

“So… so you know?” The jungler stammered, blinking a couple of times with his mouth open, kind of resembling a confused goldfish.

“Yeah, that’s literally what I just said… any other wisdoms you want to share with us, huh?” Luka remarked, glaring at the other guy.

“Ugh, this… this is NOT the end of this, you hear me??” Jankos grumbled, storming out of the room seconds after.

“The end of what??” Oskar yelled after him, unsure of what just happened.

“Just ignore him, that’s how we all do it,” Luka sighed, leaning back against one of the many cushions.

“Kind of hard when he’s always the loudest in the room but… sure,” the Pole said with a smile.

“You’re right, it’s the worst!” The midlaner remarked, “it only makes it worse for me that he still has the hots for Sam, that’s just… off-putting. Not that I care, but still.”

“See, Luka… I know it’s none of my business, but…” Oskar started, leaning forward a bit to build eye-contact, “don’t you think it would be possible that you really like Sam?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” The Croatian huffed, quickly looking away, “I’m a no strings attached kind of guy, okay… I thought you’d know that by now.”

“Sure I do, but I find it strange how much this whole thing with Miky… and also Jankos… is bothering you, then,” the jungler explained calmly, “I’m not judging you, I just wanted to point that out.”

“I don’t think that’s the reason why I’m mad! Well… at least not entirely?” Luka mumbled, clasping his hands together.

“It’s not a sign of weakness to like someone, you know? It’s actually brave to allow yourself to be that vulnerable around others,” Oskar said with a soft smile on his lips. For him, this had been one of the most important lessons he had to learn when he was younger.

“I mean, if you say it like THAT…” Luka muttered, scratching his cheek, “still, I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure this out for myself… Could you just keep this to yourself, please?”

“Oh, sure, my lips are sealed!” Oskar said, pretending to zip his mouth.

“Thanks, man, you’re the best,” Luka said, giving the other guy a warm smile, “never thought I’d ever say that to a Fnatic player, honestly.”

“Well, you’re pretty alright yourself,” Oskar nodded, patting the Croatian’s back once more, “I’m sure you guys will figure it out.”

“Maybe in the long run, but I’m still too damn angry to approach either of them right now,” Perkz grumbled, kicking one of his feet up.

“I guess that’s fair… it can be difficult to swallow your anger or pride or whatever in these situations – took me long enough, too.”

“Yeah, about your L9 past…” Perkz smirked slyly.

“Nope!” The jungler laughed, shaking his head, “I’m definitely not talking about that right now.”

And, while the both of them were cackling about something that was technically not funny at all, Oskar secretly kept turning the condom in his hand, hidden from the midlaner’s view. He considered whether there was still time to go back, now that the situation had calmed down a bit. But, before he could finish this particular train of thoughts, Rasmus had already popped up in the living room area, like a little stray puppy on the search for his owner. Sure, it was too bad that they couldn’t pick things back up where they left off, but Oskar was simply happy to be reunited with the Dane as soon as he laid eyes on him.

When Oskar had breakfast with the G2 household, he felt weirdly at home. The players that were supposed to be his rivals had welcomed him with open arms again and again, and, now that it had become a habit of his to hang around at their place, things couldn’t feel more natural. Wunder even refused to give him more of his favourite food with him after he tried it once, just as a real brother would. Yes, in a way, sharing the breakfast table with the G2 boys reminded Oskar of his family back home. It was nice, but also frustrating, since that was what his own team was supposed to feel like in his eyes. And yet, Mithy always suspected him of pulling some shit. And Rekkles was always just one step away from punching him in the face. And Nemesis wouldn’t even look him in the eyes these days. _Not my idea of a great family,_ Oskar thought with a sigh as he finished the last slice of bread he had managed to swipe from Wunder. If it weren’t for Bwipo and Hylissang, the jungler probably wouldn’t feel comfortable with returning to the team’s gaming apartment at all these days. He could only hope that that would change soon.

But that feeling didn’t last long. When Oskar saw the snap of Martin lying in bed with someone else on Perkz’ phone, he saw red. All of a sudden, the diverse range of emotions he had felt that morning was wiped away immediately – yes, in a matter of seconds, there was nothing but rage. He couldn’t see or hear or even sense anything beyond that. The only thing Oskar wanted to do was to let out this avalanche of anger that was rumbling down on him, consuming everything else. He yelled, and he cussed, and he stormed out of the room, and then out of the apartment, without acknowledging any of the other people in it. Oskar could barely remember the last time he had felt this way, since he had been working on controlling his rage for a while now. Yes, he might have been somewhat mad when he had first confronted Martin about messing with Tim the week before. But now, after giving him another chance and presenting the perfect solution for his relationship troubles on a silver platter, completely ignoring his own needs and wishes? Now, it was over. Now, there was no stopping.

During his drive to the hotel Martin was living in, Oskar felt as if he was trapped in some sort of trance. Images of his history with Tim – first at MAD Lions and then at Fnatic – kept popping up in his mind, reminding him of what he had tried to push aside for some time now. It was probably impossible for most people to understand why he loved the Slovenian the way he did, and why he could never stop, no matter how hard he tried. But it was not hard to understand why the way in which Martin was treating the guy of his heart was absolutely infuriating. And, furthermore, why Oskar wanted to make him pay. He earned several confused looks at the reception of the fancy place, but managed to get through anyway. With clenched fists, he approached the Swede’s room, banging against its door as if he wanted to break it open with pure force.

“I don’t know who it is, let me check I –“ Martin, who was dressed in a black robe, yelled over his shoulder, stopping mid-sentence as soon as he saw who was standing in front of him, “…Oskar. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, it’s not room service?” A voice that must have belonged to another guy echoed from the back of the room.

“You and Febiven, huh?” Oskar whispered, feeling as if his fingernails, no matter how short they were, started to pierce the skin of his palms. He needed to cut straight to the chase - there was no sugarcoating this.

“What are you saying…” Martin mumbled, running his fingers through his messy hair lazily. Behind him, the face of Misfits’ midlaner popped into the jungler’s field of vision, and the smug grin the Dutch was sporting was just about enough to make Oskar lose the composure he had tried to regain once more.

"You talking 'bout me, boy?" Febiven huffed mockingly.

"Fabian, could you not...?" Martin mumbled, turning his head away from the jungler for a second to give the cocky midlaner a grumpy look, "this is none of his business."

“Oh but it fucking is you piece of shit!” Oskar shouted angrily and at a much higher volume now, taking a step into the Swede's direction.

And, from one second to the other, Oskar was taking a big swing to punch Rekkles right in the face. It had been a long time coming, which was probably why the Pole didn't hold back at all this time. This time, he wanted it to hurt. He didn't care about the consequences - no, in this moment, he just wanted to make Martin fell the pain he had caused Tim for so long. The ADC certainly hadn’t seen the punch coming, partially because he had faced the other way, but he somehow managed to move away far enough to soften the blow – still, the impact of the jungler’s fist was strong enough to cause Martin to stumble backwards. With one hand pressed to his cheek, he glared up at the jungler, who was already preparing himself for the next blow, walking towards the ADC with a threatening aura.

“What the fuck, Oskar??” Martin hissed, checking his hand for blood, “what in the world gives you the right to barge in here and just hit me like that?! Have you lost your mind??”

“Are you really going to pretend like you didn’t do anything wrong??” Oskar yelled, pointing towards the bed as he was now halfway inside the ADC’s room, “when HE’S in your bed??

“Oh, hey, don’t mind me,” Febiven remarked with a sly smile, propping himself up while lying on his belly, “let me just grab my imaginary popcorn and…”

“Oh my god Fabian, you’re the worst…” Martin grunted, taking another step back, “listen, Oskar, this is not what it looks like.”

“Right, right, so you DIDN’T fuck him last night instead of going home with Tim? Huh??” Oskar said sharply, reaching forward swiftly to grab Martin’s robe to keep him from running away.

“Haha, what? Him fucking ME? Don't make me laugh…!” Febiven snickered, slowly rolling himself to the edge of the bed.

“Seriously, you’re not helping here,” Martin mumbled, and his cheeks looked even more flushed seconds after, “look, I’m not going to pretend like that didn’t happen…"

"That would be fucking pointless, yeah," Oskar hissed.

"Right, whatever - but I still didn’t cheat on Tim.” Martin said as calmly as he possibly could have in this heated situation.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Oskar grumbled, shaking the other guy with both hands clutching onto his robe.

“He didn’t tell you, hmm…” The ADC sighed, averting his gaze.

"What? He didn't tell me what, huh??" Oskar asked loudly.

Martin sighed. “Shit… we broke up, okay?”

“What…?” Oskar breathed, instinctively letting go of the other guy as he stared at him in disbelief. He couldn’t point out whether the news made him feel better or worse at all.

“Yeah. It was last week, shortly after our… talk.” Martin explained with one hand on the side of his neck as he was talking about the last time he had been shaken around this way.

“But… why? Why didn’t he tell me?” Oskar mumbled.

“How am I supposed to know, hmm? So, could you just… go?” Martin grumbled, fixing his robe as it was almost sliding off his body, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That’s debatable, I do have some pointers about last night…” Fabian hummed with his legs dangling off the side of the bed, looking as if he was about to get up to join the party.

“You didn’t do anything wrong?” Oskar whispered, looking at the Swede with pure disdain in his eyes. 

"That's what I just said, yeah," the ADC muttered, shooting the midlaner on his bed another sharp look.

“You’ve got to be kidding me… after everything that has happened, you just toss him aside?" Oskar stared at the Swede in pure disbelief, "how can you say you didn't do anything wrong??"

“Oh my god, Oskar, don’t be so dramatic… it’s not like it was just my decision,” Martin replied, rolling his eyes.

“Dramatic? Oh, I’ll show you dramatic!” The jungler hissed, raising his fist with every intention to throw another punch. Martin reacted swiftly, bringing his hands up to shield his face. But, this time, the jungler’s manifested rage was stopped before it could do any damage. 

“Okay, I think this is enough…” Febiven sighed, holding Oskar’s wrist in place with a firm grip, making the Pole wonder just how much he worked out, “as fun as this was to watch, I think we could do without the actual violence from now on? You shouldn't damage this pretty little face... let’s stick to wordplay, okay?”

“Jesus, I don’t need you to protect me, Fabian, I totally had it under control,” Martin muttered sullenly, lowering his hands as the immediate danger seemed to be taken care of.

“Didn’t look like that to me, you were just going to eat another punch, dude,” Febiven laughed, still holding onto the angry jungler’s arm, despite Oskar’s attempts to break free.

“Let go of me…! This has nothing to do with you, skurwysynu!” Oskar barked, glaring at the midlaner.

He wanted Febiven to let go of him, yes – but not so that he could continue his attack. Considering that he could almost see fear in Martin’s eyes, besides the Swede’s hurt pride, the jungler didn’t feel as convicted about roughing him up anymore. Now that Febiven had stepped in, the chances of that ending well for him had dramatically declined, too. If it had been just him and Martin, Oskar was confident in his ability to take the other guy down in a fight. Now, not so much. But, as he had just found out about Tim’s recent break-up, Oskar was, in fact, slowly but surely, coming down from his rage anyway. Instead, he felt confused, frustrated, and maybe even a little betrayed.

“Ehm, sorry, what was that?” Febiven asked, cocking a brow as he slowly let go of Oskar to put one hand up on Martin’s shoulder, looking weirdly caring – it was enough to make Oskar wonder about the nature of their relationship, but not enough to care.

”Nothing, just... god, what’s the fucking point, Martin?” The jungler asked, taking a step back to signify that he was done with fighting.

”The point is that it didn’t work out... ask Tim if you want to know more, I’m done talking to you,” the ADC muttered, still rubbing his cheek, “god, that fucking hurts… you better pray that makeup will cover this, otherwise we’ll both get in trouble…”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby, CRY-TIN,” Febiven laughed, playfully pinching the Swede’s rosy cheek, “he barely hit you, there probably won’t even be a bruise…”

“Did you seriously just give me a condescending nickname over this?” Martin frowned at the midlaner, pulling away from his touch.

“No, I used to call you that all the time when you were wining back in the day,” Febiven shrugged, “so… all the time!”

“Oh my god, stop it…” Martin sighed, looking back at the jungler, “just ignore him, okay?”

“How can you even be so careless?” Oskar asked, staring at the other guy with wide eyes, “it just happened, and you just joke around with this… joke over here, like it was nothing?”

“I never said it was nothing.” The ADC remarked sharply, “but what can I do? It didn’t work, and I have to move on.”

“Ugh, seriously? That's it? Do you have any idea how much I sacrificed…? Just so you could be fucking happy?” Oskar said, feeling his voice starting to shake – but he didn’t know whether the cause was anger of sadness at this point.

“Right, right… poor you, all alone just so that we could be happy!” Martin wailed theatrically, “oh – that’s right, you aren’t. You’re screwing Rasmus.”

“Phew, now we’re talking!” Febiven whistled in acknowledgment, throwing one arm around the ADC’s shoulder.

“Rasmus… fuck,” Oskar mumbled under his breath, turning away from the other guys. He knew that Martin’s remark was supposed to provoke him, but, instead, it just made him remember how he had left the Dane behind in his rage, mercilessly and without another word. Yet another thing that made it hard for the Pole to recognize himself.

“Yeah, so, how about you get off that high horse…” Martin grumbled.

“Rasmus, Rasmus… that does ring a bell, doesn’t it?” Febiven wondered out loud, tapping his chin, “oh, right… he’s the ex you want to get back, isn’t he, Martin?”

“What…?” Oskar huffed.

“You really can’t keep your mouth shut, huh?” The ADC sighed, lowering his head, “for the record, I never SAID that…!”

“But you’re thinking it or what?” The jungler replied in an angry tone, “honestly, I shouldn’t even be surprised… but he won’t come back to you. He won’t!”

“Like I said, I don’t care!” Martin yelled out, much louder than before.

“Oh, but you do! Why else would you start shouting, huh? Idiot…” Oskar grumbled, pressing his fist against the closet to blow off some steam.

“I just want to let y’all know that this raw passion is really turning me on… anyone else?” Febiven asked suggestively.

“OH MY GOD SHUT UP FABIAN!” Martin shouted, turning away from the midlaner.

“With that I agree… just stay out of this, seriously…” The jungler murmured, giving the Dutch an angry look.

“Fine, whatever, carry on then…” Febiven smiled, raising both hands up in the air to gesture surrender.

“There’s nothing to say, I don’t… I don’t want anything to do with Rasmus. Not with Tim, either. You can just do whatever, Oskar…” Martin mumbled quietly, not looking the jungler in the eye.

“It’s not like I need your permission for anything but… still, I want to point out that it’s wrong of you to say that I’m just ‘screwing’ Rasmus, just so you know… I care about him,” Oskar explained calmly.

“Right, whatever, pretend like you’re not just going to drop him if another opportunity comes up then,” the ADC said, rolling his eyes again. 

“Oh, you mean like you did with Tim?” Oskar snapped back, nodding over to Febiven who still looked like he was having the time of his life.

“Oh snap!” Febiven snickered into his fist, “I’m sorry, but that was sick!”

“Like HELL I did,” Martin grunted, “that’s what I keep telling you, it was a MUTUAL decision!”

“And that’s fucking hard to believe, he’s fucking crazy about you!” Oskar yelled, remembering all the times he had had to listen to Tim talking about his heartaches.

“If you still think that, then you obviously don’t know him as well as you thought you did,” the ADC mumbled, looking away.

“Ridiculous… absolutely ridiculous,” Oskar shook his head with determination, “I’ll just go ask him and then…”

“Good luck with that, if he hasn’t talked to you yet then… who knows,” Martin shrugged, “maybe you overestimated your… ‘friendship’ or whatever you want to call it.”

“Oh my god, are you trying to piss me off or what??” Oskar scoffed angrily, balling one of his fists, “you want another one of these??”

“Sure, let’s go back to violence, that’s obviously the mature thing to do!” Martin hissed in the most sarcastic tone imaginable.

“I can’t believe I was THIS close to making peace with you, asshole!” Oskar spluttered, staring daggers at his arrogant opposite, “I gave you everything you needed to know and you…”

“I never asked you for a damn thing, okay?" Martin remarked sharply, crossing his arms, "well, except now, I’m asking you to leave,” 

“Aww, already?” Febiven grinned, popping up again behind the ADC’s shoulder.

“Fine… fine, whatever,” Oskar snorted, looking back at the Swede one last time before turning away, “I… really thought you were better than this, Martin. I really did.”

“And I thought you were not a violent jerk, but here we are…” Martin whispered, barely loud enough for the jungler to hear. But he didn’t want to say anything to that – maybe because he wasn’t exactly proud of the way in which he had just behaved. Maybe because he knew the other guy was right.

“Thanks for firing me up, though,” Febiven smirked, licking his lips as he let his hand travel down Martin’s chest.

Now, Oskar definitely didn’t have anything to say to that, and he much less wanted to stay to watch what was about to come. And so, he just left. Not as dramatically or forcefully as he came in. No, this time, Oskar just walked out. It was a relief that the rage was gone, since it had overwhelmed the Pole quite a lot, to the point where he had been scared of what he might do. But it didn’t feel much better to doubt everything and everyone, and that was what was happening now. He just needed a familiar surrounding right now, but he didn't feel ready to go back to Fnatic's apartment just yet. The office was the next best thing at this point. When Oskar arrived, he was more than glad that he was the first one to show up, since that gave him a moment to collect himself before he had to face any of his teammates. _A round of SoloQ could help_ , he thought as he sat down in his gaming chair to turn on his computer, _doing something familiar might help me feel like myself again._ Oskar did feel a little dramatic thinking about it like that, but it was true – as things were right now, he didn’t recognize himself anymore. Out of all the terrible things that had happened that day, that was probably what scared Oskar the most.

When Oskar heard the front door open, announcing the next Fnatic member to arrive, he was already halfway through his first game of League. He felt a little calmer, despite a flaming botlane and an inting toplaner, ironically. Now, whether he felt ready to face a certain someone was another question. Luckily, it looked like he didn’t have to do that yet. _Well, lucky might not be the right term in this case_ , Oskar thought, rolling his eyes as he saw the face of the intruder in the reflection of his computer screen.

“Oh. I thought you went back to the apartment,” Martin mumbled, sitting down at his desk.

“And you thought wrong.” Oskar grumbled with his eyes fixated on the game.

“Yeah, obviously…” The ADC remarked quietly, carefully preparing his set-up.

Oskar didn’t like to admit it, but a part of him was curious about what the other guy’s face looked like after their unfortunate encounter earlier that day. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was hoping on finding, but he glanced over anyway.

“No bruise, huh?” The jungler muttered, looking back at his screen a split second later.

“Why do you sound so disappointed?” Martin replied snappily, crossing his arms as he waited for his League client to boot, “if you have to know, I actually had to get Fabian to help me cover it up. So, thank you for that…“

“Hmm. I see.” Oskar hummed.

“You’re really not sorry at all, huh?” Martin grumbled, averting his gaze as well.

“Are you?” The jungler asked bluntly.

When there was no answer, he simply muttered, “yeah, that’s what I thought,” under his breath and went back to trying his best not to acknowledge the other guy’s presence more than necessary. If it had been anyone else, the jungler would have apologized for losing his temper by now, and Oskar knew that the way they were both acting wasn’t necessarily age-appropriate - but he couldn’t care less. The ADC kept provoking him, again and again, and that just made it that much harder to be the bigger person. Besides, with bigger problems to face, Oskar didn’t want to waste a single breath on someone who had no interest in making peace, let alone grow as a person. So, instead, the jungler focused on somehow carrying his terrible SoloQ team to victory, just to queue up again right away afterwards. As he was playing, Oskar was able to blend out all the white noise around him, aka Martin’s voice, seamlessly. But when the rest of his team arrived all at once, this last safe haven of solitude was ripped out of his hands rather abruptly.

For one, there was Bwipo, trying to bring him to spill the latest details about his adventures in the G2 apartment. All things considered that was one of the last things Oskar wanted to discuss right now. Of course he knew that his silence would be suspicious – that Tim, above all, would notice that something was up with him. But Oskar still felt like it was the safest option to keep his head down for now, not talking more than necessary and especially not looking at Tim. If he did, he might say something that he’d regret later – something that could actually make them lose the game ahead. He already felt like a laughing stock the way things were, so the jungler was not trying to add to that by losing to the biggest joke of the League, also known as Schalke 04. Still, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on shoving his troubles aside for the team’s success – _a weapon has no emotions, was it?_ – hearing about Tim catching Bwipo and Hylissang in the bathtub made him smile a little. It made Oskar feel like there was hope somewhere in this fucked up story, for his team and maybe for him, too.

Despite his best efforts, the game turned out kind of messy. If they had been up against a stronger opponent, Oskar was certain that they would have lost that night. Walking off-stage after their victory did, therefore, feel kind of bittersweet. All of them knew that they could have played better, that something was just off. Still, nobody said anything. It was just like it always was - the most important things simply remained unaddressed. Instead, Alfonso walked up to Oskar to ask whether he’d stay behind to wait for his ‘boyfriend’ again, hitting one of the jungler’s weak spots without even noticing it. A part of the Pole wanted to return the question. He couldn’t say whether it was because of worry or pettiness, but he wanted to ask the coach where he stood with his ‘boyfriend’, since he wasn’t wearing the watch he had once declared his most valuable possession when he was drunk. _Yeah, I remember_ , Oskar thought as he decided to just walk straight to the team’s car instead of going for the confrontation. It was just not worth it. Just like Martin, Alfonso didn’t want to listen, and he certainly didn’t want anyone to help him – he had made that much clear.

In the car, Oskar allowed himself to think about Rasmus for a moment. He had avoided to do so, just as he had avoided to check his phone ever since storming out of G2’s apartment. It might have been because he was ashamed of how he had acted, but also because he was scared of what he might see. _What if he’s mad at me?_ He considered, playing with his phone in his pocket as he played with the thought of looking at it, _what if he doesn’t want to see me anymore?_ Yes, considering that he had had one of his biggest outbreaks of rage in a long time right in front of Rasmus and his team that morning, clearly motivated by his protective feelings for another guy, that wouldn’t be a surprise. In fact, that would probably be the logical conclusion. But he didn’t want that to be true.

At the same time, Oskar knew that he’d have to face Tim now that their game days were over for the week, and it took everything he had in him in that moment to prepare for that. The midlaner, who was sitting in the seat in front of the jungler, looked just as calm as ever from the outside, but his performance in the rift was hint enough for Oskar to conclude that the same storm was raging in his head. It was bound to end soon, that much was sure, but the Pole still hoped that Tim would come to him first. That he just needed some more time to digest everything, and, first and foremost, that he never meant to shut Oskar out. That he still meant everything to him. Yes, now that he thought about it, Oskar had a lot of hopes that he felt couldn’t possibly all come true that night. _I might as well take my chance with this, then,_ he thought with a soft sigh, taking his phone out of his pocket to at least take care of one of his many concerns before the big show-down. But what Oskar saw didn’t resemble anything that he had imagined in his head – still, it made his whole body freeze up entirely.

Rasmus: Are you okay? What’s going on?

Rasmus: I don’t care about the yelling, just tell me you’re okay

Rasmus: You can just come back if you read this, no one here will judge you

Rasmus: Please, don’t hurt Martin

Oskar wanted to reply right away, but he didn’t know what to say. For one, he didn’t feel like he deserved the Dane’s kindness – in fact, he felt like nobody did. But then, there was also this other feeling. He had felt so guilty about his motives that day that he had completely forgotten about one of the things that had accompanied his and Rasmus’ relationship from the beginning. It was not just that Oskar still wanted to protect Tim above anything else, no matter what happened – no, despite everything that he had done to hurt the Dane, Rasmus still wanted to protect Martin, too. _He still cares about him this much – god, hearing about the snap this morning must have been hell for him_ , Oskar thought, frowning at the messages on his screen. Ironically, it made him want to punch Rekkles again, but that was obviously besides the point. Oskar knew that he couldn't just tell the truth as things were right now, but he also didn't want to leave the ADC on read - and so, he settled for telling him that he was 'fine'. A blatant lie, but, with the hopes of easing Rasmus' mind a bit, the jungler then proceeded let his phone slide back into his pocket. He hoped that, after tonight, he’d know what he really wanted to say to Rasmus. For now, he just wanted to get to his room as quickly as possible, far away from the endlessly adorable couple that was Bwipo and Hylissang, and even more from the hopelessly gloomy coach that was crossing his arms intensely enough to win a competition.

“So, Alfonso, I was wondering whether your nice watch broke, since you were wearing a different one today?” Bwipo asked casually as the squad entered the apartment.

“What makes you think that…” The coach said quietly, “it just clashed with my outfit.”

 _Right, you keep telling yourself that_ , Oskar thought grumpily, kicking his own shoes off. As reluctant as he felt about talking to the coach right now, he knew that he’d probably do it anyway the next day, just because. But that was a problem for the Oskar of the future.

“But weren’t you wearing the same sweater as always when we –“

“Come on, Gabriël, let’s go watch a movie or something, okay?” Zdravets chimed in, pushing the toplaner towards his room with force, “we still have some popcorn I think…good night, guys!”

“Popcorn? That’s so pog!” The toplaner exclaimed in excitement, bopping up and down as he was navigated through the hallway.

“Yeah… you guys have fun, that’s probably for the best,” Alfonso whispered, staring down at his feet as he took off his shoes, “I just want to be alone anyway.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Tim nodded, and Oskar couldn’t agree more.

In the next moment, after he had taken off the shoes, the midlaner turned to the jungler and asked, “do you have a moment, Oskar?”

“Sure.” The jungler said, still trying to act casual in front of the coach as he started heading towards his room as he had planned on doing from the beginning. But, inside of his head, things were anything but calm.

“Good night! Or something…” Alfonso sighed behind them.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Oskar asked, coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway.

“Uhm, join me in my room?” Tim asked, which raised the jungler’s hope of his topic of choice coming up. Still, he wanted to give Tim the chance to speak his mind before revealing the information he had already gotten from Martin. It just felt like the fair thing to do, but it was difficult nonetheless.

“Okay.” He replied, signalling that he was willing to follow the other guy.

“Thanks…” the midlaner mumbled, opening the door to his room slowly, roaming inside.

“You’ve been acting strange, Tim,” Oskar said with a sigh as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He had wanted to go for the gaming chair near the desk, initially, but that position had been claimed by a huge pile of clothes.

“Well, so have you,” Tim mumbled, still standing before the bed awkwardly, seemingly uncertain about whether he should sit down.

“Maybe… is that what you wanted to tell me?” Oskar asked sharply. An accusation was the last thing he needed right now, so he strongly hoped that there was more.

“No… it’s about something else… I think.” Tim said hesitantly.

“Start talking, then… I don’t think I can be patient for much longer.” Oskar said, closing his eyes as he realized he had already derailed from his plan.

“Yeah just – wait, what?” Tim whispered, staring at the in confusion.

“Yeah, you heard me…” Oskar sighed, turning his head to look out of the window, “I just… have a hunch.”

“A hunch?” The midlaner said slowly, approaching the bed, “about what?”

“About what you want to tell me, obviously, so let’s get to it…” The jungler remarked, sounding more agitated than he had planned on.

“Wow, okay… are you mad at me?” Tim mumbled, finally sitting down on the bed as well, but as far away from the other guy as possible.

“What would make you think that, hmm?” Oskar hummed, scratching the back of his head.

“Your tone just seems really… pointed right now.” The Slovenian explained as he started playing with his hands.

“I haven’t had the best day,” Oskar sighed, “but I don’t want to talk about that so…”

“Yeah, sure… I mean, no, actually,” Tim muttered, turning his head to look at the Pole, “I know it’s my fault, too, but I don’t like that we don’t talk anymore.”

“Talk about what?”

“You know, just talk… I don’t even know what’s going on with you these days,” the midlaner explained with his gaze dropping to the floor.

“Same…” Oskar murmured angrily, taking a deep breath. He didn’t want to let it show – not yet anyway.

“Okay, uhm, well… that’s fair. And maybe I should start by telling you that…” Tim started, swallowing hard half-way through his sentence.

“Yeah…?”

“It’s just… I don’t know if you remember the talk we had last week, when we walked through the park?”

“I do… what about it?” Oskar asked calmly.

He remembered almost kissing Tim under that darn tree, in what he thought was a moment that only he had received as one. Back then, he thought that Tim was happy with Martin - obviously, that hadn’t been the case at all. _God, that just makes me even more angry,_ the jungler thought, pressing his thumb in his fist as subtly as possible.

“After that I stayed behind and, uhm, I checked out that bench you mentioned.” Tim explained after a moment of silence.

“Okay…? Good for you?" Oskar squinted at the midlaner as if he was speaking a foreign language all of a sudden, "what do you want me to say to that?”"

“Nothing, I was going somewhere with this… just give me a moment,” Tim muttered.

“Sure, what do I have but time…” The jungler whispered under his breath.

“What I was trying to say…” Tim continued as he seemingly hadn’t heard the Pole’s snarky remark, “was that I thought a lot about what you said… about happiness and moving on and… stuff like that.”

 _Talk about being unable to practice what you preach_ , Oskar thought, almost feeling like it was laughable how he had talked about moving on when he was so hopelessly stuck.

“You made me realize that I… wasn’t happy. With Martin, I mean.” Tim finally said, and it looked as if that had been quite hard for him.

“Sorry to hear that but… what does that have to do with me?” Oskar mumbled quietly, subtly searching for eye-contact now.

“Yeah, uhm, I just thought that you should know,” the midlaner said with a slight nod.

“I should know that you’re not happy? What kind of sadist do you think I am?” Oskar asked, and he couldn’t help but give the other guy an accompanying smirk.

“That’s not it at all… I said I ‘was’ unhappy, since that’s… over now.” Tim whispered, biting his lip.

“Oh.”

That was all Oskar managed to say. He didn’t want to act like he was shocked, simply because he wasn’t. He didn’t want to act like he was sad, since that also wasn’t the case. A part of him wanted to move closer to Tim to comfort him, but that wouldn’t have been completely genuine, either, since, at the bottom of his soul, Oskar still felt hurt. And he was still angry.

“That’s all…?” Tim wondered with uncertainty in his eyes.

“Yeah, I mean, sorry to hear that?” Oskar asked more than he stated, returning the midlaner’s look.

“That’s just… not how I expected you to react at all.” The Slovenian admitted slowly.

“What did you think would happen, hmm?” Oskar sighed.

“I don’t know, it’s just…” Tim mumbled, suddenly stopping mid-sentence with his eyes growing wider by the second.

“Yeah? What?” The Pole asked when he noticed the other guy’s hesitation.

“You knew, didn’t you?” The midlaner whispered, suddenly looking terrified, “He told you…” 

“…No, he didn’t." Oskar replied after a moment, "but yeah, I knew about the break-up.”

“But then how…?”

“It’s a long story… “ The jungler mumbled, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants to get them to stop fidgeting around, “I didn’t want to tell you, though…”

“I don’t understand…” Tim shook his head softly, “why, Oskar?”

“Because you should have been the one to tell me!” The jungler said much louder than he had wanted to, now balling his fists in his pockets, “you should have told me last week, before I went to Martin’s hotel room, only to act like a fool to fight for the relationship you had already given up!”

“What...? I’m sorry, it’s just… I didn’t think you’d do something like that, and I wasn’t sure about what I wanted and…” Tim stammered, looking much smaller after the jungler had raised his voice.

“Of course I would! Is it that hard to understand that I’d do anything to…” Oskar swallowed hard, feeling his heartbeat grow faster, “…to make you happy?”

“No, I mean…” Tim breathed, staring at the jungler with big eyes.

“Every single thing, Tim,” Oskar continued after taking a deep breath, “even if it hurt me, hell, even if it ruined me, I’d always…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence. No matter how you looked at it, Oskar’s feelings for Tim were strong enough to be categorized as destructive – which is something that he had sworn never to go back to. Maybe he hadn’t even realized it until now. He had grown so much as a person ever since his first love had left him in shambles, he had learnt how to control his anger and frustration, and yet here he was. Merely the thought of Tim getting hurt was enough to tear it all down. Still, when Oskar looked at the midlaner sitting in front of him, he had a hard time holding onto any of these revelations. No, when he looked at him, he couldn’t help but feel like he was the air he needed to breathe if he wanted to survive. And the fact that Tim decided to shuffle closer to the jungler in this moment only fired up his desires.

“I’m sorry… I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for that.” Tim murmured.

“You don’t need to thank me for that.” Oskar shook his head out of instinct, blankly looking at the midlaner’s worried face, which was now a lot closer to his.

“I haven’t been a great friend to you. From the beginning, you were always way nicer to me than I deserved,” Tim explained calmly, with both of his hands resting on the bed on his sides, “I guess I just didn’t know how to act around you.”

“I never wanted you to be anyone but yourself,” Oskar said quietly, “I thought you knew that.”

“Yeah, I did… I just didn’t know what that meant.” Tim mumbled, looking up at the jungler’s face.

“What it means…?” The jungler asked quietly, looking deep into the other guy’s wondering eyes.

“Yeah… you never wanted to change a thing about me… and when I’m with you, I feel like whoever I am is okay.”

“Right… that’s what friends are for, hmm?” Oskar hummed solemnly.

Sure, deep down, he was hoping that that was not the kind of conversation they were having. But, then again, he had hoped so many times ever since he had first met the midlaner. And wasn’t it crazy to think that, now out of all times, everything had changed?

“Maybe, but…” Tim whispered, carefully making their fingers on the bed meet ever so slightly, “I don’t think I want to be your friend. Not anymore.”

“Really…?” Oskar whispered – and, as he wondered whether these were the words which he had wanted to hear for almost two years now, his heart dared to jump right out of his chest.

“Yeah…” Tim said, taking Oskar’s hand into his own with more determination now, “I realized that I just want… more. With you…”

“Kurwa…” The jungler mouthed, bringing his free hand up to cup the midlaner’s face. As he stroked one wild strand of hair out of Tim’s field of vision, he wanted nothing more than to bend down to kiss him. It was as impulsive as things could get, but who could blame him for that? He had buried this desire deep inside of him for so long that it seemed absurd to hold back now. When Oskar realized that Tim had closed his eyes, eagerly responding to the jungler’s suggestive touch, he started to move his lips closer to the Slovenian’s, until he finally…

“I can’t do this, Tim,” he whispered, turning his head away in the last second.

“What? But… why?” The midlaner asked, opening his eyes again in a flash.

“Because this is just… wrong. I wanted it for so long – you, I mean, I’ve wanted to be with you since the day I met you, but…” Oskar mumbled, pulling his hand away from the midlaner’s touch, “but you didn’t even see me. And now, after all this time, you break up with your boyfriend and want me to just… come running?”

“No… no, I just didn’t see what was right in front of me before, okay?” Tim said with conviction.

“Why now, then? Of all times?” Oskar grunted, “two years and you _never_ showed any interest at all, and now you –“

 _Well - maybe that’s not entirely true,_ the jungler thought, stopping midsentence. They had shared a moment in which Oskar felt like Tim could reciprocate his feelings after all – a night so breathtakingly amazing that the thought of it was enough to speed up the Pole’s heartbeat. But, in the end, the midlaner didn’t remember any of it. And that still hurt like hell. Oskar wasn’t sure whether this was the time to bring it up – if they were actually having the conversation he had hoped to have with Tim for so long, why not put all the cards on the table? But when the jungler glanced at the midlaner’s face after almost finding the courage to go through with it, he noticed that the other guy looked like he had something to say himself.

“Something happened.” Tim said, pressing his palms together in his lap.

“What do you mean?” The jungler tilted his head.

“Well, this whole thing didn’t just… come out of nowhere.” The midlaner explained hesitantly, “something just… happened.”

“Well, are you gonna tell me what that was or…” Oskar muttered, unsure of what to do with his hands which felt out of place in every position.

“Just that…” Tim swallowed hard, looking up to find Oskar’s eyes, “I remembered.”

“Ehm, what?”

“I don’t know how but… from one second to the other, I suddenly remembered,” Tim mumbled, nibbling on his lower lip before continuing, “I remembered… everything.”

“You did…?” Oskar breathed, completely incapable of saying more than that – of course he meant to ask what _exactly_ it was that Tim had remembered, but everything inside him was screaming that it must have been the night they had lost. It simply must have.

“Yeah… I don’t know how I could have forgotten something that…” Tim mumbled shyly, glancing down at the jungler’s lips for a second before moving back up, “… amazing.”

“That’s what alcohol does to you, huh…”

“Mean…” Tim sighed, turning his head away, “I’m still sorry, you know… back then, I was too afraid to ask about what happened. Everything with Martin was so confusing, I was just scared…”

“Tell me about it,” Oskar murmured with a half-smile on his lips, “I was scared shitless to tell you. I felt like you just didn’t want to remember to me…”

“But that’s not true,” Nemesis shook his head, “I was just so fucking stupid…”

“It’s okay,” Oskar whispered almost out of instinct. No matter how justified it might have been, it was so hard for him to watch the Slovenian blame himself.

“No, it’s not…” Tim emphasized sorrowfully, “I hate that I left you hurting like this. I never meant to.”

“Shit – you think I don’t know that?” Oskar sighed, hanging his head down low, “I just don’t know whether that’s enough at this point…”

“I’ll make it up to you…?” Tim mumbled in a subdued manner.

“This is not something you could make up to me, okay?” Oskar flinched, “you have no idea what I did today because of you, Tim… I seriously haven’t felt this ugly in a very long time.”

“What do you mean…?”

“I just… couldn’t control my anger when I heard the... news. It was impossible. So I yelled the G2 house down, stormed out, punched Martin in the face…”

“You… you punched him in the face?” The midlaner frowned, and Oskar couldn’t tell whether it was disgust or worry that caused him to do so.

“Yeah, I couldn’t help it, okay? I thought he cheated on you when I saw him with – never mind, that part doesn’t matter. The point is that I honestly wanted to kill him when I found out that he hurt you.” The jungler explained with a grim expression on his face.

“I’m sorry that… must have been scary.” Tim mumbled, seemingly unsure of what else to say.

“It fucking was… If we had been alone, I don’t know what could have happened, okay?” Oskar said with a shaky voice, “it’s fucking terrifying how much I love you, Tim…”

“I…” Tim started, but he seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Shit –“ Oskar muttered under his breath as he realized that his tongue had been quicker than his head. There was no point in taking it back now – hell, he didn’t want to do that to begin with.

“Sorry that just kind of… slipped out,” he said, swallowing hard, “but you knew anyway, right? That I… love you.”

“I…” Tim tried again with impossibly big eyes, but the words just wouldn’t leave his lips, even though it did look like he was trying. Slowly, the midlaner instead tried to reach out with his hand again, even more hesitantly than the first time around. This time, Oskar decided to take it.

“Today really sucked,” the jungler said, squeezing Tim’s hand gently.

“Yeah…” Tim simply agreed, returning the pressure carefully.

“It doesn’t change anything for me, though - I’m not saying that I’m going to stop loving you, or that I don’t want to be with you anymore,” the jungler continued, guiding the other guy’s hand up to his heart, “because that would be a lie.”

Tim’s eyes flickered back and forth Oskar’s eyes and his chest, in which his heart was beating like crazy. He blushed at the sensation and bit on his lower lip, almost smiling – still, after seemingly taking the moment in for a second, he still asked, “but…?”

“But I need some time.”

“Of course…” Tim nodded softly.

“See… this is not just something concerning you and me… there’s also Rasmus, and I don’t want to do anything to hurt him, either.” Oskar added calmly.

“Oh… I see how it is,” the midlaner muttered, pulling his hand away.

“Ehm, what is that supposed to mean?” Oskar asked, giving the other guy a confused look.

“You should have just said so from the beginning.” Tim went on.

“I should have said what?” Oskar asked, raising one of his brows, “that I care about his feelings?”

“Just that you guys are… I just had the impression that it wasn’t this serious.” Tim shrugged a little as he glanced away. It was hard to tell since he couldn’t see his face clearly, but Oskar could have sworn that the Slovenian looked as if he was sulking.

“That’s just… I mean, even if I had said it like that, that doesn’t mean I’d just go ahead and throw him away?” Oskar said, feeling weirdly irritated, “I thought you of all people would know what that feels like…”

“What are you getting at with this…” Tim muttered, crossing his arms.

“You know, what Martin did, he… I’m not like him.”

“I don’t know…” The midlaner sighed, “because right now, it sounds like you care about Caps’ feelings more than about mine, and that sounds awfully familiar…”

“What?” Oskar frowned at the other guy, almost not able to grasp what he was saying, “after everything I’ve just said, how did you get _that_?”

“It’s fine, I understand he’s… fun or whatever,” Tim mumbled, looking down at the floor, “and he’s smiling like, all the time… I wouldn’t even call it normal anymore, but I guess it’s, I don’t know, pleasant?”

“Ehm, Tim?” Oskar said, grabbing the midlaner by both of his shoulders to shake him out of his gloom, “are you even listening to yourself?”

“Well, that’s just the way things are…” Tim breathed, looking back at the jungler holding him in his hands.

“Not for me, no…” Oskar shook his head, opening his arms to enclose the smaller guy into a tight embrace.

“I – uhm, what is that supposed to mean?” Tim asked in a muffled voice.

“I care about Rasmus, yes… but that has got nothing to do with how I feel about you, Tim.” The jungler said softly, “I told you I want to be with you, of course I do – why is it so hard for you to trust me all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know…” Tim whispered against the jungler’s shoulder, “I didn’t even think I would get this far.”

“Now you’re doubting yourself, too? This whole thing got you shook up, huh…” Oskar smirked, stroking the back of the midlaner’s head.

“Of course it would…”

“Well, I’d say lots of people would be surprised to hear that Fnatic’s weapon has emotions after all,” the jungler explained, smiling softly, “not me, though.”

“So this is all… real, huh? You’re not just going to… disappear on me again?” Tim asked carefully, slowly putting his hands on the other guy’s back to return the hug.

“You know I only avoided you because the whole thing with freaking Martin made me so god damn angry,” Oskar mumbled, holding the midlaner a little tighter, “so no, there’s no way.”

“Okay…” Tim hummed, closing his eyes as he leaned his forehead against Oskar’s shoulder.

“Okay…” The jungler agreed.

For some more time, they just held each other. It was a tight hug, nothing more than that, but it felt like a huge leap from everything they had ever done, mostly because, even in their drunken night together, Oskar couldn’t remember the Slovenian returning his embrace this strongly ever before. He didn’t want to let go – he had waited so long, thinking that it would never happen, that it felt impossible to let go. But, in the end, Oskar knew that there was something left to be done before he could even begin thinking about where this whole thing might or might not be going. Yes, because he had promised himself that he would never walk all over someone else’s feelings for his own sake ever again, Oskar pulled back from what felt like the most magical touch to get back to reality.

“So…” He said, scratching his cheek, “I think I should probably… go for now?”

“Yeah, I get it…” Tim mumbled, but his pouty mouth suggested that he didn’t feel pleased about that.

“Don’t make it even harder for me!” Oskar chuckled, ruffling through the midlaner’s hair.

“You’re right,” Tim answered, giving the jungler a slight smile, “it’s okay.”

“Trust me, I know it sucks to wait but…” Oskar muttered, tracing the outline of Tim’s jawline with one of his fingers, “it won’t be for long this time.”

“Promise?” Tim hummed, looking up into the jungler’s eyes.

“Yeah, promise.” Oskar smiled, “but for now…”

“I’m really craving some DuoQ games,” Tim sighed, “you wouldn’t know anyone who could help me with that…?”

“I wonder…” Oskar laughed, slowly getting off the bed.

“Come on… like the good old times?” The midlaner asked with hopeful eyes.

“I don’t know…” Oskar mumbled, hesitantly looking back at the other guy.

He didn’t plan on going this far, but it also felt too right to refuse. Besides, Oskar had hoped to get back to his routines with Tim for quite some time, and a little DuoQ never hurt anyone, now did it?

“I mean… sure, let’s do it.” He replied after a short pause.

“You wanna hit the office?” Tim asked carefully, seemingly testing the waters.

“We could, yeah… but I need a moment,” Oskar explained, grabbing his phone out of his pocket, “Just… give me five minutes.”

“Sure…” Tim answered quietly, dangling his legs off the bed, “I’ll wait.”

“Thanks.” Oskar mumbled as he headed for the door, with his own room in mind as his destination.

 _What am I getting myself into…?_ The jungler wondered as he closed the door behind him. It was almost ridiculous how happy he was after finding out about Tim’s feelings – still, the thought of what lied in front of him now made Oskar feel sick to his stomach. In the end, there was no easy fix, and certainly no solution that would make everyone happy. _But I have to start somewhere_ , he considered as he sat down on his own bed. With a heavy heart, Oskar opened his chat with Rasmus and stared at the texts the ADC had sent him over the course of the day. Since the last time he did so, new messages had flown in.

Rasmus: Are you really fine? I don't know if I believe you...

Rasmus: Congrats on the victory, hope you’re feeling better

Rasmus: If you want to talk about what happened, just call me or text me

Rasmus: I’m here

“Kurwa…” Oskar mumbled under his breath as he stared at his phone. What already felt impossible just got so much harder in his mind – but there was no other way. After letting out a long sigh, he started typing.

Oskar: I’m okay, sorry again for scaring you this morning

Oskar: It was just a lot to handle

Oskar: Things are clearer now, but…

Oskar: I think we have to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Oskar's second POV! 
> 
> I'm curious, did this change your perception of his character at all? And what the hell is going on anyway? Feel free to share your thoughts here on ao3 or on the server (#story-discussions), I can't wait to hear all about it! 
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	50. Part 11: DreamServer (+Special)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to this very special... Special? 
> 
> Yes, we've actually reached 50 chapters (can you believe it?), and I wanted to make sure to make this one extra special! This episode of the DreamServer is a rather special one (but aren't they all?), but the second part of this chapter is probably the more surprising thing! Well - for some ;) Don't ask me how, but the peeps on the DS on Discord actually managed to crack the code beforehand? Crazy, isn't it? Anyway, hope you enjoy this special! And thank you so much for sticking with this story for so long, I couldn't be happier about it! 
> 
> PS: To make this occasion even more special, here are some recommendations to enhance your ayaya-experience even further!
> 
> 1\. Did Part 10 leave you in the need of more Rekkles x Febiven smut? Well, you don't have to wait any longer! Just_A_Sea_Lion (and also a dear member of the Discord Server), wrote a great scene on what happened after the boys got back to Rekkles' hotel room that night! I beta-read it myself and can definitely recommend it, so check it out if you want: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25962145
> 
> 2\. Remember the "Which ayaya character are you?"-quiz? Well, there's a new quiz from the same creator, phoenixsigns! How much do you know about ayaya? Let me know in the comments / on the DS ;) https://uquiz.com/quiz/30wG1j/cant-seem-to-let-you-go-trivia
> 
> 3\. Link to join our Discord server (expires in 24 hours): https://discord.gg/sbcY7D (you can always ask for a new link in the comments here!)

_After one of the most turbulent days the players of the League had ever experienced, the DreamServer was bound to be overflowing with troubled souls looking for answers, or for some comfort, at least. Then again, how does one fall asleep with what felt like the weight of the whole world on one’s shoulders? Who would be able to get across this obstacle to obtain the truth - or something like the truth - in the end? Now, recently, rumour has it that this specific truth, meaning the one you learn in your dreams, had started to leak. Rumour has it that the lines between reality and fantasy had, somewhere, somewhen, started to blur. But that couldn’t possibly have any consequences for the professional players involved, or – god forbid – the ominous platform of the DreamServer itself, now could it?_

\- **[grumpy]** , **[free-spirited]** and **[observant]** have joined the DreamServer -

 **[observant]** : hello there

 **[free-spirited]** : hiii

 **[grumpy]** : yeah, hey I guess

 **[observant]** : how is everyone feeling tonight?

 **[free-spirited]** : SO GOOD

 **[free-spirited]** : honestly, last night was a HOOT

 **[grumpy]** : good to hear that one of us had fun

 **[grumpy]** : … well, it wasn’t all that bad I guess

 **[observant]** : ahh?

 **[observant]** : explain, please

 **[free-spirited]** : well, I had a drink or two too many but who cares!

 **[free-spirited]** : we played, I danced, everyone laughed it was

 **[free-spirited]** : great!

 **[grumpy]** : I don’t think he meant you but…

 **[grumpy]** : sure, you just go ahead

 **[free-spirited]** : whoops, sorry!

 **[observant]** : sounds like you had fun **@free-spirited**

 **[observant]** : I don’t drink personally but you do you

 **[grumpy]** : can you even call it drinking when there’s no decent alcohol around here?

 **[grumpy]** : it’s nothing compared to what we get served back home

 **[free-spirited]** : speak for yourself, I take what I can get

 **[grumpy]** : definitely sounds like it…

 **[free-spirited]** : was that a dig, dude?

 **[observant]** : come on guys, no unnecessary fighting

 **[observant]** : I’ve got enough tension around me in my everyday life…

 **[observant]** : I have no desire to continue that theme here

 **[free-spirited]** : ohh, you do?

 **[grumpy]** : sounds ominous

 **[grumpy]** : but I guess I can relate…

 **[observant]** : I like to believe that we’re still just finding our dynamic as a team

 **[observant]** : good that it’s not showing in our results, though

 **[free-spirited]** : ahh I see!

 **[free-spirited]** : roster changes are difficult, it’s our first split as a team too

 **[grumpy]** : yeah but… isn’t that just normal, honestly

 **[grumpy]** : we knew what we signed up for when we became pros

 **[observant]** : that doesn’t mean that it can’t be tough, right?

 **[observant]** : It takes me some time to warm up to new people

 **[observant]** : this team has made it kind of easy for me though

 **[free-spirited]** : oh yeah, I love my team

 **[free-spirited]** : even though some of my teammates nag even more than my mom

 **[grumpy]** : right, I can relate to that…

 **[grumpy]** : I mean, I wouldn’t do something like that

 **[grumpy]** : or would I…?

 **[observant]** : sometimes I feel like I don’t know how to act my age around my mates

 **[observant]** : if they act like babies, I just feel like I have to step up

 **[free-spirited]** : don’t call me a baby

 **[observant]** : what

 **[grumpy]** : god, you sound 100% like a support player

 **[observant]** : and that’s a bad thing because…?

 **[Phil]** : **@grumpy** _reminder: please don’t discriminate against other roles_

 **[free-spirited]** : what the –

 **[observant]** : uhm, am I supposed to thank you or…

 **[grumpy]** : DUDE I DIDN’T EVEN SAY ANYTHING

 **[grumpy]** : …also, who are you, man?

 **[Phil]** : I am not a man

 **[Phil]** : I am your designated bot and moderator for the night

 **[Phil]** : Phil

 **[free-spirited]** : wow, fancy

 **[observant]** : that’s news to me

 **[observant]** : and your name is Phil? That’s funny…

 **[grumpy]** : how is that funny?

 **[observant]** : dunno, can’t explain it, but....

 **[observant]** : I guess I welcome anyone who tries to get people to stick to the rules

 **[grumpy]** : wait, there’s rules…?

 **[Phil]** : not necessarily, no

 **[Phil]** : but please keep your tone respectful

 **[Phil]** : unless asked not to

 **[free-spirited]** : hahaha what

 **[observant]** : what is that supposed to mean?

 **[observant]** : when would we be asked not to be respectful I –

 **[Phil]** : I cannot disclose that information

 **[grumpy]** : I have some tricks people could describe as L9 up my sleeve but

 **[grumpy]** : nah, I can be friendly ;)

 **[free-spirited]** : well

 **[free-spirited]** : how do you do, moderator

 **[Phil]** : I do not have emotions

 **[Phil]** : But I have been programmed to say that ‘I am fine’ to ease your human mind

 **[free-spirited]** : lol

 **[observant]** : slightly unsettling but okay

 **[grumpy]** : funny that you can’t even flame in your…

 **[grumpy]** : …what is this place again?

 **[free-spirited]** : now that you say it…

 **[Phil]** : I cannot disclose that information

 **[observant]** : it feels somewhat familiar, but also not really

 **[Phil]** : some adjustments had to be made

 **[Phil]** : which is why I have been redesigned to moderate permanently

 **[observant]** : makes sense to me

 **[free-spirited]** : sounds like fun

 **[grumpy]** : kind of makes you wonder what happened tho…

 **[Phil]** : I cannot disclose that information

 **[observant]** : figures

 **[grumpy]** : what CAN you tell us, then?

 **[free-spirited]** : maybe he can give us some fun game mode or something?

 **[grumpy]** : some people are not just here for fun you know…

 **[observant]** : what are you here for then, **@grumpy**?

 **[grumpy]** : ...

 **[Phil]** : _calculating what could be ‘fun’_ …

 **[free-spirited]** : wow, I feel so heard right now

 **[grumpy]** : ngl this is interesting

 **[Phil]** : solution found

\- **[over_it]** has joined the DreamServer -

 **[observant]** : aha, a new person?

 **[over_it]** : …sup

 **[free-spirited]** : that certainly could be fun!

 **[grumpy]** : I don’t know…

 **[grumpy]** : would you say you’re a fun person, **@over_it**?

 **[grumpy]** : **@Phil** said so

 **[over_it]** : possibly?

 **[over_it]** : why do people keep talking about me behind my back though…

 **[Phil]** : I did not do such a thing

 **[observant]** : it makes sense that adding a new spice to the mix would be interesting, though

 **[free-spirited]** : aww look at you coming to Phil’s rescue

 **[over_it]** : I don’t know what’s going on but…

 **[over_it]** : I’m already kind of over it

 **[grumpy]** : figures

 **[observant]** : okay, well

 **[observant]** : maybe it would help you if you talked about what’s going on with you?

 **[over_it]** : ugh, where do I even start…

 **[free-spirited]** : I think there’s an easy solution here

 **[free-spirited]** : **@Phil** , give us a topic!

 **[Phil]** : _generating topic out of a fixed pool of options_ …

 **[grumpy]** : what, really?

 **[grumpy]** : how did you know he could do that?

 **[free-spirited]** : I didn’t

 **[free-spirited]** : :>

 **[observant]** : very interesting…

 **[over_it]** : let’s just hope it’s not something like…

 **[Phil]** : topic found

 **[Phil]** : please discuss ‘romantic affiliations’

 **[over_it]** : … well F

 **[grumpy]** : damn Phil really wants to know us like that huh

 **[Phil]** : the topic was chosen randomly

 **[grumpy]** : _s u r e_

 **[free-spirited]** : I don’t have a lot to contribute here

 **[free-spirited]** : I just love everyone

 **[observant]** : that’s precious

 **[over_it]** : I don’t like using the word ‘love’

 **[over_it]** : but I’ve been with a lot of people

 **[over_it]** : even more recently I guess…

 **[observant]** : ahh?

 **[observant]** : how come

 **[over_it]** : I moved

 **[over_it]** : new surroundings, new me I guess

 **[free-spirited]** : you moved to a new place and hook up with MORE people instead of less??

 **[over_it]** : basically yeah

 **[grumpy]** : not gonna lie, that’s a power move

 **[observant]** : and you’re satisfied with that?

 **[over_it]** : it’s fine

 **[over_it]** : probably wouldn’t be as easy if I didn’t have someone setting me up all the time

 **[over_it]** : feels like he knows literally everyone in the League

 **[free-spirited]** : you got someone like that on your team?

 **[free-spirited]** : damn :o

 **[observant]** : a gamer with well-developed social skills?

 **[observant]** : how unusual…

 **[grumpy]** : I wouldn’t need a service like that

 **[grumpy]** : I already have a girlfriend you know

 **[over_it]** : sure, sure…

 **[grumpy]** : >:(

 **[observant]** : no bullying, come on

 **[Phil]** : I, too, advise you to stay respectful

 **[grumpy]** : or what??

 **[Phil]** : consequences will follow 

**[over_it]** : damn, Phil

 **[over_it]** : you're such a badass

 **[Phil]** : I am not a 'badass', I am a bot

 **[grumpy]** : ... I'm not scared 

**[observant]** : right

 **[observant]** : moving on...

 **[free-spirited]** : I would love to be set up with someone cute

 **[free-spirited]** : go on a blind date, have some bubble tea or something…

 **[over_it]** : oof, miss me with that sappy shit

 **[over_it]** : I get hooked for a night and that’s that

 **[observant]** : sounds lonely in the long run

 **[over_it]** : nahh, it’s alright

 **[over_it]** : but I’m running out of guys that interest me around here already

 **[grumpy]** : guys?

 **[free-spirited]** : ohh, interesting

 **[observant]** : nothing wrong with that

 **[over_it]** : did I ask for anyone’s approval?

 **[over_it]** : geez

 **[grumpy]** : I didn’t mean that I wasn’t cool with it

 **[grumpy]** : I’m openminded you know

 **[over_it]** : sure

 **[free-spirited]** : what is it like to be with a guy?

 **[over_it]** : wouldn’t you like to know

 **[free-spirited]** : …yeah? :>

 **[free-spirited]** : that’s why I asked

 **[observant]** : looks like someone is curious

 **[grumpy]** : that’s a weird conversation to have over…

 **[grumpy]** : whatever this is

 **[Phil]** : this is a safe space to talk about anything

 **[observant]** : that is hardly an answer, Phil

 **[observant]** : but thanks

 **[over_it]** : in my experience, it’s just easier to get off with another guy

 **[over_it]** : since they know which spots to hit pretty naturally

 **[free-spirited]** : I can imagine uhm I

 **[free-spirited]** : I don’t think that’s what I meant tho :(

 **[observant]** : manners, **@over_it**...

 **[over_it]** : what did I say…?

 **[grumpy]** : let’s keep it PG-13 my dude

 **[Phil]** : there is no such rule around here

 **[observant]** : come on, Phil, let’s try to keep it clean in front of **@free-spirited**

 **[free-spirited]** : oh my god, I’m not a baby!

 **[over_it]** : sounds exactly like something a baby would say to me

 **[observant]** : someone just get **@free-spirited** over here a bubble tea date okay

 **[observant]** : that sounds like a good fit

 **[Phil]** : this is not a matchmaking platform

 **[free-spirited]** : well that’s disappointing :(

 **[over_it]** : you just say the word, I’m sure my guy has someone for you…

 **[over_it]** : he sort of is the god of this League

 **[grumpy]** : wow that’s such a cocky thing to say

 **[free-spirited]** : I want to be a god too!

 **[observant]** : of course…

 **[over_it]** : not saying he’s the best player tho

 **[over_it]** : there’s this other guy playing the same role…

 **[over_it]** : I’ve played on a team with him before, I feel like he could be better

 **[grumpy]** : you say that about a competitor?

 **[grumpy]** : big words

 **[free-spirited]** : I’m sure my ex-teammates would say the same thing about me!

 **[observant]** : sure buddy

 **[observant]** : sounds like that dude was not just like any other teammate though

 **[observant]** : right, **@over_it**?

 **[over_it]** : how did you get that idea?

 **[over_it]** : well, I guess it checks out with you being… observant and all

 **[grumpy]** : wow, very funny

 **[free-spirited]** : Hahaha

 **[free-spirited]** : I just got it

 **[observant]** : right… so?

 **[observant]** : are you going to tell?

 **[over_it]** : we had a thing in the past

 **[over_it]** : doesn’t really matter to be honest… it was just fun

 **[grumpy]** : why bring it up now then?

 **[over_it]** : … dunno

 **[over_it]** : I’ve been feeling weirdly melancholic lately

 **[over_it]** : guess I’m just homesick or something

 **[free-spirited]** : aww :(

 **[observant]** : hmm, fair enough

 **[observant]** : being away from home is tough when you’re young I guess

 **[over_it]** : why would you say something cringy like that

 **[over_it]** : are you a million years old or something?

 **[grumpy]** : lol

 **[observant]** : does it matter?

 **[observant]** : I’m just sympathetic

 **[free-spirited]** : it’s true though, I miss my family sometimes

 **[free-spirited]** : even though my team sort of feels like a family to me :>

 **[over_it]** : isn’t that cute…

 **[Phil]** : am I right to assume that you have completed talking about the randomly selected topic?

 **[free-spirited]** : sort of?

 **[free-spirited]** : I’m just gonna see what life throws my way I think!

 **[over_it]** : same…

 **[grumpy]** : wait, **@observant** hasn’t said anything yet I feel?

 **[observant]** : well

 **[observant]** : there’s not much to say

 **[observant]** : I want to focus on my career for now

 **[free-spirited]** : but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun, right?

 **[over_it]** : as I’ve said before, I know a guy who could get someone for you…

 **[observant]** : thank you, but no thank you

 **[observant]** : I’m not really interested

 **[grumpy]** : ah…?

 **[observant]** : I’d like to keep it at that

 **[free-spirited]** : uhh, sure dude

 **[Phil]** : topic concluded

 **[Phil]** : moving on to the next one…

 **[???]** : what is this?

 **[free-spirited]** : o.O

 **[grumpy]** : oh god no, another one…

 **[over_it]** : huh, that’s new

 **[observant]** : very interesting…

 **[Phil]** : I am moderating the conversation, precisely as I have been programmed to do

 **[???]** : okay but…

 **[???]** : Phil, who are these people?

 **[grumpy]** : aren’t you the wrong person to ask that question…

 **[free-spirited]** : ngl this is a bit spooky

 **[Phil]** : I do not understand the question

 **[???]** : I meant – geez…

 **[???]** : I don’t know any of these people

 **[???]** : where are our guys?

 **[over_it]** : funny coincidence, I’ve never heard of you either

 **[observant]** : it is sort of mysterious…

 **[Phil]** : it appears as if some miscalculations must have occurred

 **[Phil]** : we have been sent substitutions as none of the original players logged on

 **[???]** : NONE?

 **[???]** : that can’t be right

 **[grumpy]** : did you just call us “subs”, Phil??

 **[grumpy]** : how rude is that

 **[free-spirited]** : I’ll have you know that I’m one of the best players in the League! ;(

 **[observant]** : I don’t think it was an insult

 **[observant]** : it appears as if we’re just at the wrong place or something…

 **[over_it]** : how hauntingly familiar…

 **[Phil]** : I have not been involved in the player selection

 **[???]** : but you should have been, that’s just –

 **[???]** : ugh that’s just perfect

 **[???]** : there’s no point for this is none of our players are here

 **[free-spirited]** : I’m so confused!

 **[grumpy]** : I still feel weirdly insulted

 **[observant]** : I would like to know what the problem is…

 **[observant]** : is there a purpose for this place to begin with?

 **[???]** : I’m not going to answer your questions, that’s a waste of time

 **[???]** : Phil, get them out of here

 **[over_it]** : wow, really?

 **[free-spirited]** : WOWOWOW YOU CAN’T JUST PURGE US WTF

 **[grumpy]** : I’m not just gonna sit around here and let you talk to us this way!

 **[observant]** : I believe we do not have a say in this…

 **[Phil]** : I will take care of the problem right away

 **[over_it]** : problem… what a note to end on

 **[observant]** : goodbye I assume

 **[free-spirited]** : THIS IS NO FAIR! D:

 **[grumpy]** : I want to speak to the manager

\- **[over_it]** , **[observant]** , **[free-spirited]** and **[grumpy]** have left the DreamServer -

 **[???]:** finally some peace and quiet…

 **[???]** : now tell me again, Phil

 **[???]** : how could this happen?

 **[Phil]** : I do not have the necessary information to answer that question

 **[???]** : can’t be good news, then…

 **[???]** : ah, I guess there’s no need for this disguise if there are no players around

 **[Admin]** : okay, so

 **[Admin]** : tell me, Phil, what is the prognosis for the next night

 **[Phil]** : close to 60% of the registered players should be available

 **[Phil]** : but the statistics have not been verified yet

 **[Admin]** : really bad news, then

 **[Admin]** : first the leak, now this…

 **[Admin]** : seriously, how could someone remember someone else’s NAME?

 **[Admin]** : I’m going to get into trouble if I don’t get a handle on things

 **[Phil]** : do you wish to give additional commands?

 **[Admin]** : hmm

 **[Admin]** : yes

 **[Admin]** : make sure that today’s participants can’t access their memories

 **[Admin]** : wipe them twice if you have to

 **[Admin]** : I can’t let the word get out…

 **[Admin]** : it’s bad enough with one or two guests at a time

 **[Phil]** : command received

 **[Admin]** : good

 **[Admin]** : we also need some rules to ensure that regular activity stays within the fixed parameters

 **[Admin]** : I don’t want another slip-up

 **[Phil]** : do you wish to set the rules now?

 **[Admin]** : … no, not yet

 **[Admin]** : I need to get to the bottom of the problem first

 **[Admin]** : how is it possible that none of them showed up tonight…

 **[Phil]** : perhaps they have stayed active or have not reached the stage of REM-sleep?

 **[Admin]** : what, all of them?

 **[Admin]** : don’t be ridiculous, we might be talking about gamers here, but that’s impossible…

 **[Admin]** : …right?

__________________________________________________________________________________

50th Chapter celebration: Jankos’ secret hideout 

_When Jankos tiptoed into his room, wondering why he was even trying to be cautious about it, the place he called his kingdom was pitch-black. The faint light of the barely visible Berlin night sky poked through the blinds, but it took the jungler a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Of course, he could have just turned on the light right away, but that didn’t suit the feeling of his mission. As stealthy as he possibly could, he stumbled through the room until he finally reached the big closet towering next to his bed. It didn’t hold a lot of clothes, arguably. Some might say that it was a waste of space for someone who wore the same outfit every day, and Jankos would probably only disagree because he had started to utilize the storage space for something different – something way more important. Slowly, the jungler kneeled down to reach for something in the lowest compartment of the closet. When his back cracked a little in the process, Jankos felt his age – but that was just another point on his list for the day. With a small sigh, he managed to get back on his feet, promising himself that he’d actually do the stretches G2’s health manager taught them a while ago tomorrow. For now, he was on a mission._

_He carried the loot of his secret plundering over to his desk, finally providing the room with a dim light as he turned on the rusty table lamp on it. For one, there was a box containing something Jankos considered snacks. He reached inside to get a handful of goods to shove into his mouth, since he was weirdly hungry, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night. The Pole was still chewing patiently when he reached for a pen and opened the small leather notebook he had carried over with his other hand. Normally, he’d just skip ahead to the free sites to start scribbling right away. But today, he didn’t feel like he was in a hurry. And so, the jungler decided to start from the beginning._

Part 1: December 17, 2019

DEAR DIARY!!

That’s how people start WRITING in things like this, right?? You see, after GRABBZ said that we should take notes in yesterday’s meeting, stupid Perkz said I’d NEVER write anything down unless someone FORCED me to do it… AND WHAT CAN I SAY, BOY AM I PROVING HIM WRONG!! I went out to buy this FANCY leather notebook today, and I have to say that it really suits my STYLE if you know what I mean! Ah – of course you do, you’re me, right?? Haha…

Anyway, today was kind of a CRAZY day! There I was, like every other day, doing my EXERCISES in the morning (I’m super buff, you know? JUST IMAGINE SOMEONE SUPER BUFF IF YOU THINK ABOUT ME DIARY XAXAXA). SUDDENLY I heard this loud noise coming from the kitchen? Of course I went to check right away, since I am the BOSS of this household! AND – I kid you not – THERE STOOD RASMUS, WITH HIS FAVOURITE MUG SHATTERED ON THE FLOOR! It was terrible! He LOVED that stupid mug, even though I always told him how UGLY it was… and as if that wasn’t BAD enough, he was also BLEEDING so much, I thought he would DIE!! WELL – maybe not that much. But it looked bad! He didn’t even care about it, though… I always thought Rasmus would be SOFT, but it looks like he is a REAL MAN, after all!!

SPEAKING OF WHICH! He really stepped it up in our MEETING today! Since we didn’t get any new members, I thought we could just CONTINUE to SLAY THE COMPETITION like we did all year long! But I guess our dear MIDLANER – or actually – ADC HAS DIFFERENT PLANS! The role swap seems INSANE if you ask me, but everyone wants to do it and I guess it just SUITS us as a team. STILL I wonder how Rasmus even came up with the idea?? And how did he put together such a NICE HANDOUT in such little time?? He just KEEPS SURPRISING ME!

Part 2: December 18, 2019

DEAR DIARY,

ITS ME AGAIN! Ha, you didn’t think I would ACTUALLY COME BACK and do this AGAIN, did you?? Well, here I am. Today was another day – not as good as yesterday, though. I haven’t played DuoQ with Perkz in a while, since he played BOTLANE and all… AND NOW WE SUCK?? Our synergy is so OFF somehow! I’m sure we can get back into it, but GEEZ!! STOP MAKING MY LIFE SO DIFFICULT STUPID PERKZ! I’ve heard that Rasmus and MIKY have also started playing DuoQ to prepare… I can only HOPE that they can carry, otherwise it’s so DOOMED! I MEAN - Wunder is the same old GROMP as always, all alone in the toplane, there’s no way we can rely on him!

I can’t start worrying about LEAGUE, there are so many other things to worry about! Like, when am I finally going to find a GIRLFRIEND? I’ve heard that all the other pros are getting some! Not around MY TEAM, no… BUT STILL! Where are all the hot JANKOS FANGIRLS?? It’s a true mystery… Aren’t we the MOST SUCCESSFUL TEAM? And am I NOT the most attractive G2 player? (Those are RHETORICAL QUESTIONS, by the way!)… Oh Diary, I just want someone to talk to before bed, or to hold hands while we take a walk in the park, go out to eat Kebab or SOMETHING… Is that too much to ask for? I DON’T KNOW!

December 20, 2019

DEAR DIARY,

last night, I had a NIGHTMARE. It was so bad, I am still SWEATING while I'm WRITING THIS DOWN! I was in the RIFT, you see?? It was like I was ACTUALLY THERE, trying to get my blue buff or something! It was peaceful, somehow. That place feels like HOME to me, after all, RIGHT?? Ah - I know, you're wondering how that was a NIGHTMARE? WELL - just as I was about to smite, someone SWOOPED IN and STOLE MY BUFF! He looked buff, too, and he wasn't wearing a SHIRT, but he had a BLINDFOLD on and... dear god, diary, it was TIAN'S LEE SIN! Oh my god, it was TERRIBLE! I'm still shaking thinking about it now!! I had to write it down, you see - since that is the fact that I wasn't GOOD ENOUGH to beat him is the SIN I can NEVER forget. It won't happen again!! WATCH ME!

December 30,, 2019

DEAR DIARY,

After the most wonderful Christmas with my family in Poland (yes, I have been DRUNK for the last couple of DAYS, sorry for the ABSENCE!) I’ve decided to make you a GIFT! Yes, I want to give you a NAME! I came up with it this morning while I was sitting in our GARDEN – it’s quite beautiful around here, you see? I want to give you a NAME, since ANYONE can call their diary a diary… and I’m not just ANYONE! So I thought about it, and DIARY kind of sounds like DIANA, no?? She is not one of my mains, but she is a beautiful woman (which I like a lot) and also DEADLY, which is perfect for the case that anyone ever FINDS YOU! Oh, Diana, I hope that NEVER happens… You are mine only, okay? MY LADY IF YOU WILL!

So, Diana – I have to tell you, I love being around my FAM here in Poland, but I also somehow miss my teammates… that is WEIRD, isn’t it?? They are always so annoying, and yet… AHH YOU’RE RIGHT, they would probably say the same thing about me! But whatever, we’re a team, the PERFECT team even, and next year, we’re going to win Worlds. Yes, 2020 is coming up, and I feel like it is going to be OURS!

January 7, 2019

DEAR DIANA,

ah, isn't it NICE that you have a real NAME now?? I like it a lot! It feels less like I'm talking to MYSELF that way, haha! Anyway - today was a weird day! I was so excited to get back to the G2 apartment to meet everyone (I don't want THEM to know that, though!!), which is why I bought a HUGE, creamy chocolate cake to celebrate my GREAT RETURN! It was so delicious, and I was even GRACIOUS enough to offer everyone a piece! I wanted to eat it ALL by myself, to be honest! There was still a lot left when I left it in the fridge, and I was so EXCITED to have more as a midnight snack!! But THEN - OH, Diana, when I came to get it, it was GONE! I was DEVASTATED! I don't know why, but I simply KNOW it was MIKY who took it... he LOOKED AT IT WITH GREED IN HIS EYES ALL DAY!! I will confront him, oh yes, I will! He will PAY for this! I mean, not literally - actually, I would LIKE another chocolate cake, though!! I know I gained a little WEIGHT over the holidays, but that doesn't mean I have to STOP eating nice things altogether, RIGHT?

Part 3: January 10, 2019

HELLO DIANA,

I have come back for you! Today was a very special day – we had our LEC PROMO PHOTOSHOOT! I love photoshoots, since I ALWAYS nail the poses! The others should take notes, I’m a NATURAL in front of the camera, trust me! The pictures are so good, you would THINK that I would get more attention – from beautiful women like you, I mean – but NOOO, it’s always my stupid teammates! I totally regret asking them about that today.. How does someone as SMALL and INNOCENT as Rasmus get hot pictures from fangirls?? It’s not fair I tell you, not fair! All I ever get are these damn DICKPICS… Oh, Diana, I can’t stand them. I mean, SURE, I try to measure up a little when I HAPPEN o look at them, like, FOR A SECOND – I am very happy with the size of my dick, I’ll have you know!! Wait, why am I even ARGUING WITH YOU… Of course you would know that.

Anyway… I can’t believe that PERKZ of all people would get the HOTTEST chick I’ve ever seen… She’s Blonde and has this AMAZING body and… I don’t know, just looking at her on that picture made me FEEL something… No, Diana, not just in my PANTS! Do you believe in LOVE at first sight? I think I might do! I asked Perkz to send me the picture, just to… LOOK at it, you know? BUT HE WOULDN’T! STINGY BASTARD! I hope I can meet her someday… Now that I think about it, I don’t even know her name. I’ll make sure to ask Perkz about it tomorrow!

Oh, by the way Diana, can you believe that Miky and Rasmus seem to be getting along way better from one day to the other?? I was so surprised today, it was like they were COMPLETELY DIFFERENT after today’s photoshoot! I want them to find their SYNERGY so that we can win of course, but I wonder what they did… Rasmus came back from the toilet and SWOOSH, they were laughing and having fun, something Miky normally never does on photoshoot days!! So weird... it must have been MAGIC or something! I have to say, Miky is a SMUG BASTARD, but I didn’t hate to see him smile today.

January 17, 2020

DIANA! HELLO!

I FINALLY FOUND OUT HER NAME! It took me all week to find the perfect opportunity – you see, I didn’t just want to ASK, because I hate Perkz’ stupid grin so much… So I had to wait for the perfect opportunity! Tonight, when we went out with the whole team, GRABBZ asked if we had any plans later on, and Luka said he would MEET UP WITH SOMEONE… I knew my time had come! So I said ‘oh, you mean Julia?’ (WHICH IS JUST A RANDOM NAME OK) and he shook his head and said ‘no, are you stupid? It’s Sam!’ HAHAHA HE TOTALLY FELL FOR IT! He didn’t even understand that I am so smart, and he is so dumb!

Sam… it’s a beautiful name for a beautiful woman! Well, to be honest, I thought it was a name for guys at first, but I googled it and found out it was short for SAMANTHA, how wonderful is that! Oh, Diana… Everything about her is perfect, and I haven’t even met her!

January 20, 2020

HI THERE DIANA!

Today was a good day! I got to see ROCKY! I love this dog so much, you have NO IDEA! It was such a treat, especially since we won't have much time now that SPRING SPLIT starts SOON! I wanted to take him out on a walk, but I troubles with finding his LEASH? I asked OLIVER about it, but nothing!! Rocky was already jumping around in EXCITEMENT, how could I make him wait like that?? When I asked Rasmus about it, he looked NERVOUS all of a sudden... Diana, do you think he could have... lost the leash? And is too ASHAMED to admit it?? It happens to the BEST, right? Miky just laughed when he heard, the BASTARD... I'm sure he knows something!! But I didn't want to EMBARASS Rasmus by asking about it, so I searched for a spare! In the end, it was a GREAT SUCCESS! Is this a good sign for how our SPLIT will go down, Diana?? I hope so!

Part 4: January 24, 2020

HELLO DIANA!

I’m sure you’ve missed me these last few days, and, of course, I’ve missed you too! I never liked writing back when I was in SCHOOL, but it’s different with you… It feels like my thoughts and feelings are SAFE here, like I can share anything with you! Actually… if I ever get murdered, this might be what they use to get to know the REAL me?? Or… what if they use it to FIND MY MURDERER?? Honestly, my bet would always be on stupid Perkz… or, well, maybe WUNDER because I don’t gank toplane enough or whatever! Then again, MIKY is always up to something… But it for sure wasn’t Rasmus! No, Rasmus LIKES me, and he’s TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD! But – but it’s always the one you least EXPECT, isn’t it? AHH! Let’s just hope I DON’T get murdered.

Unlike our first game of the split tonight! OH BOY WE KILLED IT! I think it was our new ADC, RASMUS SPRING, who won the day! Thank god the first game went so well – obviously, I played LIKE A GOD too! Well, maybe my early game was not that great… but hey, stupid Perkz was stupid enough to agree to a bet that I can only win! A night with Sam – oh, Diana, of course I’ll do whatever it takes to win!! You see, I’ve barely had the chance to talk to her, but she smells JUST AS GOOD AS SHE LOOKS, and her voice sounds so ANGELIC – I don’t even CARE about Perkz calling her his GIRLFRIEND, he probably just does that to flex! And I don’t think SHE ever agreed to that!! Yes, I simply NEED to win that bet!! All it takes is to make player of the game… That should be easy for someone as good as me, right? I’ll practice like crazy tonight!

But that might be difficult right now because, yes, I’m still really drunk right now since we went out to a bar after the game… wait, why did I decide to write this now before going to bed? My head is so fuzzy! Whatever, it felt IMPORTANT! It’s just FUN to drink, why would I let it STOP ME from talking to you, Diana?? Honestly, I wonder how Rasmus manages not to drink at all… He just sits there with us, with his little fruit juices (which are delicious, I’ve tried, but they don’t make your guts feel FUNNY at all!). I guess Rasmus is just a SPECIAL GUY, everyone knows that! Even his old team – or maybe ESPECIALLY his old team?? Fnatic was in the same bar as us yesterday, but they didn’t have much to CELEBRATE, now did they?? HAHAHA… they didn’t look very happy, either. Just DISAPPEARED one after the other… I mean, I might FIGHT with my teammates sometimes, but we’re still a TEAM! I don’t know if they feel the same way sometimes… that foolish REKKLES just kept staring at our GOLDEN BOY all evening long, it’s so OBVIOUS that he wants him back on his team! But he’s ours, you clown!!

Part 5: January 25, 2020

HELLO DIANA!

Today was a weird day… I woke up with a HAMMERING HEADACHE, I guess I had a drink or two too many last night… but well, we were CELEBRATING, right? So when I woke up this morning, the SHOUTING was just way too loud for my poor ears to handle! IS THIS WHAT PEOPLE FEEL LIKE WHEN I RANDOMLY START YELLING ON STREAM?? Anyway, I had to check where the noise was coming from, and who do I see? It was REKKLES! Here, in the enemy jungle… I could not believe it! He looked like he was in a hurry, running past me without even saying good morning… very rude! I didn’t even know what he was doing in our apartment in the first place, but it’s still MY KINGDOM, you know?? Show some respect! Rasmus was not happy with me, UNFORTUNATELY! He was very angry, shouting and cussing, NEVER ever before had I seen him like that and… I felt bad, okay? Sam was also there, in the doorway right next to mine, and she looked so WORRIED! So, of course I had to go after Rasmus, like any big man would do! I wanted to show her that I would do that stupid Perkz couldn’t, but I also didn’t mean to make Rasmus mad, you know… I only wanted to make Rekkles mad, if anything.

So, I APOLOGIZED to Rasmus, yet he said it was not my fault?? I didn’t understand that at all! But then, when we sat at the breakfast table, Miky, that BASTARD, explained… Oh, Diana, the horrors! I can’t begin to tell you how DISTURBED I AM!! Our little RASMUS, sleeping with the enemy?? Another guy? I mean – I always SUSPECTED that something like that was happening in our team (since I AM very smart, I’ve told you before), but I didn’t really want to know. It’s SOOOO LIKE MIKY to cause trouble for everyone like this, though!! I still don’t know what happened to my precious chocolate cake, and Miky still DENIES THAT HE TOOK IT! Rasmus said he knew what he did with it… maybe he watched him eat it? And they LAUGHED about me?? Ah, what a horrible thought… And WHY did Miky have to talk about REKKLES in pink underwear? I can’t get it out of my head, and that really is NOT something I want to think about, ever!

You know what I DO want to think about, though?? I WON THE BET! Yes, after playing as hard as I possibly could tonight, I made player of the game and made stupid Perkz EAT IT HAHAHA! I’m so excited to spend the night with Sam – I mean, I would also like to just, you know, talk to her or take her out on a nice date, but the THOUGHT of being that CLOSE to her already makes my heart JUMP! I am also a bit NERVOUS, though, since I really can’t mess this one chance up… You see, this morning, at the breakfast table, Wunder, that IDIOT, kept flirting with Sam – to that, I can only say back off!! I HAVE ENOUGH COMPETITION ALREADY!

Part 6: February 2, 2020

HELLO DIANA,

Please don’t be jealous, but I spent last night with ANOTHER WOMAN! Hehe yes, you guessed correctly, it was SAM! It was the perfect way to celebrate our 2-0 week… I can’t begin to tell you how amazing it was - she’s just perfect! Please don’t tell anyone, but I think I’m in LOVE… Ah, sorry, OF COURSE you wouldn’t tell! So yes, last night was amazing… but, FOR SOME REASON, Perkz was in the room with us?? And then he climbed into bed with us and – I THINK HE WANTED TO TOUCH MY ASS?? It was awful, I mean, he’s lucky that Sam is so sexy, I wouldn’t have been able to get it up otherwise! Yes, it was such a turn-off… It also really turned me off how he sat in the corner and watched, ok? I SWEAR I DIDN’T EVEN SEE HIS DICK! Ahh, I don’t know why I’m so embarrassed, Diana… I mean, if it DID turn me on, then just because someone as GREAT as me loves to be watched, right? Or, well, it was because of SAM for sure! … Maybe I should just stop thinking about stupid Perkz for now. If Sam felt just as good as me – and I think I performed REALLY WELL – then maybe I have a real chance? OH PLEASE DIANA, I JUST NEED ONE CHANCE!

I’ve been THINKING about what I could do all day long, you know? I thought about asking Perkz to make another bet, but I feel like he wouldn’t GO FOR IT now… and maybe it is also time for me to just approach Sam directly? Now that we… MADE LOVE, I can talk to her anytime, right?? Then why do I still feel so nervous around her?? Like everything I say sounds wrong? Ah, it’s a curse… Speaking about curses, Miky is up to something again, I feel… He gave me a really suspicious look today when I wanted to start streaming!! He also said that Rasmus went out to go bowling with BWIPO – our little guy just keeps hanging out with the enemy, I don’t know how to feel about that. Of course I want him to have fun, that’s not the question! But he could have asked ME to go bowling, right? Maybe I just want to go bowling again sometimes…

Ah, maybe I could ask Sam? I wonder if she likes bowling.

Part 7: February 8, 2020

Hi there, DIANA!

Today was a great day! The day we BEAT FNATIC! Again! Ahh, those are my favourite matches to play, you see… the HYPE is incredible! Of course, I don’t think they are a MATCH for us at all… and that really showed in the rift tonight! But – oh – where are my MANNERS? I should start at the beginning!

This morning, Wunder was a jerk, like ALWAYS! I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, but I don’t really get along with him too well. It’s HIS fault though, why would he accuse me of taking his GROSS cereal when I don’t even like it?? I mean, I tried it ONCE maybe… and it was bad. So bad, I wanted to rip my tongue out right then and there! Well… maybe not THAT bad. But I definitely don’t like it! He just keeps picking fights with me, I don’t GET it… But that was not the weirdest thing about breakfast this morning. Miky was annoying - okay that part was normal - but then SAM came in, wearing the same CLOTHES as Miky?? She looks amazing in anything, even a loose T-Shirt and boxers (isn't that FASCINATING, Diana?), but it made me wonder if Miky was UP TO SOMETHING again... At least I know he's not real COMPETITION, but I'm still WORRIED! I can't have even MORE people trying to steal Sam away from me...

WHICH REMINDS ME – I heard that Rasmus _stole_ Rekkles away from the twig Fnatic calls a midlaner? I couldn’t believe it! Sure, I knew Rekkles was a prick, but I don’t like anyone accusing poor, sweet Rasmus of something AWFUL like that!! He has such a good heart. He deserves SO MUCH better! Just like… yes, Diana, I know. I’m thinking about Sam again. And it’s true, she deserves a lot more than stupid PERKZ! She came to watch us play tonight, actually!! I performed my best, I hope she saw that… maybe, just maybe, I can MAKE A MOVE soon…? WELL – you’re right, I should be patient. Haha… is this crazy? I know I’m technically talking to myself, but I feel like you’re… HELPING me, Diana. Maybe that is okay? As long as no one finds out…

Ah, right, there’s one more thing: tonight, Rasmus went on the Post Game Lobby with Rekkles, you know – it didn’t look great. Rekkles was MALDING I’m telling you! It looked like he was ASKING to eat my fist… He should be lucky that he's adored by so many fans despite his STANK FACE! I was so ready to start BASHING him when Rasmus got back - but then, it was over, and Rasmus never came back to the G2 lounge?? I can only imagine what happened… Oh, Diana, I just hope that our team will be alright. And that this JERKFACE that calls himself Rekkles gets what he deserves, too!!

February 12, 2020

HELLO THERE, DIANA!

I almost made a CRUCIAL mistake today… I let Miky look for a spare cable in my room while I was in the kitchen, and when he didn’t come back for what felt like FOREVER, I went to look just to find him SNOOPING around!! Well – he said he was really just looking for the cable, acted like my room was MESSY or whatever… but I think he was searching for YOU, DIANA! But how could he possibly know?? There’s no way, right… I can never let anyone find you. I will think about a new hiding place to make sure my secrets will always be safe with you.

Part 8: February 14, 2020

OH DIANA! WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!

Can you smell it? LOVE is in the air! Yes, today was Valentine’s Day, and my best one by far, I might add! It took all my courage and A LOT of planning, but I finally managed to ask Sam out for real! Sure, she was still lying in bed with stupid Perkz, that was not ideal… but I’ll take it nonetheless!! She looked charmed by my sweet MOVES, and don’t forget the rose… oh, I got lots of roses for the day! I planned what I would call the most perfect date ever! There’s a romantic walk in the park, and I thought about reciting a POEM which I like, and I booked us a table at a very fancy restaurant! And afterwards… WELL, I wanted to leave that up to her! I was so excited when we got on stage, thinking about the night that lied ahead…

Unfortunately, my team INTED SO BADLY tonight!! That was the only not so wonderful thing about today… well, that and the fact that Wunder said that Sam only agreed to go out with me because of PITY?? WHAT DOES HE KNOW HUH? He wishes hot women had enough pity to date him, haha… Anyway, I wonder why Rasmus and Miky played like NOOBS today, I’m sure Miky pulled some shit again! It’s always him, isn’t it – their synergy just felt OFF, okay?? I’m telling you! Stupid Miky kept being rude to me afterwards, too… I don’t know why he has it out for me? Perkz didn’t mind me asking out Sam, after all, so why won’t MIKY get off my back?? Thank god I got to leave when things got uncomfortable, to finally pick up Sam! The date didn’t turn out like I planned it, but it was perfect either way… It started to rain when we were in the park, and I forgot to take an umbrella, how STUPID of me! Sam thought it was funny, though, and she looks so cute with wet hair… I gave her my jacket, of course, since I am a REAL gentleman!

Ahh, sure, you want to know how the night ended, right, Diana? WELL, I am in her apartment right now!! We did… something really amazing, I can tell you that much. Sam already went to bed, you know… And I’m still so excited, I don’t think I can sleep for a second, even though it’s the middle of the night! We also had some drinks, eheh… you’re right, it IS kind of weird to take you along for the date, but… I think I wanted to make sure that I remember this night. Hey, don’t you also think I write the best entries when I’m drunk? I think it might be a theme.

February 15, 2020

Hello Diana,

today was a sad day. I know, that’s weird, since yesterday was so amazing – but when I woke up this morning, on the couch I might add since I’m a real gentleman, everything just turned… sour. Sam and I had breakfast, which was nice, but then she started asking what kind of girls I like? And whether she can set me up? I laughed it off, but yes, Diana, to you, I can admit that I was a little… SAD. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up… the date was great, yes, but Sam is still a FREE SPIRIT… I should let it be, shouldn’t I? Unless…

February 19, 2020

Hi Diana!!

I'm going to make this quick - I was in the bathroom this morning, brushing my teeth like the CHAMPION I am, and suddenly, there was a KNOCK on the door?? You would think that's NORMAL, but my teammates NEVER knock (I guess I'm not any BETTER, eheh)! So I opened the door to check with the toothbrush in my mouth, and who do I see? SELFMADE! Ahh, this other Polish jungler keeps showing up in MY territory all the time these days!! I don't know what to make of that... I guess he's NICE or whatever. I guess it's nice that he makes Rasmus HAPPY... yes, that is nice. Oh, you're right, Diana - he's definitely A LOT BETTER than stupid REKKLES! I'm glad that I haven't seen that douche around here again after that one time...

Part 9: February 23, 2020

HI DIANA,

let me get straight to the strangest thing about this day, okay? Ready? Today, I went to the gym with Wunder. I KNOW, IM JUST AS SHOCKED AS YOU ARE! Grabbz thought it would be good for team-building or whatever… also, I felt BAD for Wunder since he was ALL ALONE on Valentine’s day, while I had the best date ever! Ha, of course he would be jealous… So I GRACIOUSLY agreed to go to the gym with him. You would think that he would be grateful, right Diana?? Me too! But no, he just had to act like he was SO MUCH COOLER than me, just because he lifts more than me or whatever, ugh… All he’s good for is going to the gym (and WoW raids haha, such a nerd), of course he would be stronger! But I still look WAY better than him, right? Right.

But, I have to admit, spending time with Wunder has its advantaged. You see, it was NICE that we both wanted to keep our towels on in the SAUNA! Unlike stupid Miky, we DON’T want to see everyone’s dicks, thank you very much!! Not that I’d look at guys in the sauna at all… I just go there to SWEAT! It’s great to sweat some more after a workout, you should try it sometimes KEKW haha I’m just kidding, I know you wouldn’t like it. But when Wunder and me sat there, at the opposite ends of the sauna, not talking or anything – THAT was nice. If only all of our interactions could be like that. Yes, I like the sound of his voice when he keeps his mouth SHUT HAHAHA! I guess he can be alright if he TRIES… why doesn’t he try more often?? We went out to shop some new clothes (since I only had ONE good shirt and Wunder had NONE of course), I made jokes about how freakishly tall Wunder is… it was a great time.

Until he asked me about Sam. Why would he do that?? It was like he wanted to tease me, just because Sam didn’t want to go out again… IT’S NOT LIKE YOU STOOD A CHANCE EITHER STUPID WUNDER! At least I won’t have to be lonely for long this time. Sam gave me the number of one of her cute friends from work, and she’s GORGEOUS but… I don’t know, for some reason, I’m hesitating. Normally, I’d never hesitate! You might be surprised to hear this, Diana, but I am an AGGRESSIVE ROMANTIC! I ALWAYS try my best! Well - normally, at least. Why can’t I give it my all for Hannah? Is it because of Sam? Oh, Diana… am I actually in LOVE?? No matter how you look at it, that is just stupid. If I don’t stand a chance, then I should just move on, right? Otherwise it would be like charging into the full enemy team with Nocturne while your teammates all chill in base – SO POINTLESS!

Of course, stupid WUNDER had to make the whole thing worse, still! It took all I had to confess that I didn’t know how to flirt with Hannah – god, why did I even tell him?? Well, at first, I thought he was trying to help me… But then!! Then! Oh, Diana, that piece of garbage - WE SPEND THE WHOLE STUPID DAY TOGETHER AND HE WAITED UNTIL THE VERY END TO TELL ME HE ALSO HAD HIS EYES ON HANNAH! He claimed it was a coincidence, but there’s no way! He probably spied on me while Sam gave me Hannah’s number… yes, that sounds just like stupid Wunder… What am I going to do now? Of course I’m not scared of Hannah liking HIM more than ME (that would be so ridiculous, seriously), but the whole thing just feels… wrong to me now! Why does Wunder have to ruin everything for me… I hate his stupid face! Well, maybe his face is not too bad, but he is an ASS for sure!

Now that I think about it, maybe the day was not that nice at all. Geez, this entry is so LONG… That’s what happens when you let me rant about Wunder, eheh… At least I’m home now. Even though things were weird when we got back – we found Oskar and Rasmus doing GOD KNOWS WHAT in the living room!! Ah, I was shocked, I can tell you that much, Diana! I figured they might… do things like that, but I didn’t want to actually SEE it, you know?? This team just continues to scar me for life, it seems… Maybe some League will help me calm down. That usually helps, you know.

February 26, 2020

Hello Diana!!

I have to tell you, today, something interesting happened. You see, we were playing scrims (like almost everyday, BORING), and we had a REALLY bad game... Seriously, Miky was INTING like there was no tomorrow! I thought our whole day was doomed - that we would have to sit around to talk about all the things that went WRONG for hours... But then Perkz asked Miky to talk in his room, and, I kid you not Diana, after a peptalk or something that only lasted for 10 minutes or so, Miky looked like a CHANGED MAN! He played way better, too! Perkz' stupid grin was so annoying, but I can't help but wonder what he SAID?? Of course, I can't just ask him! No, that would be so lame... but could you imagine, Diana? If I was able to do that? Maybe I could finally stop Wunder from losing lane. And I could make Miky a better support myself! That would be so PRACTICAL, don't you think?

Part 10: February 27, 2020

Hello Diana!

Oh, what is this I see? Two entries in a row, again? I’m getting so good at this, it’s a shame that I can’t BRAG about it, isn’t it?? The other guys could NEVER sit down to do this, I swear!

Anyway, so, today, something strange happened. I was just chilling in the kitchen, drinking my PROTEIN shake like the buff guy I am, when Miky suddenly came in. I had just given Rocky some new water (OH DIANA, I LOVE THE DAYS ROCKY STAYS WITH US) when Miky said he wanted to take the cute little guy out for a walk?? It’s so strange, I don’t think he has EVER done something like that before… the only time I remember him walking rocky was for CONTENT, and that was all Charlie’s doing! Well, Caps was there, too. But, today, Miky did it all by himself! He even bought Rocky a fancy new collar! A black leather one with spikes, it makes Rocky look like a total chad if you ask me… it was a little big, but the gesture is so… nice? I thought Miky was supposed to be a shit real-life support, I’m so CONFUSED!

Of course, the next idiot was just WAITING to storm the kitchen after Miky and Rocky had left… But why would he just yell at me RANDOMELY like that?? Wunder said he was ‘mad’ or whatever since I took his stupid cereal, but what does he know, huh?? I always said it was gross, it’s his fault for continuing to buy the same brand! Actually – Diana, I have a secret. Oh, I don’t know why I’m even ashamed of this but… I told Wunder that I threw the whole box of cereal away but that was a LIE! I stole it after Wunder was rude to me during scrims yesterday, and I secretly store it in my closet now, right next to the little box I keep you in, and sometimes I snack on it, just to SPITE him! Is that petty of me? I don’t know, but I feel like it serves him right!

Our match was great by the way, we showed SK who’s boss!! I wonder why I never tell you about our games… maybe it’s because we talk enough about them as a team already? Yes, when I’m with you, I don’t want to talk about… WORK or whatever. That would be no fun! You know what was fun, though, Diana? We all went out for drinks again tonight! Ahah, yes, I’m drunk right now YET AGAIN! Be ready to experience my best writing ever!! Miky and Rasmus didn’t come with us tonight, now that I think about it… that was sad! Now that I’m warming up to the fact that Miky COULD be an okay real life support, after everything that happened with ROCKY and all… But who cares, the bar was so much fun! I even talked to stupid Wunder after Grabbz scolded us and… maybe I’ve been a bit harsh? I MEAN HE ALWAYS STARTS IT!! But – I guess I could also hold back a little from time to time.

I was proud about making up with Wunder, and I wanted to go home to tell Sam because… well, because! I don’t need to explain it to you, Diana, she’s just special to me. Even if I can’t be with her, I want to make her PROUD! Is that a sad thing to say, actually? I’m not sure. CAN’T BE AS SAD AS WUNDER’S LOVE LIFE KEKW! Oh – right, I should stop saying stuff like that. Maybe tomorrow. ANYWAY! So I came home, went to look for her in stupid Perkz’ room and… OH DIANA – THE HORROR I SAW IN THAT ROOM! Sam, she was… she was almost naked (of course I didn’t mind THAT part), and so was Miky (THAT PART I HATED!) and they were just, I don’t know, doing it? It LOOKED like it at least! I couldn’t believe my EYES, I just RAN OUT AND AHHH YELLED! How could Miky do this?? I don’t understand, I thought he was… GAY or whatever? Rasmus and Selfmade were NO HELP EITHER! They didn’t understand… NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME! Oh, Diana, how will I ever recover? I’m just sitting here now, munching on Wunder’s gross cereal… this is not right. Why is no one on my side? I really have to move on… but how? Hannah said she's seeing someone else now - I really messed that up. It's just not like me to hesitate - and I can't just ask Sam for someone else now, can I?? After what I saw today, I don't even know how to look her in the eye. GOD, that sounds so lame, doesn't it??

Part 11: February 28, 2020

Hello, Diana! Oh, day three, am I on a roll or what?

It was a good day, actually! Can you believe it? It started off just as shitty as the last few ones, with stupid PERKZ not even willing to listen to my draft idea… it was perfect, okay? I wish I would have been able to tell him, because now I don’t REMEMBER AHH! But no, he just had to be rude to me… Selfmade was there too, actually. I can’t explain it, but whenever he is around, I always feel like I have to PROOVE MYSELF even more! Now, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s NOT because he’s also Polish… fine, maybe it is because he’s also a jungler. I just want to remain the BEST around here! Anyway – I wanted to make stupid Perkz PAY for his rude comment, and so I dropped a hint regarding Miky and Sam (I swear, just writing this down sends freaking shivers down my back…). It was not my proudest moment, okay? It just felt like he… DESERVED that, you know? Since he’s with Sam, but not really, just because he’s not MAN ENOUGH to finally give her everything she needs!! It’s just FRUSTRATING, you know? To think about how well I would treat her…

Ah, actually, I TALKED TO SAM TODAY! Yes, I caught her alone in Perkz’ room, that was lucky… I make sure to KNOCK every time I enter a room now, just to be sure! I know that I should always do that anyway, but let’s just say last night made me realize how IMPORTANT that really was. Yes, so, Sam and I talked… it was a good talk! Sure, I wish she would want me, too, but it felt good to hear that I’m also IMPORTANT! She was very sweet about it, and I think that helped a little. Maybe I’ll try a bit harder if she finds someone to set me up with again now… Yes, I think I will, Diana! I’m too good to stay down anyway!

But there’s this other thing I can’t get out of my HEAD… Sam said Miky wasn’t the one who jumped her, you know? I was so sure that he was the bad guy, that it was just him being up to no good again, but I was… wrong. With everything that happened… I mean Rocky’s collar, and the wards around my buffs, and the way he cares about Rasmus… I’m starting to feel like I have not been fair to Miky. Maybe he’s not all that bad? Maybe he’s actually a… good guy? BUT THAT’S CRAZY ISN’T IT? Isn’t he still the same bastard that stole my delicious chocolate cake? Or – do you think he did it because he knew I wanted to go on a diet, Diana? Is it possible that he… did that to help me, and not to make me angry? I’m not sure… random thought, but don’t you also think that, out of all of my teammates, he’s the best looking? All the girls seem to think so, maybe – AH BUT DON’T TELL ANYONE I SAID THAT PLEASE!! ACTUALLY… since Sam said it was hot when guys like guys, maybe it’s okay to say things like that? Maybe it’s even… an advantage? BUT DOES THAT EVEN MAKE SENSE?? You pretend to like guys instead of girls to get more girls?? I’m not great with maths, but this doesn’t add up at all!

Either way, I kind of promised Sam that I want to try to be a BETTER MAN, and a better teammate, starting today! She said I had great potential, you know? If that is TRUE, then I want EVERYONE to see that side of me! I even invited Wunder to play DuoQ with me when we got back from our game tonight… honestly, how nice am I?? But, of course, Wunder was an ass again!! It feels like our stupid feud will never end at this point. But seriously, who would want to play an ugly orc when you could look at the backside of a gorgeous woman? Diana, I just don’t get it. Sometimes, I can’t make sense of the guy at all… Well. Maybe I’ll try to be nice again tomorrow or something. Baby steps, right?

For now, I think I’m planning on playing video games all night long. This was our last game day, after all, so why not let it all hang out?? Haha… I streamed for a while, that is always fun too. But then got bored after some hours, and then I figured I could write down some thoughts. Actually, I read through some of my earlier entries. I’m so CRINGE, don’t you think? It’s funny, though.

You know what’s also funny? The way Wunder’s cereal tastes. I found the box in my closet right next to you… it’s not as crisp anymore, but still satisfying enough. It was never about the taste anyway, right? It’s going to be empty soon, though. Maybe I need more. Or, well, something better to do with my time? Ahaha, sorry, was that sad again? Don’t worry, Diana, I’ll SHAKE THAT OFF IN NO TIME! Or else I wouldn’t be the one and only JANKOS!

\---

_Shit, Marcin thought, closing his diary with a soft sigh leaving his lips. During these last two months, so many things had happened in his life – so many things had changed. And, after reading the words he had decided to write down in those respectable moments in time, Jankos couldn’t help but wonder whether he had changed, too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well folks, that's a wrap on Part 11: Leaps on Leap day! 
> 
> I know what you're thinking.... "but what about Rekkles?" That's a question that will keep us occupied for a while I believe ;) Detective Hylis to the front! 
> 
> Until then, what did you think about the 50th chapter special? It was a lot of fun to write, so I hope it was just as fun to read! Let me know in the comments here on ao3 or on the DS ;)
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	51. Part 12: Jesper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to Part 12: No Sleep ;)
> 
> See, normally I'd make it a guessing game, but the name of this part was predetermined by the DreamServer if you will. Believe me when I say that I've been excited about this particular chapter for a long time now! A new POV, set in a foreign land... it's a true adventure. Which is also why I had to post the chapter NOW instead of later. But there will probably be a break after this, as I haven't been able to finish Part 12 just yet. You'll have to be a little more patient to find out the rest, updates on the situation can be found on the Discord server :>
> 
> Anyway, for now, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> PS: Join our Discord server for LoL RPF fun! https://discord.gg/MDq5kS (link expires in 24 hours, leave a comment if you need a new one)
> 
> (Also, we cracked 300k words, how crazy is that? Thanks for sticking around! <3)

As Jesper woke up, there were two things that he noticed right away. For one, his head felt like someone had spent the whole night smashing it in with a hammer. For the other, his mind was cloudy, almost as if it had been filled up with fog – he could barely remember how he made it to bed the night before. Getting into bed must have been quite a challenge, considering that Jesper’s head was more or less dangling off the foot end of his nightly quarters. _I’m never drinking again_ , he thought with a grunt as he sat himself up with an unusual amount of effort involved. As someone who normally consumed alcohol in moderation, Jesper was not used to being hangover at all. If anything, he was used to making fun of his friends and teammates after they’d had one too many drinks. He was used to answer their confused questions about what happened the night before – the designated driver, minus the car. It was, therefore, no surprise that the Dane minded not really having any answers at hand to provide him with some comfort. It did, in fact, make him feel quite nervous.

 _Focus, focus… what’s the last thing you remember?_ He thought, closing his eyes as he massaged his temples as if that could have enhanced his cognitive capacity somehow. Of course, the first image that popped into his mind was Alfonso. An angry Alfonso, one might add. Even though he didn’t get to see the Spaniard the day before, his anger would forever be burned into his memory. Jesper took a deep breath, allowing the frustration about the most absurd, and, well, only real break-up he had ever had to experience to rush into his mind. _At least we managed to patch things up right away after the previous ones_ , he considered quietly. He still had no idea how he managed to play a match after that, it was almost as if his mind had been on auto-pilot the whole time. He also hadn’t told a single soul about what happened so far – especially not his teammates. Maybe because he didn’t want to be true – maybe because he was ashamed. All things considered, there was one person that he particularly didn’t want to tell.

 _God, why did he have to kiss me_ … the ADC pondered, letting out a long sigh. Yes, now that he thought about it, it really was Nisqy’s fault, wasn’t it? In the end, Jesper didn’t do anything wrong. He only wanted to spend the evening with his teammates to bond, as any good professional gamer would try to do at least from time to time. It just didn’t seem fair – none of it. So who could blame him for having another drink when he tried to call Mithy again the night after their game? And another after the fifth try? And another after… well, that was about all he could remember. Now, the rest of his team had also had a beer or two after their 11th consecutive win in a row, that much he knew. But the Dane was aware of the fact that drinking enough to have hazy memory the next day was not really a professional thing to do. He could only pray that that wouldn’t affect his performance in the rift tonight – and that he would somehow be able to get a grip for now.

 _I must have fallen asleep at some point…_ Jesper considered as he looked down his almost naked body which was emitting fumes that smelled so bad that they threatened to make the Dane’s eyes water. Even though any sort of movement felt as if someone was operating a jackhammer inside of Jesper’s head, he decided that it was absolutely necessary to take a shower right away. He wouldn’t let anyone see – or, well, smell – him like this. There was simply no way. And so, the Dane slowly pulled himself out of bed to grab some fresh clothes out of his closet. As he walked across the room, Jesper noticed that his boxer shorts were sticking to his body in a suspicious fashion. One look inside was enough to determine that it was, in fact, regrettable that he couldn’t even remember his dreams – they must have been pleasurable to say the least. The smallest of chuckles left the ADC’s lips. With everything else that was going on, it felt hard to be really excited about anything, after all.

After Jesper had taken some time to freshen up in the bathroom, he already felt like a changed man. Well, his head was still hurting, and he still felt dizzy as he walked down the stairs of C9’s gaming house, and he still felt weird about not sending Alfonso a good morning text first thing after waking up. But at least he didn’t smell as bad anymore. Jesper figured that coffee could be the crucial antivenom he needed right now, and so he dared to approach the team’s huge kitchen area. It was a dare since he didn’t like to stumble across his teammates that early in the day, especially on Sundays. Jesper didn’t feel like he needed to justify his need for some alone-time in the mornings, but some of his teammates felt quite differently about that. They always needed attention, someone that they could tell lengthy and incredibly boring stories to, or just someone, period. As Jesper approached the kitchen, he could hear the loud chitchat from inside, and he knew that it would be just the same as always – but, today, he had a strong urge for caffein that somehow outweighed the nuisance. With a sigh, the ADC opened the door.

“…and then I said, ‘Soraka? Dude, if I wanted to play support champions, I would be a support main, wouldn’t I?” Licorice explained with a wide grin on his face, seemingly using the knife in his hand as a microphone.

“Right on!” Blaber laughed on the other side of the table, “but seriously, the meta is out of control at the moment…”

“Yeah, and you won’t be laughing for long,” Vulcan mumbled next to the jungler, sipping on his cup of coffee, “besides, it can be very rewarding to play a support champ…”

“Only people who have never had a Penta on stage would say something like that!” Nisqy smirked, swinging his glass of orange juice in his hand, “and also – oh, morning Jesper!”

Suddenly, all eyes were on the Dane that had tried his best to sneak over to the coffee machine without causing a stir. Of course, the nosy midlaner would be the one to spot him – and, to make things even worse, something clicked when Jesper laid eyes on the curious Belgian’s face. _Shit,_ he thought, feeling a sudden cold sensation freezing him up to his core, _shit, I did something stupid_. He felt the memories of the evening before rush back in – images of way too much beer and liquor, stupid drinking games, and naked skin that he should have kept covered. It was hard not to flinch visibly, but Jesper was determined not to let his inner upheaval show. He took a deep breath, turned his back to his teammates to operate the coffee machine and mumbled a quiet “morning”.

“Wow, aren’t you energetic this morning,” the team’s toplaner laughed, “how’s your head, big boy?”

“Would you lower your voice, Eric?” Vulcan sighed, stirring his coffee with a teaspoon, “he’s obviously hungover, and you’re not helping.”

“Man, last night was insane,” said the jungler next to the support, nudging the other guy’s side, “you should have stayed up and played with us, Philippe! I got so hammered…”

“Yeah, Blaber totally danced on the table!” Nisqy spluttered, laughing whole-heartedly, “If he was any bigger, it probably would have collapsed… could you imagine?”

“I can, but I don’t want to,” Vulcan frowned.

“You guys are crazy to drink before a game day,” Licorice said, shaking his head in disapproval, “I’ll be mad if that leads to our first loss tonight…”

“Didn’t you have a beer or two as well?” Zven mumbled out of instinct, forgetting that he wanted to stay under the radar for a second.

“What? No, I had a _Bud Light_ … I’m not sure whether that even qualifies as beer in the first place.” The toplaner explained with a smug grin on his face.

“Fair point, Americans don’t know much about beer!” Nisqy agreed.

“I’d say that I’m offended, but you’re right… European beer gets me buzzed way too quickly,” Blaber added, as he was the only American in the mix.

“You shouldn’t be drinking in the first place, though,” Vulcan remarked, taking another sip of his coffee.

“Stop treating me like a baby, Phillipe,” Blaber pouted, crossing his arms, “I’m not _that_ young, okay?”

“You know it’s a legal thing, since you’re not 21 yet and all,” the support explained, giving the jungler a sympathetic look.

“Well, neither are you…” Zven said, forgetting to keep his mouth shut again as he reached for his cup of freshly-brewed coffee.

“Exactly,” the support nodded, “but I don’t drink anyway… as long as you guys stay responsible, I won’t say anything against it, though.”

“Pretty sure you just did, dude, but okay,” Nisqy chuckled on the other side of the table, “anyway – you wanna sit down, Jesper?”

“What? Uhm, no, I…” the Dane started, looking around the room for an excuse to escape.

“Come on, you never have breakfast with us,” Licorice smiled, gesturing over to the empty chair beside him, “pretty please?”

“Yeah, please stay,” the team’s midlaner hummed, looking straight into the Dane’s soul somehow.

Jesper swallowed hard. He felt trapped. If he left now, he’d probably look like a bigger asshole than he actually was to his teammates. If he stayed, chances were that he’d be wrapped up in conversations that he didn’t want to have. In the end, it was a classic lose-lose-situation. After taking some time to weigh his options, Jesper decided to take the route that didn’t appear to lead to certain doom just yet. And so, he sat down at the round breakfast table. Immediately, an empty plate was dropped of in front of him, inviting him to dig in. The team’s cook prepared some breakfast options for the boys every day, but Jesper usually ended up skipping the presumably most important meal of the day to just drink coffee instead. He didn’t particularly feel like changing up his routine now – if anything, he still felt sick to his stomach.

“Thanks Phillipe, but I won’t be needing this plate.” Jesper said, throwing one leg above the other with his cup of coffee secured by both of his hands,

“You know you’ll never get buff if you don’t eat,” the support frowned, reluctantly putting the plate back onto the clean stack, “but I’m not your mother, so do as you wish.”

“You’re not? Are you sure about that?” Licorice smirked, patting the back of the other Canadian playfully.

“You’re so rude sometimes, Eric,” Vulcan remarked, shaking his head ever so slightly – but Jesper could tell that the support was smiling.

“SO ANYWAY,” Nisqy announced loudly, demanding all eyes on him, “I just need to ask right now, okay? Jesper…”

“Hmm?” The ADC blinked a couple of times, looking at the midlaner beside him with his eyes half-closed.

“I need to know – why do you look so grumpy? Didn’t you have fun last night or…”

“Yasin, that’s just his face,” Licorice said, cocking a brow.

“Good one,” Blaber chuckled.

“Seriously guys… what’s wrong with my face?” Jesper muttered, looking and feeling quite discontent.

“Oh, nothing… you just kind of look like a dead person?” The team’s jungler explained, mimicking the classical movements of a zombie.

“Oh my god, Blaber…” Vulcan said, shooting the other guy an angry look, “look Jesper, I think what the others are trying to say is that you don’t look well.”

“See, and that’s why I’m offended!” Nisqy exclaimed, pointing at Zven with his spoon, “just give it to me straight, or, how do you say… rip it off, like a band aid!”

“What are you saying, Yasin?” The ADC mumbled, squinting at the midlaner as if he was speaking a foreign language all of a sudden.

“You know… was I _that_ bad?”

“Ehm… what?” Vulcan asked, glancing over to Licorice. Next to the support, Blaber’s mouth was wide open in shock, but he didn’t make a single sound.

“I’m sure there’s a misunderstanding here…” Licorice said, still sporting a smile, “I mean, bad at what…”

“Yasin…” Jesper grumbled, glaring at the Belgian to his right. The shocked expression on Vulcan’s face kept growing wider, but Nisqy somehow still looked unfazed.

“Yeah?” The midlaner simply replied.

“Okay, wait, I got it now – it’s the language barrier, guys,” Licorice explained with a chuckle, “he was probably just talking about the drinking games and –“

“What, now I can’t talk?” Nisqy said, cutting the toplaner off.

“That’s certainly not the problem…” Jesper mumbled, staring down into his cup of black coffee, “I’d say the problem is that you don’t know when to shut up.”

“What? Haha, you’re talking in riddles, man,” Yasin said with a weirdly innocent smile on his lips, “I just want some honest feedback… did I suck?”

“Seriously??” Jesper hissed, practically shooting daggers at the midlaner with his eyes.

“Hold the fuck up…” Eric said with a stern expression on his face, glancing back and forth between Zven and Nisqy, “what kind of drinking games… I mean, how in the hell did you end up making out?”

“This is insane…” Vulcan whispered, nervously sipping on his coffee as he kept looking at Blaber, seemingly to take notice of the jungler’s reaction. Said guy was still unmoved with his mouth wide open, looking as if he wanted to catch flies with it.

“Isn’t this just fucking great…!” Jesper grunted in frustration, “you don’t stop at ruining my 5+ years relationship with that stupid kiss, noooo, you have to go ahead and embarrass me in front of our whole team… great job, Yasin, truly!”

“Wait… what?” Nisqy mumbled, suddenly looking insecure.

“Now, you don’t have to be embarrassed about anything in front of us, Jesper... C9 is family, right?” Vulcan said with a forced smile, trying to give the conversation a positive spin.

“Yeah, yeah, but… what did you say about your relationship?” Licorice inquired, squinting at his ADC.

“Of course that’s what you’d catch on to…” Jesper muttered angrily, turning to look the toplaner in the eye, “yeah, everything’s in fucking ruins."

"What? But... when?" Blaber mumbled, looking quite shocked. Yasin, on the other hand, simply nodded. Probably because it was not news to the midlaner - another memory that slowly came back to Jesper now.

"...on Friday." Zven sighed. What use was it to dodge the question now?

"Huh, so it's really over?" Eric remarked in a bold fashion.

"Yeah, it freaking is..." Jesper grumbled, biting is lower lip before continuing, "isn’t that great? Now you guys can finally stop talking about how terrible my relationship is behind my back…”

“That’s crazy, why would we do that…” Vulcan shook his head, quickly taking a sip of his coffee. In the next instance, Jesper could swear that he saw the support glaring at the toplaner with hate in his eyes, and he could imagine what that meant.

“That dude is just hella’ controlling,” Blaber said with a shrug, as he had seemingly digested the news by now.

"Right, doesn't he just nag with you everytime you're on the phone?" Eric frowned.

“And you’re always so down after you talked to him,” Nisqy added.

“Oh, so you admit it, huh? GREAT!” The Dane exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

Next to Zven, Licorice cleared his throat before putting his hand on the ADC’s shoulder to say, “Listen, I know this is technically none of our business but –“

“Damn right it’s not! Family my ass, this is my workplace… and my relationship is none of your damn concern!” Jesper said loudly, making sure to look at the faces of each of his teammates now.

“Wow, you really want to do this now? Here? In front of Blaber??” Licorice asked bluntly, pointing at the team’s jungler. Vulcan nodded and put his hand on the smaller guy’s shoulder, just to earn a confused look.

“What the hell guys, I’m not a child…” Blaber mumbled, stirring his Choco puffs with the spoon in his hand, “I want to hear this.”

“Okay, guys, I think we all need to calm down,” Nisqy said hesitantly, looking around the room, “we’re just talking… I understand that you’re upset, Jesper, but –“

“No ‘but’, I don’t want to hear it,” Zven mumbled, emptying his cup of coffee, “obviously, coming to the kitchen was a mistake.”

“No, we need to talk about this,” Yasin said with more emphasis, “listen man, I don’t know much about your relationship – and sometimes, I’m not very smart…”

“That we can agree on…” Jesper sighed.

“But still, even I can see that he’s not good for you… I’m sorry about how everything turned out, but maybe it’s for the best that he’s out of your life now.” Yasin explained, playing with his hands to distract from the insecure tone of his voice.

“Oh, I second that,” Licorice hummed, crossing his arms.

Almost out of instinct, Jesper shot up from his chair, coming to a stand with the palm of his hands pressing against the table. He felt his anger overwhelm him to a point where he simply couldn’t stay cool anymore, no matter how hard he tried. They could say what they wanted about his face, about his mood, hell, even about his gameplay – but not about Alfonso.

“I’m only going to say this one more time…” Jesper grumbled with gritted teeth, “my dating life is none of your business, so don’t you dare talk shit about my boyfriend!”

“You mean your ex? I’m sorry bro, he’s just toxic,” Eric said, looking dead-serious.

“Oh hey, like that Britney Spears song,” Nisqy said, proceeding to hum the melody for the whole team to hear.

“HUSH!” Vulcan exclaimed, raising his index finger as if he was talking to a dog, “quiet you two! I can’t believe how insensible you’re being right now – this is no way to act!”

“Great, now I’ve got that song stuck in my head…” Blaber muttered sullenly next to the support, shoving another spoonful of Choco puffs into his mouth.

“It’s nice of you to try, Philippe, but these guys won’t listen if you talk nicely to them…” Jesper sighed, putting his cup into the dishwasher before turning around again, “so listen up. Eric…”

“…Yeah?” Licorice replied, remaining seated with his arms crossed.

“I couldn’t care less about your opinion, so you might as well keep it to yourself.”

“Phew…” Licorice huffed, taking the ADC’s words in for a moment, “wow, okay, that’s a bit harsh, I mean I’m just worried about you here and –“

“And Yasin,” Jesper moved on, not trying to give the toplaner any more attention, “I still think it’s shit to ask me in front of everyone, but if you really want to know… you suck at kissing.”

“What??” Nisqy gasped loudly, covering his mouth with one hand, “no way…”

“Duuuude…” Blaber whispered, staring back and forth between the midlaner and the ADC. This time, it was Vulcan who didn’t know what to say – but the look on his face suggested that he was disturbed.

“I mean, I wouldn’t give myself a ten, but… ouch,” Nisqy mumbled, looking down at his hands.

“Yeah, so I hope that answers the question of whether I want to do it again.” Jesper scoffed.

“You know what, this sounds like a conversation you two should have in private…” Vulcan muttered, reaching for Blaber’s bowl to clear the stage – but the jungler was not having it.

“Hey, I’m not done eating,” he grumbled, shielding his cornflakes from the support with his body.

“I’m not particularly interested in Yasin’s kissing skills, don’t get me wrong – but I do feel like this whole relationship thing is important for our team dynamic,” Licorice explained with a grim expression on his face. Obviously, he did not enjoy the bluntness of Jesper’s earlier remark.

“What else is there to say, huh?” Zven remarked snappishly, “I think we’re done here.”

“Actually, uhm,” Yasin mumbled, coyly looking up at the tall ADC, “I got the message about the kissing thing… but what about the other stuff we did? Did that suck too?”

 _“Whututherstuff?”_ Blaber asked with his mouth full of cereal.

“Oh my god…” Vulcan sighed, shaking his head, “again, a conversation that should be held in _private,_ guys.”

“You two… in _our_ house?” Licorice frowned, visibly shuddering, “okay, I changed my mind, I don’t want to know more.”

“Geez, calm down guys, he’s blowing things out of proportion again…” Jesper grunted, staring the midlaner down angrily.

“So you didn’t hook up?” Blaber asked bluntly after finally swallowing his mouthful of Choco Puffs.

“I – I think I’d remember that,” Jesper huffed, trying his best to make the idea sound as ridiculous as possible.

“You mean you don’t remember?” Yasin asked with big, sad eyes, “or… do you just not _want_ to remember?”

Next to the distraught looking midlaner, Licorice cleared his throat to speak up on the ADC’s behalf, “Well, it’s Jesper we’re talking about here, so he probably –“

“Eric,” Vulcan said swiftly, cutting the toplaner off in the middle of what probably would have ended up an insult, “didn’t you say you’d take care of the laundry today?”

“What…?” Licorice mumbled, looking at the support with confusion in his eyes, “I mean… right now?”

“Now seems to be the perfect time…” Vulcan said with a slight nod, getting up from his chair to put the plates into the dishwasher.

“God, this is such a set-up… but I’m taking Blaber!” The toplaner announced, pointing at the jungler sitting across the table from him.

“Well, I guess you suck at folding,” Blaber shrugged, slowly getting up as well.

“Wait, you guys are all leaving?” Nisqy said with a sad smile on his lips as he was the only one sitting at the table now.

“Don’t worry Yasin, you’re a good boy… and we’re always with you, you know… here.” Blaber replied with his hand on his heart.

“Who turned you into a poet, boy?” Licorice laughed, walking off towards the laundry room.

“That’s better,” Vulcan hummed, smirking in a way that could only be described as calculated, “now that that’s settled, you two take your time, hm?”

“Time for what?” Jesper asked, crossing his arms. He didn’t like his teammates meddling in his business before, and that stance certainly hadn’t changed now.

“You’ll figure something out,” the support said knowingly, strolling off.

“Strange, right? I mean, these guys…” Nisqy mumbled nervously, trying to build up eye-contact with the Dane.

“That’s not what I found strange about this morning,” Jesper grumbled, looking outside the kitchen window into the backyard.

“I know… I really messed this up, didn’t I?” Yasin whispered, with his smile nowhere to be found anymore.

“I mean…” Zven began, looking at the midlaner again. When he noticed how small and miserable the other guy suddenly looked, it felt tremendously harder to be harsh. No matter how angry Jesper might have been, he never wanted to be cruel to Nisqy.

“Yeah?” The midlaner asked after a suspiciously long pause.

“Let’s go talk outside, okay?” Jesper sighed, trying to find the strength to go through with this conversation somehow. He figured that a change of scenery might help already.

“Okay, but… what are we going to do about the plates?” Nisqy wondered aloud, pointing at the big mess that was C9’s breakfast table.

“We’ve got bigger things to worry about,” Jesper mumbled, putting his hand on the Belgian’s back, “let’s just go, okay?”

“Y-yeah, sure,” Yasin agreed, jumping up to follow the Dane’s lead swiftly.

As soon as Jesper stepped outside into the huge backyard, he already felt calmer. That was probably because he liked to catch some fresh air in the team’s garden to calm down whenever practice would get to his head. Sitting on that beautiful porch, surrounded by trees, bushes and the house's generous pool just grounded him, regardless of what war was raging on in his head. It’s fair to assume that, for some people, that’s just what being in nature does. Unfortunately, the same doesn’t apply to everyone. Next to Jesper, Yasin was still nervously playing with his hands after they said down on one of the benches. He did, in fact, look even more freaked out than he did inside.

“Okay so…” Jesper began, putting his arm up on the bench’s backrest, “let me start by apologizing, I know I was mean to you just now. I just felt like I was put on the spot without having a say in it…”

“No, you shouldn’t apologize, man,” Nisqy said, shaking his head with determination, “it was my fault for bringing it up in front of everyone… I didn’t think it would turn into such a huge thing.”

“What did you expect, Yasin? You know what the guys can be like,” Zven mumbled, staring into the distance. In the past, the Dane had played with some people who had never shown any interest in his personal life. With his C9 teammates, it was the opposite case: they simply cared too much.

“You’re right, yeah, I really didn’t think,” the midlaner mumbled with the hint of a smile on his lips, lightly knocking against his head with his fist, “silly me…”

“It’s okay…” Jesper sighed, gently pushing Yasin’s hand away from his head to prompt him to stop hitting himself, “see, I know that you didn’t mean any harm.”

“No, of course not… I never really do,” Nisqy explained, “I never wanted to harm you or… well, Mithy.”

Jesper flinched, quickly averting his gaze. Hearing this name was enough to make the Dane relive his worst nightmare again and again, and that was the last thing he needed right now.

“S-sorry…” Yasin quickly added as he noticed the ADC’s reaction, “this is exactly what I mean, I just don’t think things through… I just wanted you to have a good time that evening, because you looked so miserable…”

Zven took a deep breath, turning his head to look at the Belgian again. A part of him didn’t want to hear these words at all, since they simply hurt too much. But the other part felt like he _needed_ to hear them.

“Yes, so… I knew it was stupid, and I didn’t even realize that I wanted to kiss you before I was doing it, I promise,” the midlaner rambled on, wildly gesturing with his hands, “I just wanted you to smile, or laugh, or, well, something.”

“And instead I yelled at you and ran away…” Jesper sighed, letting his head fall back, “you’re right, I’m really not too good at having fun these days…”

“You do kind of suck at that, haha,” Nisqy chuckled, “ah, well, I guess it’s not as bad as sucking at kissing, right…”

“Yeah, uhm… about that,” Jesper said, scratching the back of his head, “that… might have been an exaggeration.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, I just thought I’d get you off my back if I said you sucked… I just really wanted to get out of this breakfast-table-situation.” Zven explained, “obviously, that backfired.”

“Wait… so you didn’t really mean it?” Yasin asked with widened eyes.

“I guess you could say that…” Jesper shrugged.

“Really? Oh my god, are you kidding me… I was so ashamed!” Nisqy wailed, covering his eyes with both of his hands, “I… okay, okay, I guess it serves me right for bringing it up.”

"Yeah,” Zven agreed with a half-smile, “but I still don’t feel comfortable talking about it, though…”

“I get that… Mi- uhm, I mean, this relationship meant everything to you. And I messed it up.” The midlaner said quietly.

“Hmm, no, it’s not all on you…. Actually, it’s been a long time coming,” Zven explained, closing his eyes as he let the slideshow play in his mind. All the fights. The jealousy. The anger. Now that Jesper dared to be honest with himself, he saw how bad it really was – what his teammates must have seen all along.

“But that doesn’t change the way you feel about him, does it?” Nisqy mumbled, looking at the ADC with a worried expression, “things might have been tough but… it’s still hard to let go when you love someone, right?”

“Yeah…” Jesper sighed, “that’s exactly it… when we first broke up, that was the reason why we couldn’t stay apart.”

“Wait, what? You guys broke up before?” Yasin asked, looking quite surprised.

“Oh yeah… but only for like, 12 hours or so. It was when he moved back to EU and I… stayed here.” Jesper said solemnly.

“Huh, I had no idea…” Yasin replied, “come to think about it, I guess you never really talked a lot about your relationship with him.”

“I guess… it was different when I was with TSM, since they knew him and all… but I just never felt the need to talk about it here. It’s because… hmm, how do I describe this,” Jesper muttered, pulling on his ear as if that helped him to think, “let’s see… after all these years with him, it’s almost like he’s a part of me. Like, I don’t know who I am without him anymore, you know? I guess I didn’t realize that other people couldn’t _see_ that.”

“Huh…” Nisqy huffed, squinting at the Dane, “I think I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think I agree…”

“What are you saying?” Jesper replied, frowning at the other guy.

“Well… I don’t know much about Mithy. I don’t know much about what you guys had. But I do know what kind of champs you like to play best, and that you’d go swim in the pool over the ocean any time, and that you’d rather have some hard liquor instead of beer when we celebrate a win, and that you’ll never stop flaming me on social media even if I asked you to.”

“Uhm… I…” Jesper stammered, staring at Yasin with wide eyes, “I still don’t understand.”

“Come on, dude…” Nisqy mumbled with a smile, softly nudging the taller guy’s arm, “I’m saying that I know _you_. We all do.”

“Thanks I guess…” Jesper said, swallowing hard before he continued, “but I still don’t know whether I can move on, you know?”

“Yeah…” Yasin nodded, and it was almost as if his smile had been wiped off his face instantly.

“I know it doesn’t sound like a smart decision… I can’t explain it either. I just need him… even though…”

“Even though?” Yasin inquired swiftly.

“Uhm, well, I can’t deny that what we did yesterday felt… good. It was not the right thing to do, but yeah.” Jesper said, more or less unconsciously moving his arm, which was still lying on the backrest of the bench, closer to Yasin.

“And I thought you said you’d remember it if something else happened…?” Nisqy asked with a smug grin on his face.

“Shut up, would you,” Jesper chuckled, ruffling the midlaner’s hair with his free hand, “of course I wouldn’t want to announce it in front of everyone, but yeah, it was… nice.”

“Haha, uhm, sorry about that again,” Yasin laughed nervously, running his fingers through his hair to straighten it out a little, “I’m so happy to hear you liked it I mean… when you suddenly ran off, I got worried I might have done something wrong.”

“No, I was the one who did something wrong,” Jesper explained with a half-smile, turning his head to look into Yasin’s eyes, “I let my frustration get the best of me and… I took advantage of you. You really deserve better.”

“Are you kidding me?” Yasin huffed, shaking his head, “no way… I wanted it, like, a lot! Why would you even worry about me in this situation, with everything that is on the line for you?”

“I just… feel like a jerk.” Jesper sighed, bringing his hand up to softly stroke the back of Yasin’s head.

“Y-you’re not a jerk… I mean yeah, you flame too much in the rift sometimes, but besides that…”

“Oh come on, Yasin,” Zven frowned, “I was so angry that I yelled at you for basically causing my breakup, yet I came back, got off and then ran away again… how else would you describe that?”

“I don’t know… you were just hurt maybe?” Yasin mumbled, leaning back against Zven’s hand, “I guess I felt like we just needed each other yesterday.”

“Really?” Jesper hummed, tilting his head, “I get it with me, but why on earth would you need me? There’s more than enough other people around…”

“Well, I’ve been a little lonely lately and…well, I don’t think the others are into guys, let’s be real,” Nisqy laughed into his fist, “but also… I don’t know, you’re just so…”

“Yeah?” Zven raised his brow, looking at the midlaner curiously.

“Come on, don’t make me say it,” the Belgian chuckled, “you know you’re a great catch… you’re tall, handsome, smart, hell, you’re even funny from time to time!”

“Geez, thanks,” Jesper mumbled with a warm smile. Despite of how complicated the situation was, the Dane couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter when he was complimented for what felt like the first time in forever. Maybe he just didn’t realize just how starved for attention he really was until now. 

“It’s the truth, you can ask anyone!” Yasin said, smiling as brightly as ever, “so yeah… yesterday might have been a one-time-thing, but I don’t regret it. Even though I wish we could have gone all the way…”

“Who knows if we even could have, there was a lot of alcohol involved…” Jesper sighed, looking up at the sky, “but I definitely wasn’t ready for something like that. I know it’s technically not cheating since he broke up with me but… I still feel like I’m betraying Alfonso.”

And there it was. At the core of it all, Jesper just felt guilty. He felt guilty about how things went down when he talked to Alfonso on the phone, guilty about not trying to call him even more, and definitely guilty about sneaking into Nisqy’s bed the night after. Yes, a part of him even felt guilty about how he was feeling now. He should be devastated, unable to sleep or eat or do anything – and yet, Jesper felt as if he could finally breathe again. He was sad, yes. But there was also this sense of relief that he wished he didn’t feel. In the end, how could he admit that the relationship that had lasted for over five years now had slowly eaten him up alive? That the person he loved most slowly but surely started to drive him insane? That he felt this happiness in finding success with his new team that he hadn’t felt in such a long time? Yes, if he were to admit that, everything would have been for nothing, wouldn’t it?

“It’s okay, Jesper,” Yasin mumbled, putting his hand on the ADC’s shoulder, “I can’t begin to imagine what kind of connection you guys have… so you don’t have to explain.”

“Hmm… I guess I’m not too sure about that anymore,” Jesper murmured softly, “I think I just didn’t want to see how much we grew apart after all this time.”

“Yup…” Nisqy nodded slowly, “…sorry, I don’t know what else to say. I literally have no clue about relationships.”

“But not having a clue about something normally never prevents you from giving your opinion!” Zven laughed, “come on, Yasin, tell me what I should do. I’ll allow it this once.”

“Hmm….” The midlaner hummed, closing his eyes to think about the question, “I think… you should wait. He’s not picking up the phone anyway, so maybe take some time to find out how you feel about things now while you give him some time to cool off?”

“Huh,” Jesper huffed, “okay, I didn’t expect you to actually have any valuable advice. Who gave you a brain overnight?”

“Well, technically, I was the one who gave you brain,” Nisqy snickered slyly, seemingly feeling proud about having learnt some new expressions during movie nights with the team.

“Haha, very funny,” Zven replied, rolling his eyes, “I knew this would come back to haunt me eventually…”

“What do you mean?” Yasin grinned back.

“Well, the situation was bad enough, but to think that I ended up acting like a total pillow princess…” Jesper shook his head in disappointment.

“Ehm, what’s that?”

“You know, I just kind of laid there, let you do the work… that’s not my style usually, I’ll have you know.”

“Oh really?” Nisqy chuckled, “and here I was thinking you were an ADC, getting carried through lane by his support every game…”

“Shut up, funnel boy,” Zven smirked, playfully snipping against the back of the midlaner’s head, “I’d show you how it’s done, but…”

“What, haha, uhm,” Yasin stammered, “you WOULD? Or you WILL? Or you WANT TO? I mean, all things considered, you should probably be specific, I tend to get the wrong Idea, hahah…”

“Valid point,” Jesper agreed, looking at the midlaner’s broad smile once more – noticing his plump lips. He had avoided to do so before, but somehow, the Dane couldn’t help but remember what happened the night before. How he had kissed these lips, and held the other guy close, and felt his hands all over his body. Zven swallowed hard – he couldn’t deny that the memories did something with him. And now, he couldn’t look away.

“…Jesper?” Nisqy asked after what seemed to be a longer pause than Zven planned on making, “I’m probably way off again but…”

“Hmm?” The ADC hummed with his stare still fixated on the midlaner’s mouth. He simply couldn’t get his brain to shut up.

“Uhm, well, I’m getting these vibes from you again?” Yasin said hesitantly, glancing back and forth the Dane’s longing eyes and his lips, “…like you want to kiss me?”

“What – no, what, that’s ridiculous,” Jesper mumbled, shaking himself out of his daydream instantly, “you’re WAY off… your radar is so hopeless, how did you ever find someone to hook up with in the first place?”

“Pff what, look who’s talking!” Nisqy laughed, and his whole body language started to relax.

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” Zven replied, cocking a brow.

“You know, I’ve been with so many guys, I can barely keep track – yet you had… how many was it? One?” The midlaner explained, sporting an extremely smug grin.

“Yeah, well, but we did it like, hundreds of times, so…” Jesper huffed, realizing that he was getting defensive over something that he should technically be above.

“Sure, but that still only counts as one!” Yasin smirked.

“Pff, okay… if you had THAT many more, I’m sure you have no trouble with naming ten, right?” Zven remarked, crossing his arms to signify that he was imposing a challenge.

“Ten? Oh, yeah, that’s easy, uhm…” Nisqy started, biting his lip a little, “well… there’s you, of course, and uhh, well there’s only a couple of them that you would actually know, so…”

“Wait, I know some of them? You actually hooked up with a teammate before?” Zven mumbled, feeling weirdly surprised about that.

“Sure, why not?” The midlaner shrugged, “you wanna know who?”

“I’m not sure but… fuck it, did you ever hook up with Kobbe?”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Nisqy grinned, bopping his head back and forth.

“Hahaha, shit…” Zven laughed.

“See, that’s only two out of many and I’ve already had twice as much as you,” Nisqy pointed out.

“Oh whatever, I don’t – ah – ha – achoo!” Zven sneezed with a surprising intensity, barely managing to cover his mouth with the crook of his arm in time.

“Ah, bless you, man!” The Belgian exclaimed, patting the Dane’s back.

“Thanks, I – ah – not again – achoo!”

“Phew, two times in a row? Someone’s talking about you,” the midlaner joked, poking the ADC in his side, “I heard that two times means it’s about something bad, actually…”

“Wonder who that could me…” Jesper grumbled, wiping his nose with his sleeve before turning back to the other guy, “where did you pick up superstitions like that anyway? Is it a Belgian thing?”

“Oh no,” Yasin shook his head, pushing up his glasses with a single finger before striking some sort of flashy pose with his hands in front of his face, “…Anime, man!”

“Cringe…” Zven shuddered, scratching his cheek, “I don’t think I have to take it too seriously then, if you’ve only – ah – oh god no – ah – achoo!”

“Three times? Okay, either someone’s seriously in love with you or you’re coming down with a cold!” Nisqy said, slapping his thigh as if he had just unravelled one of the world’s greatest mysteries.

“All things considered, the second option is probably more likely…” the Dane sighed as he now wiped his nose with his other sleeve in an attempt to honour basic hygiene, “…unless?”

“Haha, what? Don’t look at me!” Yasin chuckled, waving Zven off in a fashion that was suspiciously similar to an anime character.

“Pff, I didn’t...” Jesper muttered, slowly averting his gaze.

Even thought the Dane had questioned the Belgian’s motives regarding their hook-up the day before on several occasions that day, right now, he was, in fact, thinking about someone else. After all, until a couple of days ago, the first person that popped up in his head when it came to talking badly about him but also loving him like _crazy_ was Alfonso. It might sound contradictory to some, but it was exactly this kind of fiery temperament that had always drawn Jesper to the Spaniard. He had been cussed at and then passionately kissed within seconds so many times that he had lost count – the thought alone was enough to make him smile a little. Yes, no matter how stupid being superstitious sounded to the ADC, maybe it wasn’t crazy to think that Alfonso still loved him. Maybe it wasn’t crazy to admit that he still loved him, too.

“Okay, good…” Nisqy sighed, shaking Zven back to reality, “I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“Oh, I’M the one who could get the wrong idea?” Jesper huffed, emphasizing just how ridiculous that insinuation sounded to him.

“Yeah, you know, since I’m a relaxed and laid back kind of guy, and you’re more, uhm, serious?”

“Hmm, well I can be relaxed and laid back if I want to… I don’t think the same applies to you anymore when I…” Jesper hummed, moving his face closer to the midlaner’s.

“W-what are you doing?” Yasin laughed, nervously blinking at the approaching Dane.

“Nothing, just… relaxing…” Jesper whispered, putting his arm back up on the backrest behind Yasin.

“Really?” The midlaner mumbled, glancing at the arm that was almost swung around him now.

“Sure… I wouldn’t, you know… want to give you the wrong idea…” The ADC said, smiling as he brought his lips closer to the Belgian’s, practically breathing against them.

“Oh, wow, uhm, okay, I get it,” Nisqy stammered, blushing a little, “can’t deny that that does something to me – whatever, okay? Let’s call it a tie!”

“A tie? I don’t know…” Zven chuckled, moving away again, “winning just sounds that much sweeter to me…”

“Well, same!” The midlaner exclaimed as he rubbed his cheeks with both of his hands, “…speaking of which, is it time for practice matches yet?”

“Hmm, let me check…” Zven mumbled – only to find himself looking at his bare wrist a second later. The sight startled him.

“…what’s wrong?” Nisqy asked cautiously as he noticed that the ADC had frozen up completely.

“Nothing it’s just… I’m not wearing my watch.” Jesper replied quietly.

“Oh, haha, I see, of course you wouldn’t be able to tell the time then,” Yasin chuckled, clearly not understanding how much more it meant to the ADC.

“Yeah… of course I wouldn’t,” Jesper sighed with a gloomy expression on his face.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, dude…” Nisqy said, giving the Dane a sympathetic pat on his thigh as soon as he noticed how beaten up he looked, “I can go inside and check, okay?”

“That’s not it, Yasin, but thanks – maybe let’s just go back inside altogether? I also left my phone in my room it seems…” Jesper said, and he was already back up on his feet by the time he ended his sentence.

“Yeah, I also don’t have mine someho- OH MY GOD!” Nisqy yelled out all of the sudden, startling Zven quite a bit.

“What was that all about?” Jesper grumbled, looking down at the midlaner who was staring at something with wide eyes – something beneath his own waistline. It didn’t take the ADC much longer to figure out what it was that had caused the midlaner’s sudden outburst. _Freaking hell_ , he thought, unsure of whether he should feel annoyed or embarrassed, _how in the hell could I not notice before standing up?_

“C-careful, you’re gonna poke somebody’s eyes out with that thing!” Yasin joked, trying to laugh off the awkwardness of the situation – but his stare was relentless, and his cheeks were clearly flushed.

“Could you not?” Jesper sighed, turning his crotch away from the midlaner’s face.

“Sorry it’s just… very IN MY FACE, you know,” Nisqy continued with hunger in his eyes, “I knew it was big but…” 

“Okay, no, I’m not having this conversation…” Zven sighed, now covering his junk with both of his hands, praying that his boner would finally go down. He wasn’t even sure what caused it in the first place – probably because he had grown painfully used to ignoring his erections over the duration of his long-distance-relationship.

“Come on, don’t be like that!” Yasin grinned, slowly getting up from the bench as well.

“Would you just stop making it worse, please?” Jesper murmured, trying to think of the biggest turn-offs he could imagine – but today, not even Perkz in a pink skirt would get the job done.

“What am I supposed to do? Stop being sexy?” Nisqy laughed mischievously, wiggling his hips a little.

“You know what? I’m leaving.” Zven sighed, turning around on the spot to head back inside.

He could still hear Yasin squealing in the background when he walked through the huge slide door that led back into the house, only to barely avoid bumping into Blaber. The young jungler looked weirdly out of place – what was he doing in the middle of the hallway?

“Uhhh hey Jesper, fancy running into you here,” he mumbled with a nervous smile.

“What?” Zven asked grumpily, eyeing the American’s reactions closely, “were you spying on us, Blaber?”

“Whaaat? That’s crazy, why would Vulcan asked me to – I mean, no, I just wanted to go to the kitchen to…” Blaber stammered, cramming his phone into his front pocket.

“To?” Jesper crossed his arms and stared the much smaller guy down. It was the fact that Nisqy decided to pop up behind him in this moment that probably weakened his threatening aura, causing the jungler in front of him to relax a little.

“I wanted to grab a lollipop,” Blaber explained with a shrug.

“Sure, then where –“

“Sounds reasonable to me!” Yasin exclaimed, shoving Jesper forwards into the directions of the stairs that lead to the first floor.

“What was that all about? He was clearly making that up…” The ADC grumbled, looking back over his shoulder, “look! He’s literally wiping his forehead in relief right now!”

“Whatever, Jesper, you were just going to be mean again, and you know Vulcan would scold you if you made him cry!” Nisqy explained as he made his way upstairs.

“Cry? He’s not a baby, you know…” Zven sighed.

Of course, Nisqy was right about the Dane’s inclination to be mean. But in a house full of people who didn’t know what the word ‘privacy’ meant, that was bound to happen all the time. It was beyond Jesper how Nisqy, who had also just fallen victim to another spying incident, could be so calm and careless about it. The midlaner was bopping up the stairs as if he had just gotten great news, humming some sort of melody that sounded oddly familiar. Jesper, on the other hand, slouched upstairs with about as much energy as he had when he made his way downstairs on his own earlier that day. Before the midlaner could disappear into his room, the ADC couldn’t resist the temptation to ask.

“Yasin?”

“Yeah?” Nisqy replied, turning around to look at the Dane.

“How does it not bother you that our teammates keep meddling in our business? This is straight up espionage, and you don’t even bat an eye…”

“Hmm… I don’t know, I guess it just reminds me of home?” The midlaner smiled softly, looking up as if he was remembering something special, “my siblings are way worse, though!”

“Interesting…” Jesper mumbled with one hand in his pocket.

“Didn’t you grow up with your siblings too?” Nisqy asked.

“Yeah, sure… but it wasn’t quite like this.” Zven explained, turning to open the door to his room, “I guess it has its… perks, though.”

“What was that about Perkz?” The midlaner yelled after him.

“Oh, shut up!” Jesper snickered before finally closing the door behind him.

For the first time since leaving his room that morning, Jesper was alone. But it didn’t feel the same way it had before – there was no guilt, no shame, no despair. Even though the Dane still felt sad about what had happened these past few days, he had been able to reconcile – in a way, he was on his way to make peace. It might not be his conventional idea of it, but Cloud 9 was starting to feel like a family to him. And no matter how annoying their intrusive questions and endless nagging might be, Zven’s teammates still gave him strength. _Maybe I’ll just pull through_ , Jesper thought as he sat down on his bed, _this too shall pass or… whatever_. But then, he saw his watch lying on the nightstand next to him. In every sense, it was the most valuable thing he owned. Jesper remembered the day when he and Alfonso had picked out these fancy watches for each other fondly, mostly because, secretly, it had felt as if it was a promise to each other. It wasn’t a ring, sure, and most people wouldn’t suspect the symbolic meaning the accessory held for the both of them – but they knew. Now, it felt as if the promise had been forgotten. _After everything we’ve been through, shouldn’t we be stronger than this?_ Jesper thought with a sigh, turning the watch in his hand. In the end, it seemed as if he hadn’t made up his mind at all.

After staring at the watch for longer than he’d like to admit, Zven reached for his phone to check whether he had some more time to brood before practice. To his surprise, he was greeted by a pop-up notification that informed him that he had ten new missed calls. Considering that most people preferred texting, that was quite a lot – and one swipe was enough to clarify that they all came from the same caller. _Oh, now you want to talk?_ Jesper thought grumpily, letting himself fall flat onto his back. It seemed like the worst imaginable timing for Alfonso to change his mind. Then again, that was nothing new. Just as Jesper was about to find a standing – well, at least he was taking some time to do so – the Spaniard decided that it was time to roll up again, like an unexpected rainfall, or a storm, or maybe even a hurricane. _If only you could have come back to haunt me yesterday_ , Jesper thought with a sigh, closing his eyes, things wouldn’t be as complicated as they are now then. Or maybe they would be anyway – how was Zven supposed to know? The only thing he knew for sure was that practice was about to start, and that he wouldn’t let his – ex – boyfriend get between him and his success as a professional player. At least not anymore. And so, as painful as it was to keep wondering what Alfonso might want to say to him, Jesper put his phone into his pocket to head to the gaming area of the house.

He had barely just made it out of his room when the next troublemaker demanded his attention – but this time, it wasn’t hard for Jesper to make out how he felt about that.

“Jesper, hey! Was about to come get you, you alright?” Licorice said, beaming at the ADC as he approached him in the hallway.

“Yep.” Zven mumbled unenthusiastically, trying to squeeze past the toplaner without wasting another breath.

“Woah, wait a second!” Licorice exclaimed, stepping to the side to stop the Dane, “I wanted to talk to you since Phil – I mean I thought I should apologize to you. I was rude this morning, that was out of line!”

“Yep.” Jesper agreed with a nod, looking past the Canadian’s curly hair towards his escape path.

“What do you mean with ‘yep’?? That’s just – okay, whatever, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Did you and Nisqy talk things through? And what about Mithy?”

“Ugh…” Jesper flinched. Only seconds after leaving his safe haven, he was, once again, trapped in an interrogation.

“Okay, okay, I get it – too much too fast. Let’s just go play some League, hm?” Licorice suggested, smiling as he swung his arm around the taller guy’s shoulder to guide him towards the team’s gaming area.

“Huh, so you can still say things that make sense, good for you!” Zven said with a slight grin, trotting beside the toplaner. When he suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he checked it almost out of instinct – and regretted that only seconds after.

“Oh hey, what’s that? I didn’t know people still used that video call option, who is… oh my god!” Licorice yelled out, not even hiding the fact that he was looking at Zven’s display with curious eyes, “it’s really him, isn’t it? To think that he’d call you now – aren’t you going to answer it?”

“No, I mean, we have practice, and I’m not sure…” Jesper muttered, staring at the screen with metaphorical pearls of sweat rolling down his forehead. Not calling Alfonso back was one thing; but not accepting his call as it was happening, right here and now? It felt impossible.

“Come on, you know the team won’t mind waiting a few minutes… let me just help you real quick,” Eric mumbled, casually reaching for the phone in Zven’s hand.

“What? No, don’t you touch it!” Jesper grumbled, turning away from the toplaner to protect the buzzing mobile in his hand from him, “I’m going to do it, okay? Just give me a second I… hello?”

“Jesper?” Alfonso asked loudly with his face way too close to the camera, resembling a middle-aged man who had just been shown how to operate a webcam. It looked ridiculous, and the background noise was beyond grating – but, regardless, Zven’s heart skipped a beat when he laid eyes on the face he had missed seeing for so long now.

“Yes, I’m here, let me just –“

“Well, well, well!” Licorice said loudly, snatching the Dane’s phone right out of his hand, “look who we got here! Coming back after breaking my man’s heart over here, huh?”

“What – who – Jesper, what the fuck?” Alfonso grunted, squinting at the stranger on his display with fury in his eyes.

“Eric, could you not??” Zven murmured, trying to get his phone back with all his might, but, to his surprise, the Canadian was quite good at keeping him at a distance while talking to the screen way too casually.

“See, Mithy, Jesper over here is really going through it lately – he has been ever since I met him. Now, you couldn’t possibly have anything to do with that, right?” Licorice grinned mockingly, pushing the Spaniard’s buttons as obviously as one could.

“You – how dare you, you fucking no name?? You don’t know shit about me, got it?? Now fuck off, I’m not talking to you…” Mithy said sharply, and Zven could practically see the disdain ooze out of the coach’s pores.

“Phew, there’s the temper I keep hearing about… must be hell to deal with, right Jesper?” The toplaner hummed, moving closer to the ADC so that the both of them were caught by the camera. Zven couldn’t do anything but stand there in shock with his mouth open, as this just felt like the sequel to the nightmare he had been living through for days now. It just kept getting worse.

“Are you deaf, puta?? Get lost!” Mithy hissed, all while seemingly looking for something in the distance.

“What’s up with the noise, guys? We’re late for practice!” Nisqy laughed as he came out of his room, only meters away from the two guys crammed up in the hallway.

“No, Yasin, don’t come closer!” Zven said firmly, as his hunch was telling him that things were about to get worse once more. Of course, the midlaner didn’t bother to listen to him.

“Oh, but we have Mithy on the phone!” Licorice yelled out, waving the phone around with the screen facing into Nisqy’s direction. 

“Really?” Yasin huffed, sprinting forwards to look at the object of desire in the toplaner’s hand himself.

“Oh HELL NO!” Alfonso scoffed, glaring at the midlaner with pure hate, “get that THING away from the phone, or I’m going to lose it!”

“Wow…” Licorice hummed, shaking his head in disbelief as he made sure to capture Nisqy’s reaction with the camera.

“Thing? Who are you talking to, huh?” Nisqy muttered, frowning at the coach, “you don’t know me dude, so don’t act like you do.”

“I know that you are ruthless enough to seduce a TAKEN MAN, what else do I need to know, bastardo??” Alfonso barked back.

“Seduce him?? It was ONE kiss, imbécile!!” Yasin shouted, looking a lot angrier than what Zven had ever seen him before – outside of playing League with him, that is.

“Are you seriously calling me STUPID now?? I swear to god, if you don’t move away from Jesper right now, I’ll –“

“You will what?? Jump through the phone and punch me?? I’m not scared of you, and you have no right to boss Jesper around anymore! Not after everything you’ve put him through, you…!” Nisqy rambled with fire in his eyes, but before he could finish his sentence, Zven finally managed to retrieve his phone.

“ENOUGH!” He shouted, pressing the screen against his chest to avoid broadcasting anymore shenanigans to his already furious - ex- boyfriend.

“Guys, what’s the hold up? Blaber and I are waiting, yet you…” Vulcan said as he walked towards the flock of guys, stopping mid-sentence when he noticed what was going on. Behind him, the team’s jungler snooped over his shoulder, watching the scene in awe.

To Zven’s dismay, Licorice waved them over with a smile, saying, “Oh, hey Philippe, we’re just talking to a special guest over here, how about you –“

“NO, no, this is way too much, guys!” Jesper exclaimed, shoving both Licorice and Nisqy aside to escape, “please, just give me a minute!”

And, before his team could say anything to that, Jesper had already closed the door of his room behind him. With his back still resting against it, he took a moment to breathe, to calm his mind, to come back down from the adrenaline rush somehow. He didn’t even notice that he was still pressing his phone to his chest until the guy on the other end of the line decided to make himself known again.

“I can hear your heart beat,” Alfonso said.

“Oh yeah?” Jesper whispered with the hint of a smile on his lips. It was so banal, but the coach’s words brought him back to his senses immediately.

“It’s beating quite fast, maybe you should get that checked out…” Mithy added quietly, and, as Zven lifted the screen back up to show his face, he saw that the Spaniard was smiling as well.

“Right, right… so, we’re alone now. Sorry for the commotion from before, I didn’t mean for that to happen.” Jesper explained as he sat down on his bed.

“Commotion, yeah… your teammates are insane, Jesper, what’s even gotten into them?” Alfonso sighed, shaking his head.

“Insane? I mean, yeah, they are not exactly conventional sometimes, but it’s just because they care about me…” Zven mumbled, raising one of his brows.

“Then they have a weird way of showing that…” The Spaniard grumbled, “anyway, enough of them. Let’s talk about us.”

“I don’t get it, why do you want to talk now when you ignored all of my calls yesterday?” Jesper muttered, staring at Mithy’s background, trying to make out where he was.

“I just… needed some time, and now I’m ready to listen. So, let’s hear it!” Alfonso said after clearing his throat, turning his head to look at something else abruptly.

“If you think I’m going to apologize then you’re way off, Fonso… where are you at anyway?”

“I’m – uhm – funny story, I’m actually at the airport, and I was planning on… well, it sounds kind of insane now that I have to say it out loud,” the Spaniard sighed, holding his boarding pass up to the camera.

“You – you’re not actually coming to America, this is a joke, right?” Zven mumbled with wide eyes, “Fonso, you can’t be serious.”

“I know, I know! I just realized some…things yesterday, like, something happened - actually, it doesn't matter. I just wanted to show you that I… you know…” Alfonso stammered, looking away shyly.

“That you what?” Jesper frowned, leaning against the headboard of his bed, “that you care? If you really did, don’t you think you would have come back to America to see me earlier then? Since it seems to be that easy for you…”

“Easy?? It’s certainly not easy, but this is important!” Mithy replied, sitting down somewhere, “I just realized that I can’t lose you, Jesper.”

“Important, yeah…” Zven sighed, closing his eyes. Ever since the break-up, he had thought the same thing, over and over again – that he couldn’t lose Alfonso. But now, after talking to his overly observant and overly annoying teammates about it, Jesper knew that it wasn’t that easy. And now wasn’t the time to keep that hidden.

“You know what else is important?” He said, opening his eyes again, “showing that you care about your partner BEFORE the relationship ends, not just after.”

“What? I – where is that coming from?” Alfonso mumbled, glancing away from his screen, “are you saying I didn’t give you enough attention or…”

“ANY attention would have been nice… did you know that I didn’t realize I had a boner today, just because I’ve grown so used to ignoring them? When was the last time we video-chatted before today, hmm? The last time we touched? I don’t see you caring about that – all I see you caring about is your ego these days…”

“My ego? Jesus, Jesper, you couldn’t be more off… I mean, are you trying to justify that you went to someone else to get your dick wet? Is that what this is about?” Alfonso scoffed angrily.

“OH MY GOD, IT WAS ONE KISS!” Jesper yelled out in frustration, almost dropping his phone in the process.

“Yeah, then… don’t try to tell me you didn’t do more after. I saw it in lover boy’s eyes… it’s disgusting.” The Spaniard grumbled relentlessly

“Ugh, this is so pointless… if your view on things hasn’t changed, then what good would it do to come here, huh? You wanna beat up the entire team? You want me to quit? What’s the solution here?” Zven grunted.

“I didn’t think about that, I just… wanted to see you.” Alfonso whispered, suddenly looking sad instead of angry.

“God, Fonso…” Jesper sighed, feeling his chest get a little tighter, “it’s not like I don’t want to see you but… after everything that has happened… I think I still don’t want you to come.”

“What? But before, you said…” Mithy mumbled with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Just – please, just stay in Berlin. You stay there, I stay here and… we both stay out of each other’s lifes.”

“No, wait, no way,” Alfonso stammered, bringing his phone closer to his face, “I’m sorry about losing my temper, I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t mean it, not like this…!”

“I just can’t do this anymore, Fonso…” Jesper whispered, biting his lip as he felt his voice crack, “it fucking hurts, but I can’t.”

"But..." Mithy mumbled. Jesper could tell that his eyes were glossy, which just felt like another stab in his chest - still, he couldn't stop now.

"I'm sorry, okay? I just can't think of a way for us to get back from this," the ADC whispered.

“So… this is goodbye?” The Spaniard mumbled, taking his glasses off to wipe his eyes, “no… ‘time to think’? Or a break? Anything?”

“You know we’ll never be able to let go like that, Fonso… We’ll torture each other until the end of time if we don’t make a clean cut.”

“I wouldn’t call it torture, but…” Mithy sighed, taking a deep breath before looking straight into the camera to say, “I’ll always love you, Jesper.”

“Yeah…” Zven breathed, barely audible, “me too.”

And with that, he hung up the call. A single tear rolled down his cheek. It felt impossibly hard to breathe. It was almost as if a thousand different voices were screaming in agony inside Jesper’s head, and still, he felt relieved. He felt free. He knew that he had a long road ahead of him, and that he’d probably never stop thinking about his first big love. But, for now, there was nothing he could do about that – or, at least, he had already done all that he could. Carefully, Jesper put his phone back on his nightstand and got up, dusting off his lap. In times of mental hardship, there was one thing he always circled back to: video games. _Lucky me, getting to do that for a living_ , he thought with a soft smile as he walked outside. Right in front of his room, his teammates had practically formed a pile, which Zven caused to tumble over as soon as he opened the door. He looked at each of the panicked faces, waiting for one of them to explain.

“We, uhm, just wanted to come check if you were done?” Blaber stuttered after a moment, shrugging as casually as he could.

“Yeah, uhm, there was a League emergency or something!” Nisqy added quickly, wildly gesturing with his hands.

Vulcan just gave the ADC a sympathetic smile, knowing that they had been caught in the act once more. But, this time, Zven wasn’t mad. Even if he wanted to be, he didn’t have that in him right now. Instead, he started laughing. Quietly at first, and then louder by the second, until he finally had to hold onto the wall for support.

“Woah, okay, he’s losing it,” Licorice mumbled, jumping up to his feet.

“Jesper, are you okay…?” Vulcan whispered, slowly approaching the Dane.

“Yeah, I’m… great, actually,” Jesper said, wiping the corner of his eye, “thanks, guys. Let’s just go play some League before there are any more emergencies, hmm?”

“Uhh, yeah, that!” Yasin grinned, grabbing the tall guy’s wrist to pull him towards the gaming area.

“We still shouldn’t have spied on him, don’t you think?” Blaber whispered to Vulcan behind Zven, probably assuming that the ADC couldn’t hear him. But he did. And no, he didn’t want to second that. He didn’t want to prompt just how important his privacy was, or that he was only here to do a job. As stupid as it was, right now, surrounded by this group of nosy, intrusive and irritating pro gamers, Jesper felt at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Zven's POV! What do you think?
> 
> This is actually one of my lovely beta's favourite chapters, and it has definitely grown on me as well... not enough to make me watch NA LCS, but hey, more than I would have ever anticipated for sure! 
> 
> Can't wait to hear your thoughts! Feel free to leave them in a comment here on ao3 or on the DreamServer, I'll get back to you either way ;)
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!
> 
> PS: I'm not sure how long this break will be, could be one week or several, but I'll be back, I can promise that much!


	52. Part 12: Rasmus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? My apologies, my little break turned into a whole hiatus again - but fear not, I am back, and for at least the next 5 or 6 weeks, there will be regular updates again! 
> 
> That being said: welcome back to Part 12: No Sleep! We left things off with Zven in NA, but, of course, our main course is EU-based. This Part is a fucking whopper, I hope you guys don't mind that the average chapter length just keeps rising and rising around here... Anyway. I hope you enjoy getting back into the dramatic mess that is ayaya with me! 
> 
> PS: I want to use this chance to give a huge shoutout to my peeps on the DreamServer on Discord! This community is a big ressource of motivation, inspiration, love, support, laughter, and so much more! One of the reasons why I'm back to posting now, even though I had some tough weeks irl. If you are reading this and wonder "a Discord server? Is that something I can / should join?" then the answer is absolutely yes! There are tons of lovely people, exclusive content and community events, and so much fun waiting for you! Use this link in the next 24 hours or ask for a new one in the comments: https://discord.gg/bURNyE

When Rasmus noticed that the sun was already poking through the blinds on his window, he wondered where time had gone. He looked at his alarm clock on the nightstand next to his bed, imagining what he’d do on any other day. He’d let out a short sigh, turn on his other side, cuddle up to Oskar and fall back asleep, since it was way too damn early to be awake anyway. But today was not like any other day. Rasmus hadn’t been able to sleep at all, and, hence, he was not surprised about being awake at this time of the day.

But the more important difference, and maybe even the reason why he hadn’t slept, was that he was alone. He was alone, and that didn’t feel right. Rasmus let his gaze wonder to the right side of his bed, which looked weirdly deserted. He had never been able to sleep in the middle of his bed again, not since the first time he had ever shared it. After some time, the ADC had gotten used to it. But, even if it had just been for a few weeks, Oskar had filled up that void effortlessly. _I can’t believe it’s over now,_ Rasmus thought with a sad smile on his lips, brushing his fingers down the empty pillow next to his.

Sure, he didn’t _really_ know whether it was over. What Rasmus knew was that Oskar had stormed off the morning before with an indescribable, misinformed rage, and that he hadn’t been able to get in touch with the jungler all day before finally hearing that everything was ‘fine’, just to finish things off with a message suggesting that they had to ‘talk’. _I might not be great at maths, but I think I know what that adds up to_ … Rasmus pondered with a sigh, slowly sitting himself up. All night long, even long after he had left Wunder’s room to go to bed, he had tried to come up with an answer regarding why that made him so sad. They had never been meant to be a real couple to begin with. All this time, both Oskar and Rasmus had known that the day when the truth would catch up with them would come – that they wouldn’t last forever. _I thought it would be a bit longer, still_ , Rasmus thought plaintively, opening the blinds to look at the morning sun, _I just hoped that I wouldn’t be pushed away again so soon._

And, right on time, there it was again. Whether it was thinking about being pushed away, zoned out, played with or anything that had to do with being held so close that you forget how to breathe, it always led Rasmus straight to Martin. After all this time, it felt ridiculous. While he was with Oskar, the Dane had been able to mostly blend out whatever feelings he still held for the stern Swede quite effectively, but it somehow wasn’t working anymore now. It hadn’t been working ever since he had seen the cursed snap on Perkz’ phone the day before, right as the disastrous events started to unfold around him. Sure, Oskar’s rage had been the more urgent thing to deal with. But now, after having nothing but time to think all night long, Rasmus couldn’t help but feel this dull pain as he remembered the image. He felt helpless, unable to move, desperate even. _Martin…_ he thought, breathing in sharply as he pressed his raccoon pillow tightly to his chest, letting his mind once again wander to the cursed place it had resigned to for well over a year now, _why did you have to shove me away?_

It was absolutely ludicrous, wasn’t it? No matter how you looked at it, he should be sad because of Oskar, right? In a way, Rasmus felt guilty about forgetting about the jungler for even a second. Then he felt guilty about spending that second thinking about Martin, since that was something that his teammates had tried to talk him out of for a long time now. In summary, Rasmus was riddled by guilt, had found no sleep all night, and had to face one of those infamous ‘we need to talk’-conversations later that day _. I might not be good at maths but…_ Rasmus thought with a sigh, pushing himself off the bed.

The odds weren’t exactly stacked in his favour, but the ADC was determined to do what he could to stay positive – or, well, awake, at least. And if there’s one thing he could count on to keep his spirits up, it was this loud, chaotic but also loving team of his. After throwing on a weirdly oversized t-shirt – _that must have gotten mixed up in the wash but I’m not going to question it_ – Rasmus left his room to search for his teammates.

And yet, just like the day before, there was no one in the kitchen. The coffee machine was running though, which suggested that at least one of his teammates must be up – but where could they be? Rasmus thought about grabbing some coffee before he continued his search. Now, thinking of the taste alone was enough to make his stomach turn, but desperate times usually called for desperate measures, and the Dane wanted to stay awake and alert for the day no matter what. And so, hesitantly or maybe even reluctantly, Rasmus began his search for a clean mug. He didn’t know whether he felt alarmed or relieved when he was interrupted by an incredibly loud voice erupting from behind him.

“MORNING Rasmus, what are you doing??”

“Oh, uhm, morning Jankos,” Rasmus mumbled without turning around to look at the jungler at first, as that was not necessary to identify him, “I’m looking for a clean mug, are they all in the wash…?”

“Probably, who would clean up after a GAME DAY??” The jungler laughed loudly, “but what do you need a MUG for anyway?”

“Well, I wanted to drink some coffee…” The ADC yawned, carefully rubbing his eyes with both of his hands.

“COFFEE?” Jankos squinted at the Dane, taking another step into his direction, “but you NEVER do that!”

“Yeah it’s just… I didn’t get a lot of sleep tonight,” Rasmus explained with a half of a smile on his lips. That was an understatement, of course.

“OHH, so Oskar DID come back?” The jungler muttered with wide eyes, swallowing hard and then suddenly smiling widely, “how… GOOD for YOU GUYS!”

“What? No, he didn’t come back, I didn’t hear from him… why are you smiling like that, it’s kind of scary?” Rasmus scratched his head, finally closing the cabinet he was rummaging through just a moment prior.

“OH! Uhm, I’m sorry,” Jankos stammered, looking away almost shamefully, “ANYWAY! If you’re thirsty, why not just go for a RED BULL?”

“Huh… lots of sugar for this time of the day, but that makes a lot more sense to my taste buds at least!” Rasmus replied eagerly, “wait – what are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” Jankos asked bluntly, holding a glass he had just grabbed in his hands, “I’m an OLD MAN that needs his COFFEE, what is so STRANGE about that?”

“Nothing, just, that glass –“ Rasmus snickered as he watched his jungler carefully filling his chosen dish up with his beverage of choice. “You know what? You do you, I’m gonna go grab that Red Bull!” The ADC announced happily, changing plans and directions to head towards the gaming area. Jankos followed him closely, almost as if he had been asked to do so. During the short amount of time it took the both of them to get to the couch, Jankos cussed at least a dozen times, as the boiling hot coffee was, unsurprisingly so, burning his fingers through the glass. There was a certain relief on the Pole’s face as soon as he got to put his glass down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“What are you looking at?” He muttered, giving Rasmus, who had just grabbed a can of Red Bull from the mini fridge near his desk, a way too confident smile.

“Ahh, nothing, nothing,” the ADC chuckled as he sat down next to his jungler. “Jankos, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have you around right now, but is something up with you…?” Rasmus wondered after the satisfaction of the first cold sip of the energy drink had sunken in.

The jungler took a moment to think about the question before replying, “you know… I’ve just had a lot of TIME to THINK lately.”

“That sounds awfully familiar,” Rasmus mumbled, “what did you think about, exactly?”

“About how to be a better TEAMMATE and, uhh, just a better MAN in general!” The jungler went on.

“Oh, really?” Rasmus smiled, “I think you’re a pretty great guy already…”

“RIGHT?? Ehm, I mean – there is always room for IMPROVEMENT!”

“Sure, sure… I also kind of wish I could have been better yesterday,” the ADC sighed as he looked down at the can in his hands.

“What are you talking about, your performance was SPOT ON!” Jankos exclaimed, patting the smaller guys shoulder supportively.

“I meant with Oskar… I should have told him the truth before he found out the wrong way.” Rasmus muttered.

“OH, that… right, right. I’m sorry about that. But don’t you think he would have been ANGRY either way?” Jankos pointed out, shrugging slightly.

“But not like that! Well, it’s too late now anyway, hmm…” Rasmus let his head hang down a bit lower, wishing that he could just disappear on the spot.

“But Rasmus…” Jankos mumbled, which almost sounded like the faintest whisper coming out of his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Wunder said instead of the usual ‘good morning’ when he entered the room.

“Morning Martin,” Rasmus said softly, lifting his head for the toplaner, “it’s still the same thing, really.”

“You mean what we talked about last night?” Wunder yawned loudly, sitting down at Rasmus’ other side, “no news from Oskar, huh…”

“Nothing,” Rasmus nodded slowly, “what about you? Still nervous?”

“Tons! It doesn’t really help that I barely slept…” The toplaner grumbled, staring into the distance, “I feel like I might need some coffee to make it through the day.”

“I made some earlier, feel free to drink it!” Jankos said, nodding towards the kitchen.

“Did you just… offer me coffee?” Wunder squinted in disbelief, “are you okay?”

“WHY IS IT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND THAT I’M NICE NOW!” The jungler grunted, stomping his foot onto the ground, “just TAKE it, would you??”

“…Sure. I’ve got bigger fish to fry today anyway,” the toplaner shrugged, slouching towards the kitchen.

“Can you believe him??” Jankos murmured angrily, crossing his arms.

“Come on, give us some time to adjust!” Rasmus chuckled, “it’s just hard to believe that a change like that would occur overnight… you sure nothing happened?”

“Y-yes, of course I’m sure,” the jungler replied swiftly, looking away in the next second, “it was just… a really long night.”

“For us all,” Rasmus nodded slowly, “speaking of… where are Miky and Perkz? Have you seen them around?”

“No, and I don’t think they came HOME yesterday either…!” Jankos explained, leaning forward ominously, “they were UP to something again, I can FEEL it!”

“Up to what?” The ADC wondered, yet again wondering whether he really wanted to know.

“Ask them yourself, I just heard the door,” Wunder sighed as he sat back down on the couch with a huge bowl of coffee in his hands.

“So there really were no clean mugs, huh?” Rasmus said with a slight grin on his lips as he watched the other Dane drink with both hands on his bowl. Next to the ADC, Jankos was practically biting his tongue, mumbling something that sounded like _“a bowl, a bowl, why didn’t I think of taking a bowl”_ to himself eerily.

“Nope, but you know what Bear Grylls always says… _‘Improvise, adapt, overcome’_!” Wunder snickered, enjoying his own humour almost as much as the life-saving coffee.

“Or do your chores, I know, shocking alternative,” Miky said with a smug grin on his face as he entered the room, “good morning everyone, we’re back!”

“And we brought gifts!” Perkz cheered behind the support with a huge, branded bag in hand.

“GIFTS? What is this, CHRISTMAS??” Jankos exclaimed, jumping up from the couch, “you want to, uhm, sit down, Miky?”

“What? No thanks,” the support replied, frowning at the jungler.

“Ahh - OKAY then,” Jankos nodded, sitting back down.

“That was a little weird… anyway, where were you guys?” Rasmus asked, pointing at the bag, “and what did you bring?”

“Well, if you must know…” Perkz grinned with one hand on his hip, “we spent the night at one of the most expensive hotels in town… and took lots of free stuff with us!”

“The room was amazing, you have no idea…” Mihael bragged, sitting down in his gaming chair which stood not too far away from the couch.

“Why would you guys be staying over in a hotel?” Wunder wondered, looking confused for a second, “… you know what, I don’t think I want to know.”

“Sounds like a lot of fun to me,” Rasmus hummed with a sad smile, remembering the last time he had shared a hotel room with someone he cared for like that.

“Oh we had fun alright… double the fun I expected, since Sam was waiting for us,” Perkz explained, practically glowing with pride all of a sudden, “not a lot of sleep, though.”

“Sam was –“ Jankos started, stopping himself seconds after. Rasmus had to admit that, no matter how unbelievable the sudden change of heart the jungler had had might have been, his ability to restrain himself was impressive.

“So the three of you, hmm…” Wunder grumbled in the corner, sipping on his bowl of coffee, “I assume you ended your quarrel, then…”

“It was a minor and temporary set-back,” Miky remarked with a shrug, “I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a _quarrel_.”

“You wouldn’t? I seriously wanted to beat you up, but not in the way you like…” Perkz laughed way too genuinely.

“Yikes…” Wunder shuddered.

“I’m just glad you guys made up!” Rasmus beamed. He did feel quite relieved about the fact that at least this part of his life would be more harmonious from now on, if one could call it that. It was not enough to make him forget about what awaited him later that day, but it was a start.

“Yeah, right,” Perkz smirked, reaching into the bag, “so, who wants gifts?”

“Just tell us what you brought!” Jankos shouted, bringing down his volume towards the end to add, “…please.”

Wunder reassumed the position of giving Jankos an irritated stare. Caps started laughing nervously as that was the most natural reaction to the jungler saying ‘please’ to Perkz that he could imagine. Perkz and Miky, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of their lifes.

“What was that? _Please?_ Well, if you want to know THAT badly…” Perkz smirked ever so smugly, pulling out a very small, square and heavily decorated box to toss it over to the Pole.

“What is this…?” Jankos asked, carefully eyeing the box from all sides.

“Smells like lavender,” Caps mumbled, holding his nose a bit closer to the unknown object to get a better idea of its smell.

“It’s a bar of soap.” Perkz snickered, signalling the jungler to open it. As Jankos looked at the delicately carved out piece of soap in his hands, Rasmus could swear that he could see steam erupting out of his ears.

“We immediately thought about you when we saw it,” Mihael added, slyly swinging one leg over the other, “do with that information what you want.”

“You….” Jankos hissed, alarmingly silently as he enclosed the soap in his fist. Rasmus felt like the perfect façade might be crumbling already, but, to his surprise, the jungler managed to turn his frown upside down within a matter of seconds.

“…Yeah?” The support asked after a second of waiting for a reaction.

“You look really GOOD today, Miky,” Jankos continued, looking at the Slovenian with the hint of a sparkle in his eyes, “it’s like you’re GLOWING or something…”

“What the…” Wunder started, obviously feeling as if his irritated stares just wouldn’t cut it anymore.

“Stay out of my lane, Jankos,” Perkz laughed, waving the other guy off before reaching for the next gift, “okay what’s next… right, these premium, high quality mix of nuts!”

“I guess out of you three, Rasmus is the only one that likes ‘em,” Miky remarked, taking the quite expensive looking snack out of the midlaner’s hand to toss it over to the Dane.

“Oh wow, these look great, thanks!” The ADC said, smiling appreciatively, “I’ll try some later…”

“WHO SAYS THAT RASMUS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO LIKES NUTS?” Jankos shouted, balling his fists for whatever reason.

“Okay, dude, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you really need to chill…” Luka shook his head, but he was still grinning from ear to ear.

“Right, see, we got these amazingly soft slippers right here…” Miky explained as he pulled the luxurious footwear out of the bag, “Wunder, we are very excited to give them to you. And even more excited about not seeing those hooves you call feet anymore every single morning.”

“Oh fuck off…!” Wunder smirked, grabbing the slippers to put them on his enormous feet right away.

“See, that’s just that much better…” Perkz said, acknowledging the toplaner’s elegant new look.

“They do look quite comfortable,” Rasmus admitted, turning the nut-mix in his hand as he wondered whether he got the short end of the stick or not.

“He does look a little more CONFIDENT!” Jankos added.

“Well, why wouldn’t he be?” Luka said, sitting down next to the big toplaner suggestively.

“Well, actually…” The Dane muttered, staring at the slippers in a more serious manner now.

“Oh, why so serious? Is it a touchy subject?” Miky asked, tapping his cheek with his index finger, “… like _World of Warcraft_?”

Next to Rasmus, Jankos looked like he really wanted to say something like that. His face was burning up, almost as if he was holding his breath to prevent him from commenting on the support’s sly remark, or maybe even from laughing. Rasmus himself was not too sure whether he should say something either, as he was probably the only person in the room who knew why Wunder was nervous.

“You’re a riot, Miky…” Wunder said after a moment of silence, rolling his eyes a little, “if I didn’t look like my most confident self before, it’s probably because I have a date coming up and I’m kind of nervous about it…”

“WHAT? You – I thought you were joking when you said that yesterday!” Jankos spluttered with his face still beaming bright red.

“Why would I be joking about that…” The toplaner answered, kicking the slippers off in a way that could only be described as aggressive.

“It is unusual, but not an unwelcomed change!” Luka smirked beside the Dane, putting his arm around his bulky shoulders, “see, I knew it would only take the right lady to see what a great guy you are!”

“Hey, I said the same thing yesterday, didn’t I?” Rasmus chimed happily. It was about time that the toplaner got some support from his team, after all.

“You need a pep-talk or something?” Miky asked with one brow cocked up, but he seemed to be prepared for the job.

“Maybe I underestimated you guys… even you, Jankos,” the toplaner muttered, glancing over to the jungler who seemed to have gone back to holding his breath.

“Us gamers gotta stick up for each other, right?” Rasmus said eagerly, clasping his hands together demonstratively.

“Sure… I’m in the mood to help out, actually,” Luka shrugged, sporting a smug grin, “tell me, Martin… where are you going to meet this mysterious woman?”

“Not too sure, actually… maybe a Café? Or a park or something? We haven’t worked out the details, but I should get going in…” Wunder explained, pausing to check his phone for the time – just to look completely panicked seconds later.

“What is it? Are you running LATE or something??” The jungler, who had mostly calm down by now, inquired.

“SUPER LATE!” The toplaner shouted, jumping up from the couch, “I thought I had more time, shit… I don’t feel ready at all…”

“Let’s just take a second to breathe, hmm?” Perkz suggested casually.

“It always helps me to think about my happy place…” Rasmus added, more or less hesitantly as that was a trick that hadn’t helped him at all today. Maybe because his happy place had been in Oskar’s arms these last few weeks.

“I appreciate it guys, but this is really not helping…” Wunder stammered, walking in a small circle, “god, this is so not like me…!”

“She must be really SPECIAL, hmm…” Jankos hummed next to Rasmus, but he looked a lot more jealous than sympathetic.

“Look, you showered, you put on fresh clothes and it looks like you’ve tanked up some caffeine as well. What else could you do to get ready?” Perkz explained, “I think you’re good to go.”

“Did you put on your nicest _Wunderwear_ , though?” Mihael smirked, “just in case you’re finally gonna get some later...”

“Miky!” Rasmus intervened, giving the support a concerned look. While he did think the throwback to the toplaner’s old name was kind of funny, he knew that it was more important to reassure the other Dane now, not to add to his nerves even more by bringing this new topic to the table.

“What? I’m just saying…” The Slovenian shrugged.

“Would you cut it out?” Wunder murmured grumpily, coming to a stop. “We haven’t even kissed yet. Or held hands. Or anything, really…”

“Aww, but that’s okay,” Rasmus mumbled, giving the toplaner his most encouraging smile.

“Ahh, to be young and in love…” Luka hummed with a wide smile on his lips, “don’t worry, big guy, you got this.”

“Who is this MYSTERIOUS WOMAN anyway??” Jankos asked loudly.

“Just… someone I met on Tinder,” Wunder muttered.

“Someone from Tinder you didn’t hook up with immediately?” Miky said, squinting at the Dane in disbelief, “what a wild concept…”

“Measured by your questionable standards, maybe,” the Dane grumbled.

“I think it’s really sweet,” Rasmus admitted. He did feel like he had been missing out on this classic, romantic setting, as most dates he had gone on were post-coital. Well - all except one.

“Just go get her, tiger,” Perkz remarked, giving the toplaner a mental push.

“Right… well, you guys have been no help whatsoever,” Martin sighed, “I’ll get going now. See you later or whatever…”

“Good luck!” Rasmus shouted after the toplaner, cheering him on from afar. Around the ADC, his teammates had fallen silent.

“Weird to see him so nervous, huh?” Luka said after a while. "Makes you _wonder_ whether he told us everything..."

"Does it?" Rasmus asked faintly.

“I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO SHE IS!” Jankos exclaimed. In this case, he was back at his normal volume.

“Hmm…” The support spun around in his chair, untouched by the big emotions filling up the room.

“Well, if he can channel his usual mad lad confidence when he’s with his date… the boy should be set,” Luka said with his grin creeping back up, “confidence always wins the war.”

“You think…” Jankos grumbled, crossing his arms weirdly sullenly.

“Confidence… I wish I could lend me some of that right now,” Rasmus murmured with a sad smile on his lips.

“What? How come, Rasmus?” Mihael asked swiftly, turning his head to give the ADC a sympathetic look, “did you get news from Oskar…?”

“Oh damn, I completely forgot about that!” Perkz gasped, leaning forward, “I’m sorry, Rasmus… how selfish of me.”

“Come on Luka, don’t be like that… I’m happy that you guys sorted out your stuff.” The Dane explained, enclosing one hand with the other.

“Does anyone care what I am going through or…” Jankos groaned more or less quietly, earing some confused looks.

“You think it’s appropriate to make this about you?” Mihael scoffed, glaring at the jungler with disdain in his eyes, “Rasmus has never done anything to deserve this misery. You on the other hand…”

For a moment, Rasmus thought that Jankos looked incredibly sad. Then again, that must have been his imagination, right? It was not like the jungler to dwell on negativity, after all. At least not like this. The moment went by in a flash, with anger glistening up in the Pole’s blue eyes soon after.

“You magnificent bastard…!” Jankos growled, staring back at the support as he got off the couch, “Fine, you know what? I’LL JUST GO!”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Luka shrugged.

“WHATEVER!” Marcin yelled as he stormed off.

“Wait, Marcin, it’s okay!” Rasmus tried to stop him, but the jungler had already left the room behind.

“Honestly, he didn’t have to be _that_ dramatic about it…”Mihael sighed, “anyway, where were we?”

“Miky, why did you do that? Marcin just wanted to… honestly, I don’t know what it is that he’s trying to do, but I know that he’s trying!” Rasmus said with determination.

“Well… how about he tries again later then?” Luka smirked as he shuffled a little closer to Rasmus on the couch that felt a lot bigger now.

“It’s not like I asked him to leave, I just can’t stand to see you sad, Rasmus… with him, I don’t mind as much,” Miky shrugged, moving onto the couch as well, “sue me if you want.”

“I appreciate it guys but… I feel like Marcin needs us too right now, you know?” The ADC mumbled, looking down at his hands. He knew that his concern was genuine, but also that he was trying to avoid talking about the obvious. And that that wouldn’t work for long, not with Perkz and Miky on either of his sides.

“Fine, I’ll buy him a beer or whatever,” Perkz sighed, ruffling the smaller guy’s hair, “but let’s talk about you and Oskar now, hmm?”

“It’s about time that we do, yeah,” Miky agree, putting his arm up on the backrest of the couch behind Rasmus.

“I don’t know what to tell you, honestly… I still have no idea what happened yesterday.” Rasmus sighed with his head hung low.

“Why do you look so chewed up and spit out then…?” Perkz asked slowly.

“Well, last night… he said that we, uhm,” Rasmus stammered, scrambling to catch the words he needed to say out of the wriggly mess he called his head, “he said that we needed to talk.”

“Oh…” Luka hummed, now with one hand up on the ADC’s shoulder.

“That can’t be good news, hmm?” Mihael sighed, scratching his head with his free hand, “I didn’t think things would move this quickly…”

“What did you think would happen…?” Rasmus asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know. I guess it was more a hope than a hunch.”

“Yeah, I was hoping he’d be here when we come back,” Luka added, staring into the distance.

 _So was I_ , Rasmus thought, but he didn’t feel like it would do any good to say it out loud. It didn’t change anything. Besides, the jungler’s absence was not the only troublesome aspect of the situation. Maybe not even the worst. No one said anything for a while, and that seemed to last for quite some time, with all of the guys contemplating their own part of the story. It was Mihael who finally broke the silence.

“You think you can fix it?”

“Fix what?” Rasmus blinked a couple of times.

“You know, the thing you and Oskar have… I’d call it a relationship if I didn’t know any better,” the support explained.

“Labels aren’t all that bad these days… wouldn’t you agree?” Luka remarked, grinning at the Slovenian over Rasmus’ head.

“I suppose there are worse things, yeah…” Miky chuckled.

“Oskar and I we…” Rasmus started, but he didn’t know how to go on. _We were never meant to be? We are not worth saving? We are beyond salvation?_ None of it felt right. Maybe it was something else altogether. The feeling that remained was that there was nothing that could or should be done.

“You don’t want to, hmm?” Miky mumbled, leaning his head against the smaller guy’s, “are you sure about that, Rasmus?”

“What are you saying, Miky… that can’t be right,” Luka huffed, glancing back and forth the faces of the ADC and his support.

“You’re so slow sometimes, Luka…” Mihael sighed, shaking his head.

“Of course I want him to stay,” Rasmus muttered, feeling incredibly small in between his teammates all of a sudden, “but I can’t ask him to stay just because of that. He deserves more than that.”

“And what about you?” Miky said, moving his arm down to squeeze his ADC by the shoulder, “don’t you think you deserve better than to be left out of the blue?”

Rasmus didn’t know what to reply. Instead, he simply looked up to meet Mihael’s concerned gaze. He hoped that his eyes could say what he couldn’t – that they’d know something he didn’t know yet. But that plan didn’t seem to work out too well for him.

“Rasmus, you can’t be serious…” The support murmured, slowly pulling his arm back, “after everything that happened…”

“Seriously Miky, have you turned psychic over night?” Perkz wondered, staring at Mihael, “what the hell are you talking about now?”

“Looks like you passed some of your smarts on to me last night when you…” Miky licked his lips, stopping himself from going into detail, “… never mind. Rasmus, if this really is about Rekkles again so help me god I –“

“Rekkles? What did he do to you this time, huh…” Perkz snarled with a gloomy expression on his face, cracking his knuckles.

“What? No, no, don’t be ridiculous, it’s nothing!” Rasmus laughed, hoping that he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt. "That’s a thing of the past.”

He wanted to believe that with all he had, at least.

“I’m not convinced…” Miky crossed his arms, leaning back against the backrest of the couch, “but whatever. I choose to put my hope in Oskar right now…”

“I hope it’s just the lack of sleep making me dumb but…” Luka mumbled, rubbing his eyes, “what do you mean by that, Miky?”

“I’m just saying that, yes, _‘we need to talk'_ is one of the oldest clichés in the book.”

“Agreed,” Perkz nodded.

“…still, we don’t know about Oskar’s intentions for sure, do we?” The support said with a slight shrug.

“And you’re an optimist since…?” Rasmus laughed.

“Whatever…” Mihael chuckled, squeezing the ADC’s upper thigh loosely, “I want you to be happy, Rasmus. If that means that I have to be one of these annoying _the-glass-is-half-full-_ kind of guys every now and then, so be it.”

“Aww, you’re trying to make me sob over here or what?” Perkz laughed, pinching the support’s cheek over Rasmus’ head.

“You guys are too sweet… how couldn’t I be happy?” Rasmus smiled, looking up at his teammates that, once again, simply felt like family.

“Alright, alright… I think that’s enough for a day,” Miky mumbled with a slight smile, dusting off his lap before coming to a stand, “while I love chatting and all, I think we’d be better off if we played some League, don’t you think?”

“True, it’s still early… and a Sunday, on top of that,” Luka added, glancing over to the computers, “what do you think, Rasmus?”

“I wouldn’t mind the distraction, honestly,” the Dane admitted, playing with his phone in the pocket of his sweatpants, “Oskar said he’d text me a time and place today, but nothing so far.”

“FlexQ it is, then!” Perkz exclaimed, gently pulling the other guy up by his wrist to guide him over to the gaming area.

And, however predictable it might have been, that was exactly what Rasmus needed to feel a little more at ease in that moment. The waiting had been killing him all night, and there was no thought that he hadn’t turned over three times already anyway, so why not just play? Why not just pretend like the world was okay until he couldn’t do so anymore?

A few games in, Rasmus finally got the long awaited, yet equally dreaded message. It was well past noon by now, and the time Oskar had suggested for their meet-up was not too far away. Rasmus swallowed hard as he stared at his screen – he knew it was going to happen, right? Then why on earth did he feel just that much more nervous now? Next to him, Miky tried to look over his shoulder as soon as he noticed the ADC spacing out, but Rasmus managed to tilt the screen of his phone the other way before the support could catch a glimpse.

“That was Oskar, right?” Mihael inquired, seemingly not minding that his curiosity had, quite literally, caused him to die in-game.

“Yeah…” Rasmus whispered, trying his best not to endure the same fate as his support in the rift.

“That’s good news, right? At least you know when and where now,” Perkz remarked from the ADC’s other side as he casually cleaned up the team fight from behind, “that was weak, Miky, you should be thankful to have someone as godlike as me on your team to make up for your missteps…”

“Right, drag me, drag me!” Mihael laughed, clicking wildly in anticipation of his respawn, “still, why don’t you want me to know where you’re gonna go, Rasmus? I wonder…”

“You know exactly why!” Rasmus smirked, feeling relieved as the enemy’s nexus was finally in sight, “I know you mean well but I need to do this by myself…”

“And we respect that,” Perkz hummed with a triumphant smile as he eyed the victory screen.

“Sure, sure…” Miky grumbled, not looking quite as pleased.

“Thanks guys… you think I should change before I get going?” Rasmus wondered, looking down his own body to inspect his outfit which consistent of the usual sweatpants and t-shirt combo.

“Put on some socks, maybe…” Mihael joked.

“This is what you always run around like anyway, why change it up now?” Luka wondered, squinting at the smaller guy.

“It’s just… I don’t know,” Rasmus mumbled with a slight smile, rising up slowly.

He didn’t want to say it, maybe because it felt a little lame. But the last time he had thought this hard about what to wear was when Oskar had asked him out on their first real date. Valentine’s day. _Things were so different back then_ , he remembered, fondly and sorrowfully at the same time. Sure, this occasion was as different as it could have possibly been. But, nonetheless, it was a day which couldn’t be further away from normality, so why should Rasmus look like he did every day? After turning his PC off and saying his goodbyes to his teammates for the time being, the Dane decided that he wanted to get changed in his room after all.

He dug his way through his closet, more or less aware of the fact that he was searching for something. When he finally held the olive-green sweater in his hands, it almost felt as if he could still smell the adventures it had been a part of, despite the fact that it had been washed since his big night out with Oskar. It just felt right to put it on – for whatever reason, it felt right. Now armoured with this slightly too big sweater and some plain jeans, Rasmus headed out.

The ADC couldn’t remember the last time he had been to a Café. That might have been because he didn’t particularly enjoy drinking coffee, but maybe more so because by the time he liked to go outside on normal days, most Cafés were already closed for business. Today, Rasmus didn’t mind the afternoon sun on his face. It was a welcomed change to Berlin’s grim, cloudy late-winter days. _Maybe spring is coming after all_ , the ADC thought, chuckling as he remembered how well that resonated with his newest nickname.

He wished his bliss could have lasted longer, but, as it turned out, his pace had been quicker than usual. And so, about five minutes before schedule, Rasmus stood in front of the Coffee place Oskar had suggested for their meet-up. _I should probably wait here, right?_ He thought, trying to look inside through the big window front without looking suspicious. Suddenly, as he laid eyes on what, or rather who, he hoped to find but still didn’t expect, Rasmus’ heart skipped a beat. _Guess I’m not the only one who’s early_ , he pondered, swallowing hard before reaching for the door to head inside.

“Ah, Rasmus!” Oskar called out, waving the ADC over to the table he had occupied.

“Hey Oskar,” Rasmus said, returning the wave awkwardly as he made his way over to the jungler.

As soon as he got closer, the Dane realized that Oskar wasn’t wearing his usual attire either. Instead of sweatpants, he had a pair of black jeans on, and instead of a baggy hoodie, he was wearing a light grey sweater. Rasmus marvelled at the sight – he didn’t know whether it was the exact same outfit, but, for a moment, he felt as if he had been transported into a different time. Maybe that was the reason why he didn’t think twice about hugging the Pole as he approached him. Somehow, Rasmus felt as if Oskar’s arms were holding him even closer and tighter than usual, and he was not about to complain about that. After a reunion that felt way too enchanting for the occasion, both of the guys clumsily sat down in their seats, facing each other. It looked like neither of them really knew how to start – luckily, the waitress came just in time to relief them of that duty.

“One large Cappuccino?” She asked, and Oskar raised his hand with a smile. After putting the cup down in front of him, she turned to Rasmus. He couldn’t recall ordering anything as he had literally just arrived, but, then again, this wasn’t the first time Oskar had ordered something for him.

“… And one large hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles for the other… gentleman,” she said, giving the Dane quite the wide smile.

He wondered whether she was amused because he looked too old to order a hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles, or whether he looked too young to be called a gentleman. Either way, he thanked the waitress eagerly and proceeded to look at the marvellously prepared beverage in front of him. It couldn’t have looked any more perfect to him. With his eyes still glistening in fascination, Rasmus looked back up at Oskar, who seemed to be quite content with the turnout as well.

“I’m glad I made the right choice, I figured that would be the only thing you might like around here…” He said softly.

“I love it!” Rasmus replied, slurping on some of the cream on top.

“Perfect…” The jungler whispered – it looked like he had a whole lot more to say, but that’s what he settled for in the moment. He proceeded to stir his cappuccino, ruining the beautiful leaf the barista had created in the foam on top, much to Rasmus’ dismay. As Oskar noticed the disappointed look on the ADC’s face, he gave him a crooked, apologetic smile – and Rasmus shook his head with a smile in respond. It was a conversation that felt right, simply because it didn’t need any words – but, unfortunately, that was not what the both of them had come here for. And they knew that oh too well.

“So… we’re here because we need to talk, right?” Rasmus mumbled after taking another sip of his glorious hot chocolate. As weird as that sounded, the sweet beverage did help with his nerves.

“Right… about yesterday,” the jungler started, nervously pulling on his earlobe, “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I was out of my mind angry… it hasn’t happened in so long. I just couldn’t control it.”

“It’s fine, really…”

“No, it’s not. It wasn’t fair to you, or to your teammates. I should have been better.” Oskar said, glancing away, almost shamefully.

“Well maybe, but I understand since you were just worried about your… about Nemesis.” Rasmus explained, looking down into his mug. It felt harder to say it out loud than he had anticipated.

“It’s not like that justifies everything… I don’t understand how you’re not angrier with me, honestly.” The jungler muttered.

“Why would I be angry…?” Rasmus asked quietly.

“Why? Because I acted like a jerk, that’s why!” Oskar grumbled, raising his voice a little.

“I don’t think you did… I feel like we both knew that this was gonna happen eventually, right?” The ADC said with a sad smile.

“…Are you saying that you knew Rekkles was going to cheat on Tim?” Oskar asked, staring at the other guy with a serious expression on his face.

“What? No, I meant –“

 _Shit. What did I mean?_ Rasmus thought, feeling the panic in his guts grow. He couldn’t possibly continue the sentence if he wanted to hold on to any hope of saving his head – but was that what he wanted?

“Rasmus…” Oskar said slowly, putting the cup in his hand down dramatically, “tell me, did you know about the break-up?”

“I… I did.” He stammered after some time, holding on to the mug in his hands as if he was holding on for dear life.

“For how long…?” The jungler asked, and Rasmus couldn’t help but feel like the usually so dreamy eyes of the Pole looked threatening all of a sudden.

“Since, uhm, Friday I think?” Rasmus mumbled sheepishly. He was so ashamed, he would have liked to disappear on the spot.

“Kurwa!!” Oskar exclaimed, slamming his balled fist on the table – Rasmus feared another outburst, but it appeared as if the other guy tried his hardest to keep it at that.

“I’m sorry, okay? I wanted to tell you…”

“Then why didn’t you??” Oskar said, suddenly looking distraught rather than angry, “maybe then, I wouldn’t have… you know.”

“I was just scared, Oskar… I didn’t know how you would react.” Rasmus explained, or tried to, at least.

“Scared…? I would never lay a finger on you, Rasmus, I know it might have looked like it yesterday, but I promise I’d never –“

“I didn’t think you would punch me or anything!” Rasmus added quickly, shaking his head, “of course not. I just thought you would… go.”

“Oh…” Oskar hummed, seemingly unsure of what else to say. He sipped on his coffee, avoiding eye-contact as much as possible – that couldn’t have been a good sign, now could it?

“It’s fine, really… I guess that’s what I meant before. We both knew it was going to end at some point…” Rasmus nipped on his hot chocolate as well, hoping that would make the situation feel less awkward.

“But did we ever talk about that?” Oskar wondered aloud, biting his lower lip, “you make this seem like an agreement but… you were never just a way to pass time for me, Rasmus.”

The Dane’s heart skipped a beat.

“I feel the same way…” Rasmus responded after a second of collecting himself again, “you’re special to me Oskar. So special that I can’t imagine losing you.”

“You’re not going to,” Oskar shook his head, placing his hand on his heart, “no matter what happens. Even if things change, I won’t just disappear.”

“Really…?” Rasmus whispered, smiling softly.

“That being said…” Oskar mumbled as he leaned forward to snip against the ADC’s forehead, causing Rasmus to shriek back a little. “…don’t ever keep something this major from me again, you hear me? I seriously could have killed someone yesterday because of this whole misunderstanding!”

“Killed…?” Rasmus muttered, rubbing his aching forehead as he grew more and more uneasy, “you mean… Martin?”

“Yeah…” Oskar sighed, stirring his Cappuccino with a silver spoon again. “It was bad. I was so angry… I haven’t felt this sort of rage in years.”

“Did you…” Rasmus whispered, almost inaudibly – _do I really want to know what he did to him?_

“Well… I only hurt him a little, thankfully,” the jungler muttered, looking down at his hands, “but if we had been alone… it might have gotten worse.”

“You were not alone, huh…” Rasmus mumbled. His chest hurt. It was that dull kind of pain the Dane was almost used to feeling by now. He just didn’t want to picture it; what he saw in that snap the day before had been bad enough.

“Febiven was still there… he’s surprisingly strong, actually,” Oskar shrugged, looking up at Rasmus, “oh… maybe I should have kept that to myself, huh?”

“No, why… you can tell me anything,” Rasmus smiled, but he wasn’t sure just how convincing it looked.

“Don’t bullshit me, Rasmus,” Oskar sighed, putting the spoon in his hand down, “I know we don’t really talk about it too much but… I know you’re not over Rekkles.”

“What? Uhm, of course I am,” the ADC lied, waving the other guy off.

“You specifically asked me to ‘not hurt Martin’ in your texts yesterday…” The Pole mumbled. He couldn’t explain to himself why, but Rasmus felt like Oskar looked weirdly sad as he said that.

“Uhm, sure, because I worry about his well-being since he’s someone I once cared about and all, but that’s it!” Rasmus explained, trying his best to reassure his opposite. Or maybe rather himself?

“It’s fine, you know…” The jungler replied, lifting his cup again, “he’s single now. Maybe you should just… give it a go.”

“Why would you even say that?” Rasmus huffed. _And why do you look so embarrassed?_

“I just want you to be happy, okay?” Oskar said firmly, returning the ADC’s concerned gaze.

“Well, you make me happy!” Rasmus blurted out.

“Okay, well, you make me happy too!” Oskar barked back right away with his eyes flashing open.

“Then why are we yelling??” The ADC wailed, balling his fists.

“Because!” The jungler exclaimed, shaking his head all of a sudden, “because this is just not it, Rasmus!”

“What do you mean…” Rasmus asked hesitantly – of course, he knew the answer.

“It’s never going to be the same as with… _them_ ,” the Pole whispered shamefully. “No matter how happy we make each other. No matter how much that fucking hurts...”

“Yeah…” Rasmus hummed, feeling as if his heart had just shattered into a thousand pieces anyway, “you’re right.”

Oskar stared at the Dane's sad face. He looked desperate to comfort Rasmus, almost - but what could be done in a setting like this one? “Could we just…” The jungler finally mumbled, letting one hand disappear under the table with a complementary nod.

“Uhm… sure,” Rasmus murmured hesitantly, following the jungler’s lead.

Under the table, their hands found each other. Oskar squeezed Rasmus’ hand ever so slightly as he gave him the sweetest, yet saddest smile. They looked at each other silently for a moment. Took some deep breaths. It felt good to know that no matter how hard the conversation was to endure, Rasmus didn’t have to let Oskar go. Their bond was not revoked – they could, and would, be close regardless.

“I need you to know how much you mean to me,” Oskar went on, squeezing the Dane’s hand even more firmly, but not enough to make it painful. Rasmus returned the pressure – now that he thought about it, holding hands with another guy was not something he was used to. At least not with anyone else.

“I never thought we could be something,” Rasmus hummed, shyly smiling back at the other guy, “when Bwipo introduced us, I was so perplex…”

“Oh, tell me about it!” Oskar snickered, “I thought it was another bad joke of his to introduce me to the enemy…”

“You might as well be a part of our team now,” Rasmus nodded, “who would have thought the madness suited you so well?”

“I think it’s because we suit each other so well…” The jungler mumbled, smiling lovingly.

“Yeah…” Rasmus nodded slightly, enjoying the warmth of Oskar’s hand in his, “thank you for everything.”

“Come on, don’t say that as if this was goodbye…” Oskar muttered, frowning ever so slightly.

“But it kind of is, right?” Rasmus wondered aloud, looking at the jungler with big eyes, “we can still be friends and everything, I know, but still…”

Oskar let out a long sigh. No matter how hard they tried to make it less painful, this was still a break-up, after all.

“I don’t want it to feel like a goodbye.” The jungler said after a short pause.

“Yeah… but it’s okay, really,” Rasmus replied with a slight smile, slowly pulling his hand back.

“Maybe, but I still – oh, shit,” Oskar mumbled as he had accidentally shoved his spoon off the table in the process of bringing his hand back up to his cup of coffee.

“Ah, let me get that for you,” the smaller guy offered, bending down to get the fallen object off the floor. Suddenly, something peculiar happening across the room caught his attention.

“Uhm, you alright down there?” Oskar asked as it took the ADC quite some time to get back up.

“Yeah, sorry,” Rasmus stammered as he popped back up to hand the Pole his spoon, “I just, uhm, saw something weird.”

“Like what? Another spoon?” The jungler laughed.

“No, like… don’t turn around, but I think I saw two people, uhm, fondle each other under the table? Publicly?” Rasmus stuttered, blushing a little.

“Two guys…?” Oskar asked immediately.

“Uhm, I’m not sure, I don’t really want to look again,” Rasmus chuckled, feeling his cheeks get even hotter, “but maybe? I guess…”

“Oh wow…” Oskar whistled in acknowledgement, “I guess we never had the chance to go that far, hmm…”

“Oskar!!” Rasmus exclaimed, chuckling in the next second, “you’re so dirty sometimes…!”

“Sorry, sorry… way to kill the mood, huh?” Oskar scratched his cheek, looking slightly flustered as well.

“No, it’s fine,” the Dane shook his head, taking another sip of his hot chocolate which had ceased to be hot at this point, “I don’t really enjoy this whole serious-talk-thing anyway.”

“Me neither,” Oskar agreed, “but it’s best to have everything out in the open now, right?”

“Yeah… speaking of which,” Rasmus mumbled, “I was kind of wondering… since you hardly got back to me at all yesterday, what did you do after your game…?”

“Uhm, what?” Oskar blinked a couple of times.

“You know… you could have come back to talk to me, but you didn’t,” the ADC explained, trying to sound as casual as possible. No matter how pointless it might have been now, he still wanted to know.

“That’s because…uhm,” Oskar looked away again, “I felt like I needed to talk to Tim.”

“Oh…” Rasmus mouthed. Sure, he had anticipated something like that, but it still didn’t exactly feel nice to hear about it.

“We didn’t… uhm, we didn’t do anything,” the jungler went on, as he seemingly felt the need to explain himself.

“I didn’t think you did,” Rasmus said slowly.

 _Well, now I kind of do_ , he thought to himself. A part of him believed that it didn’t matter either way, and the other simply didn’t want to know more about it.

“It felt good to talk to him again and just… be close like we once were, you know?” Oskar mumbled.

“Like you once were…” Rasmus repeated with a sad smile gracing his lips.

“Yeah, uhm, I better not jinx it but…” Oskar continued, stopping as soon as he noticed how distraught his opposite suddenly looked, “hey, Rasmus, what’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing,” Rasmus lied again, widening his smile a little.

But, as always, Oskar’s piercing blue eyes looked right through him. Deep inside, Rasmus knew that there was no use in hiding his troubles from the jungler. Now even less than before.

“It’s just…” The Dane sighed, hanging his head down low in defeat.

“That you wish you could be as close to Rekkles as you once were?” Oskar asked knowingly. He didn’t look mad, even though Rasmus would have understood that oh too well.

“Kind of?” The ADC whispered, more to himself than to the other guy. He hated to admit it. He didn’t want it to happen again. But the feeling had been growing inside of him like a sturdy dandelion sprout ready to break through the concrete it was trapped under – simply too strong to be held back by it any longer.

“You could be now, you know?” Oskar hummed, tilting his head with the softest of smiles on his lips. He meant well – of course he did. And, of all the people around him, he was the first one who hadn’t declared Rasmus to be out of his mind for still thinking about the other ADC. At least not right now.

“It’s not that easy, though…” Rasmus muttered.

“How come? Chances are that he still thinks about you that way as well…” Oskar hummed, following the other guy’s fidgeting hands around.

“No, I don’t think so.” Rasmus swallowed hard, feeling as if it was no use to hold back his final card, “he blocked me. When I tried to contact him yesterday, I just couldn’t get through…”

“Oh…” Oskar mouthed – he couldn’t say more than that. Or maybe he didn’t want to.

“I’m sorry, I was just worried about him because…”

“Because of me. Got it…” Oskar nodded slowly.

 _God, why is it so hard to breathe all of a sudden?_ Rasmus thought, biting his lower lip. _He wanted to talk to Nemesis, I wanted to talk to Martin… it’s fine, right?_ But it didn’t feel fine at all. Even though the both of them seemed to be on the same page, Rasmus was almost on the verge of tears. He wiped the corner of his eye almost out of instinct, even though the tears weren’t coming – on the other side of the table, Oskar looked as if someone had died as well. It simply felt as if it couldn’t get much worse at this point. But, in the end, things could _always_ get worse.

“What do you think you’re doing, Oskar?”

“What –“ The jungler asked, turning around to find the source of the weirdly familiar sounding voice.

 _Oh god, why?_ Rasmus couldn’t help but shudder as he realized that he was caught in the middle of an ambush.

“You think it’s okay to break our boy’s heart like that?” Perkz sighed, sitting down on one of Oskar’s sides while Miky took the other. The table was way too small for four people, but that was not nearly the weirdest aspect of this situation.

“I don’t understand,” Oskar muttered, glancing back and forth between the trouble makers, “what are you talking about?”

“And, more importantly, what are you doing here??” Rasmus spluttered, “I told you I needed to do this by myself!”

“Sorry Rasmus, I swear I thought about leaving it alone for a good second,” Mihael shrugged.

“I don’t believe you….” Rasmus muttered sullenly, crossing his arms.

“Rightfully so, but I was the one who checked where you were going when you tilted your screen away from Miky – sorry about that,” Perkz said calmly, smiling as if that was a perfectly normal thing to do.

“Luka…? But why?” The ADC wondered aloud, looking at the midlaner with puppy eyes.

“You know… Miky and I are a team,” Luka smirked in a weirdly suggestive way, glancing over to the support.

“Heck yeah we are,” the Slovenian chimed in, pushing his glasses up ominously, “speaking of being a team… what the hell, Oskar?”

“Okay, first of all, you can’t just come in here and accuse me of shit,” the jungler grumbled, “this is not your kitchen, okay?”

“Well, I guess that’s a fair point. But you understand that we’re just looking out for our teammate here, right?” Luka said, giving the Pole a stern look, “I thought you were one of our people too, you know.”

“Luka!” Rasmus huffed, slamming his flat hand on the table to get the midlaner’s attention, “that’s enough!”

“Don’t try to defend him, Rasmus…” Miky scoffed, ready to jump into the waves on short notice, “someone who’d drop others like that just because another opportunity comes up… I have a name for disgusting people like that. I call them _Rekkles_.”

 _Oof_ , Rasmus thought, swallowing hard. He didn’t know what to say to that – on more than just one level, he was baffled.

“Don’t compare me to Rekkles.” Oskar remarked sharply. Rasmus could tell that he was trying to keep his cool, but Mihael had, as per usual, made out his weak spot right away.

“What are you going to do, hmm? Yell at me? Punch me? See, I’d at least deserve it,” the support went on, looking completely unbothered, “I’ve known about the break-up the longest out of all of us.”

“Yeah, and I was the one who showed Febiven’s gross snap when we were all sitting together, does that make you want to fight me, too?” Perkz chimed in from the jungler’s other side. Rasmus felt helpless, as he couldn’t figure out what to do to help. It kind of looked like Oskar was fighting a battle with a devil and an angel on either of his shoulders, just minus the angel and plus another devil. It was absolutely hopeless – and yet, the jungler didn’t seem to falter. 

“I don’t want to fight you guys,” he finally mumbled.

“But why? Why would you hurt Rasmus instead of us, huh?” Mihael said, much louder than before. The ADC knew about the support’s masochistic tendencies, of course, but he felt as if that was not what the Slovenian had in mind right now.

“I really thought you were better than this,” Luka sighed, shaking his head dismissively, “you damn coward.”

“But I’m still here, no?” Oskar simply replied. He looked at the midlaner with calm eyes, not budging despite the quite obvious provocation.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Perkz frowned.

“Well, do you think I would listen to all of your bullshit if I had really just come here to break up with Rasmus and then piss off forever?” The jungler grumbled with a dead serious expression on his face.

“What kind of logic is that?” Luka grunted, glancing over at Miky, “he’s messing with us, right?”

“I don’t know, it kind of makes sense…” Mihael scratched his scruffy chin pensively.

“Yeah, right. I’m still here. Because this was a mutual decision. Because I care about Rasmus. And because you G2 idiots are my friends now, right?” Oskar mumbled, making sure to look both of the anarchists in the eye at some point.

Perkz and Miky exchanged a concerned look. The troublesome Duo seemingly hadn’t expected this turn of events at all – no, like always, they had tried to go in straight for the kill. And Rasmus had not been able to do anything about it. _Thank god for Oskar_ , the ADC thought as he noticed how the expression on his teammates’ faces softened. Yes, no matter what lied ahead, he was so glad to have the jungler in his life.

“Ahh, well, fuck it, I guess,” Miky smirked, softly punching the Pole’s shoulder, “it’s just impossible to hate you.”

“I’m not sure Rekkles would agree with that but – yeah!” Luka snickered, mirroring the support’s move.

“I’m glad, visiting the G2 household might have become awkward if you started hating me…” Oskar said with a smile, looking back directly at Rasmus.

“So you’ll still come by sometimes?” The ADC asked carefully.

“Yeah, sure I will,” the jungler nodded, “I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“You still have an open invitation to replace Jankos, think about it,” Miky added casually, leaning back in his chair.

“Right, just say the word and we’ll pack his bags!” Perkz remarked with a smug grin.

“You guys…” Oskar laughed.

And Rasmus laughed, too. It was beyond his grasp how the situation turned out to be so pleasant, only moments after his troublesome teammates had stormed the scene. It certainly wouldn’t have worked out with anyone else. _Thank god for Oskar,_ Rasmus thought again.

“There’s one thing I have to ask, though,” the jungler said after the laughter had died down.

“What is it?” Luka inquired with curiosity in his eyes.

“Have you guys just hung around here, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pop up?” Oskar frowned. Now that Rasmus thought about it, the timing of the chaotic Duo’s appearance did seem suspicious.

“Sure, every stake-out requires complex planning,” the support explained with a smirk, “let’s just say we had our resources…”

“You’re so full of shit, Miky,” Perkz snickered, nodding over his shoulder, “we just had some coffee a couple of tables away. Didn’t even have a newspaper or something to hide behind…”

“Oh wow,” Rasmus laughed.

“So you two were the ones touching each other’s junks under the table,” Oskar said with one brow cocked up.

“Shit – you saw that?” Perkz wheezed, holding his belly.

“Oh my god, are you serious?” Caps shook his head laughing, trying to get the image out of his head, “I wish I was surprised!”

“Come on, no kink shaming,” Miky remarked, licking his lips, “we just had to kill some time, okay?”

“You’ve killed something alright,” Oskar chuckled, reaching out to ruffle the disturbed-looking ADC’s hair on the other side of the table, “don’t worry, Rasmus, we can at least rest assured that they won’t do that again… today.”

“What gives you that idea?” Luka grinned suggestively as he pulled out his buzzing phone to check his messages.

“You’re right, we shouldn’t take anything for granted now that you’ve seemingly… made up? I’m happy for you by the way,” the jungler shrugged, and it was obvious that he was genuine when he said that.

“Hmm, something like that,” Miky hummed, staring at the distracted midlaner with hungry eyes.

“Yeah,” Perkz nodded as he looked back up, “you guys don’t happen to be interested in a change of location?”

“Uhm, what do you mean?” Rasmus asked carefully.

“Nothing major, Grabbz just invited the team for some drinks… I feel bad since we kind of left him hanging yesterday,” the midlaner explained.

“Right, guess we kind of have to go today,” Mihael sighed, and Rasmus wondered why he sounded so bummed out about that. Then again, the Slovenian didn’t like to go out to begin with, and probably hoped to finish what he and Luka had started under the table earlier rather sooner than later. Rasmus shuddered.

“Sounds fun, but I got some... other plans for the night,” Oskar said.

“I’m in I guess?” Rasmus said hesitantly. A small part of him was wondering what Oskar might be up to – but that was no reason to decline the coach’s invitation. A nice evening, surrounded by his teammates, sounded like exactly what he needed right now, after all.

“Alright! Sam said she had a work thing, but I think we can still make it a stellar time!” Luka exclaimed, jumping up in a flash, “I suggested a great place for us all to meet up – Miky knows what I’m talking about - I’m super hyped, let’s go, okay?”

“Sure,” Miky nodded, following the midlaner’s lead almost obediently, “see you around, Oskar!”

“You can go ahead, Rasmus,” Oskar smiled up as the ADC had come to a stand as well, “I’ll take care of the bill.”

“Thank you,” Rasmus mumbled, unsure of whether he should try to go for a hug as the other guy was still seated.

But he didn’t have to ask. Oskar got up as soon as Perkz and Miky were out of sight, pulling the smaller guy close to his chest. Rasmus closed his eyes as he laid his arms around the jungler’s waist. He enjoyed his warmth, and his smell, and how safe he felt as Oskar held him. It was hard to let go, but not as hard as it would have been if this had been the last time. If this had been goodbye. Instead, it was…

“…talk to you later?”

“Yeah, I’ll text you or something” Rasmus nodded, “see ya!"

And, with that, he headed outside, feeling rather excited for what was to come. Sure, there was also tremendous sadness – and suspense. Rasmus couldn’t possibly have known what, or rather who, would creep up on him, sooner than he’d ever expect it. But, for now, he just wanted to enjoy his evening, with his teammates, or rather his friends, or more precisely his family, by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Caps' POV! Wow, it's been a while since I said that the last time - anyway. 
> 
> What do you think about this chapter's developments? Do you agree with the decisions that were made? Is your heart broken for Capsmade or are you happy for what might lie ahead? 
> 
> I'd be very excited to hear all about your thoughts and feelings here on ao3 or on the DreamServer under #story-discussions. Even more excited now that it's been so long! Oh, I can't wait... 
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	53. Part 12: Martin (I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! It is my pleasure to welcome you to another POV of Part 12: No Sleep! 
> 
> This time, we're finally back to one of our OGs who (sadly?) didn't have a POV in the last Part... our one and only Rekkclown! What? No, I meant to say Rekkles, I swear! Anyway - this chapter has been torturing me for weeks on end. Not just this one, actually. As you might be able to tell from the title, for the first time in ayaya history, I had to divide a chapter into several parts due to the laughable word count. Remember when the longest chapter had around 14k words? Let's just say Rekkles' tragic life motivated me to double that. 
> 
> But what's the point in boring you with these numbers... let's just dive in, shall we? Hope you enjoy!
> 
> PS: I want to give another huge shoutout to my peeps on the DreamServer on Discord! Posting this chapter, I realized that some funny parallels to a rp happening on this amazing platform right now, you have no idea how blessed we are content-wise these days! If you are reading this and wonder "a Discord server with exclusive content? Is that something I can / should join?" then the answer is absolutely yes! There are tons of lovely people, amazing content and community events, and so much fun waiting for you! Use the link in the notes of the newest chapter to join!

When Martin opened his eyes, he could have sworn that he hadn’t slept at all. His thoughts might have wandered off to a far away place at times, but it would be an exaggeration to call it ‘sleeping’. It was, therefore, no surprise that he felt absolutely horrible, like a literal piece of human trash. _Well, the events of last night might have something to do with that,_ the Swede considered grumpily as he slowly pushed his body, which felt much heavier than usual, up from the bed. His hotel room looked just as messy as he felt. Clothes, towels and some empty wine bottles were scattered across the floor. The sight alone was enough to make Martin’s head hurt even more – he couldn’t tell whether he was still a little drunk or already completely hangover. Either way, some water would probably help.

After a painfully long journey to the bathroom, the ADC managed to sip on some water straight from the tab. While he was at it, he decided to splash some of it in his face in the hopes of clearing his mind – just to be reminded of the fact that the left side of his face was a ball of pure pain. He flinched as he stroked over the part of his cheek that was swollen from the punch he ate the day before. _I still can’t believe he just hit me out of the blue like that_ , Martin thought sullenly as he glanced over at his tinted face cream near the mirror. Well – maybe it hadn’t been completely out of the blue. But that didn’t make it any less rude or unjustified in Martin’s eyes. In the end, it was not his fault that Tim hadn’t told Oskar about the break-up. It wasn’t his fault that Febiven, who had continued to laugh his ass off after Fnatic’s jungler had stormed out, had taken that stupid snap to begin with. And it certainly was not his fault that Oskar had jumped to the wrong conclusion as soon as the chance presented itself.

 _I guess he just thinks I’m a terrible person_ , Martin pondered, staring at his reflection in the mirror. On most days, he thought so, too. Today was no exception, as the trail of his bad decisions followed him all the way to the bathroom. A used condom could be spotted hanging halfway out of the trashcan under the sink. There were smudged make-up stains on the edge of the mirror – not his, this time around. This god awful smell followed the Swede around wherever he went since he was the undeniable source of it. After a long sigh, Martin figured that the only thing he could do as of right now was to wash his seemingly decaying body in the hopes of washing away his shame.

As the hot water started dripping down his naked body, the Swede wondered whether _shame_ was actually the right word – for the longest time, this had simply been his life. Drinking excessively after game nights, taking home whoever he gravitated towards, filling the night with lots of easy pleasures; yes, for a long time, that was how Martin had lived his life. And, back then, he thought that it was the most rewarding aspect of his career. He thought he was happy _. It’s not like last night wasn’t fun, but_ … Martin sighed, reaching for his body wash. He remembered the feeling of hot hands all over his body when he started to scrub his body. The scent of sweet perfume in his nose. And the moans – yes, now that he thought about it, taking those two girls home after last night’s game was not what he regretted right now. But it wasn’t the same. After Caps, nothing had quite felt the same ever again. It felt futile to run away from it, but it was all Martin knew how to do at this point. He squeezed the shampoo bottle a little too tightly, squirting some of the expensive hair care product past his open palm. He stared down at his feet, wondering what he had lost.

 _It shouldn’t be this hard_ , the Swede thought, holding his breath as he let the hot water pour over his face _, I’m free to do whatever I want now – why doesn’t it feel… better?_ It was one of the oldest questions in Rekkles’ book: why can’t I just be happy? Yes, somehow, it all circled back to the same thing lately. No matter what he did to fill the void – and he had tried lots of different things in the matter of a few days – this feeling of emptiness would perserve _. I might also just be hungry_ , Martin considered as he held his growling stomach with one hand while turning the water off with the other after scarcely finishing to clean up. But it was probably a naïve hope to assume that having breakfast could help the Swede with his troubles. The only person that seemed to work out for was Bwipo these days. _Speaking of which_ , Martin pondered as he ruffled his hair with a fresh towel, _I wonder how they are doing…_

Throughout his break-up with Nemesis and his falling out with Selfmade, Bwipo and Hylissang had been collateral damage when it came to time Martin spent with his teammates outside of the rift. He knew that Bwipo was a lot closer to Oskar than he was to him, and Hyli and Bwipo were always glued at the hip, so it only made sense to avoid them altogether to escape the drama for the time being. Still, the fact that he basically knew nothing about their lifes was concerning. The fact that he was starting to feel like he was playing with strangers was even more alarming – _I can’t let that happen again_ , Martin thought, giving his blurry reflection in the mirror the saddest smile imaginable. In a way, it felt like hitting two birds with one stone: for one, he had to work on his relationship to his teammates – or, well, at least with those he felt like talking to. For the other, he didn’t want to be in his hotel room for as much as another minute. Even though his body had been washed clean, the air was still full of regret. The kind that he simply didn’t feel ready to face just yet. And so, after putting on his usual black Gymshark hoodie and Nike jogging pants, Martin headed out.

The ADC knew that he was quite fortunate when it came to his living situation, but the breakfast buffet of the hotel, as well as the fact that he could have breakfast around noon, always made sure to emphasize that anyway. No matter what his heart desired, the versed cooks of the establishment would make sure to provide everything. _Well… maybe not everything,_ he thought again as he took a small bite out of his Italian style ham sandwich with extra bacon, chewing on it for a little too long. He didn’t expect the breakfast plan to work to begin with, yet he was still let down. After downing his whole cup of black coffee in the matter of seconds to make sure that he’d stay awake until his next caffein fix, Rekkles continued his journey to Fnatic’s apartment. Even though he was scared about who he might meet there, the Swede knew that it was his only option. That it was the only way to feel better, eventually.

“Morning guys,” the ADC murmured as he walked through the door, taking his shoes off before as much as looking up to check whether anyone was around to hear his greeting. There was – but not who he had to hoped to see.

“Morning,” Tim nodded slightly, staring up at the other guy as he was seated on the couch in the team’s open living room area.

“Ah…” Martin mouthed, standing in the hallway like a deer caught in the headlights.

What in the hell was he supposed to say? Consciously or not, the both of them hadn’t talked since their break-up. It wasn’t necessarily awkward or uncomfortable to be around Tim – it simply felt as if they didn’t have anything to say to each other. Right now, however, it looked as if the midlaner had something on his mind, judging by the way his eyes, which were usually glued to his OnePlus, were fixated on the Swede’s face. It took Martin a second to figure out what that was all about – but, when he did, it was like he started sweating immediately, in a metaphorical sense. Well, maybe also literally, as he hadn’t had the chance to take off his thick Nike coat off just yet. The fact that remained either way was that he had forgotten to put on his tinted face cream. Now, if his cheek had not been sporting this huge bruise that felt like the mark of the devil, Martin probably wouldn’t have minded as much. But, as things were, the ADC considered running away on the spot. It was, however, kind of too late now.

“This is just…” he began, bringing one hand up to cover his cheek.

“Yeah, I know.” Tim mumbled, staring relentlessly.

Martin couldn’t tell whether it was worry or curiosity sparking up in the Slovenian’s eyes – hell, it might have been something different altogether. But he could tell for sure that the other guy must have known why the ADC’s face looked the way it did. Somehow, no words were needed for the both of them to understand. A part of Martin wondered about how Tim might have found out – but, somehow, the image of Oskar pulling the smaller guy to the side to tell him about it made the ADC’s stomach turn. No, he really didn’t want to imagine that. And he sure as hell was not about to ask. Instead, he just stood there, in the middle of the hallway, fighting in an imaginary standoff that had no purpose whatsoever. For a moment, Martin felt as if he saw Tim’s lips move – as if the other guy had ushered something that sounded faintly like the word ‘sorry’? _My mind must be playing tricks on me_ , Martin thought. There was nothing for the midlaner to apologize for, after all. The way in which both of the guys were still staring at each other from afar must have been a peculiar sight, judging by the surprised look that Hylissang gave the Swede when he walked up to him with two mugs in hand.

“Martin? Good morning, what brings you here on a Sunday?” The support asked, eyeing the visitor curiously as he sat down on the big couch.

“I just… wanted to swing by,” Martin explained hesitantly, taking a step away from the door. If there had still been a chance to flee, it would have completely disappeared now that the nosy support had arrived. Why did seeing Tim had to shake him up this much anyway? Last time he had checked, he was over him. He was over it. He was…

“… thirsty, come on, you must be thirsty,” Hylissang insisted, holding one of the cups right into Tim’s face. The midlaner didn’t look happy about the support’s offer – it was not much of a surprise, but still.

“I told you I didn’t want anything,” Tim shrugged, turning his head away.

“It’s hot chocolate, I thought you’d… okay, sorry,” the support sighed, slowly putting the cup down on the coffee table with a coaster under it.

“Are these… wait, we really own Fnatic… ahh, how do you call these things you put under your glass?” Martin mumbled, walking over to the other guys to look at the mysterious object more closely.

“Coasters,” Hyli explained with a nod, “yeah, we got those a while back… you really haven’t been around much, have you?”

“I guess not?” Martin scratched the back of his head, almost feeling ashamed again. He sat down at the edge of the couch.

“To be fair, I live here and it’s my first time seeing these… coasters was it?” Tim said, frowning at the orange home accessories.

“That’s a different story though, no?” Hylissang laughed, taking a sip out of his own cup, which was also decorated with the Fnatic logo.

“Zdravets, are we having the coaster-talk again this early in the morning because last time it –“ Bwipo strolled into the living room area, stopping abruptly as soon as he laid eyes on what could only be described as a guest in the household.

“Morning,” Martin mumbled to fill the silence.

“Uhm, yeah, good morning Martin, good to see you,” the toplaner went on, sitting down right next to the team’s support, “what… I wanted to ask what brought you here but, man, what happened to your face…?”

“Gabriël…” Zdravets whispered, “don’t just ask him about that right away… what if he’s ashamed about it, hmm?”

“Oh, you’re right, I didn’t think about that,” Bwipo whispered back, looking at Rekkles in an even more concerned manner.

“You know that I can hear you, right…” Martin sighed.

“Ah, sorry – is it fine to ask about it?” Hylissang wondered aloud.

“It’s nothing to fuss over,” the ADC explained, carefully stroking down the bruise on his cheekbone with his fingertips, “It was a small quarrel, nothing more and nothing less.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothing to me, dude!” Bwipo said, sitting down rather close to the Swede, “did you at least return the favour to whoever threw their fist at you?”

“Gabriël, you don’t fight fire with fire,” Zdravets mumbled with a frown on his face.

"But fighting with water IRL doesn't work, Zdravets," the toplaner said with a slight shrug.

“I didn’t fight back, actually,” Martin explained before this weird avatar discussion could continue. He was searching for eye-contact with Tim without even noticing, pausing for a brief moment. “Now that I think about it I… guess I kind of deserved it.”

The midlaner’s eyes were calm, but the ADC could see the concern in them. Moreover, he could feel something that was anything but indifference. If only he could tell what exactly it was – maybe then, he would know what was going on in Tim’s head. He was still staring at the Slovenian’s expression with intense concentration when he noticed his lips move yet again. It was even less apparent this time around, but Martin felt as if his previous theory was confirmed. _Sorry? But what are you sorry for?_ He thought, tilting his head a little.

“Martin, what could you have possibly done to deserve being punched in the face?” Hylissang asked, grabbing his mug for support with both hands.

 _Where do I start?_ The ADC thought, and all he managed to do was give the others a pained smile. He couldn’t help but look at Tim again – in the end, the way he had treated the Slovenian in the past was something he regretted. He didn’t want to think about it now, though. He didn’t even know how much the rest of his team knew, since he had kept everything to himself until now. _Well – maybe not everything_ , he pondered, crossing his arms lost in thoughts. He had told someone, yes – just not Bwipo and Hylissang. But, as he realized how meaningfully he had looked at the team’s midlaner for what felt like a long time now, Martin figured that he might not have to say anything.

“Do you… does anyone know where Oskar is?” Bwipo asked nervously, breaking the silence.

“Not what we’re talking about right now, Gabriël,” Zdravets sighed, stirring the content of his mug with a spoon.

“I just thought…” The toplaner mumbled, but he didn’t finish his sentence. Tim glanced away.

 _We’re all thinking it_ , Martin swallowed, looking at his support with guilty eyes. He must have figured it out a long time ago.

“Why do you all look like someone died?” Hylissang asked after nother awkward moment of silence, glancing at the apathetic expression on his teammates’ faces, “what did I miss? I Oskar okay?”

“Yeah…” Tim muttered softly. Martin wondered whether the edge of the midlaner’s mouth had really just curled up – or, maybe, that was just his mind playing tricks on him again.

“Babe I – I mean, Zdravets,” Bwipo stuttered, leaning forward to put his hand up the support’s forehead, “are you not feeling well, perhaps?”

“I might have caught a little cold or something but… wait, what does that have to do with anything?” The Bulgarian mumbled softly, looking at his boyfriend with big eyes that could only be described as gullible.

“What’s this, Detective Hyli hasn’t cracked the case yet?” Martin smirked, feeling quite proud about coming up with such a sly remark. He could tell that it had even motivated the usually so quiet midlaner on the other side of the couch to chuckle.

“Well, that never happens…” Tim added with a more or less amused expression on his face.

“Would you stop talking in riddles please?” Zdravets sighed, turning to Bwipo in the next moment with one hand pulling on the sleeve of the toplaner’s sweater, “Gabriël… what’s going on?”

“Ah…” Bwipo mouthed, and maybe he just didn’t know what else to say.

It was almost felt as if the roles that no one had ever questioned had suddenly been reversed. For whatever reason, Martin found himself wondering what would happen next, almost in anticipation – maybe it was because the blissful marriage of Bwipo and Hylissang, which had technically only been a thing for a couple of weeks at this point, functioned exactly as the name would suggest: blissfully. For Martin, relationships had never been anything close to blissful, or easy, or even long-term sustainable. Yes, maybe that was the reason why he wanted to see what would happen if the ship got off course. Maybe he wanted to see if there was something like an easy fix for a crumbling power relationship. _Well, ‘power’ relationship that might be an exaggeration,_ Martin considered, eyeing the couple carefully with one leg swung above the other. He was curious, nevertheless.

“Don’t look at me like that, Gabriël,” Zdravets pouted, averting his gaze.

“Like what…?” Bwipo muttered, carefully taking the mug out of Hylissang’s hands to put it on the table.

“Well, like I’m crazy or something,” the support explained with a complementary glance over to the curious stares of the team’s ADC and midlaner.

“Oh Zdravets…” Bwipo whispered, bringing his right hand up to caress the support’s cheek, “of course you’re not.”

“But…?” The support asked sceptically.

“But… I think I know something that you don’t know,” the toplaner explained with a slight smirk, “that never happens, right?”

“Ahh, well,” Zdravets chuckled, leaning against the Belgian’s touch with his cheeks flushing ever so slightly, “are you going to tell me, then?”

“Sure…” Gabriël nodded, slowly pulling his hand away to present Hylissang with his open palm, “but can we do it in your room? Since, you know…”

“Oh! Oh yeah,” Zdravets stammered, nervously glancing over at the other guys in the room before taking the toplaner’s hand, “you’re right, let’s go for now. Give them some space.”

“Exactly,” Bwipo agreed, gently pulling the support up to come to a stand before giving Rekkles a nod, “the stage is yours, guys!”

“But for what?” Zdravets mumbled as he was being pulled away from the living room area.

“Exactly…” Tim sighed.

But Martin didn’t know what to say. Despite his wild imagination, he didn’t think he would feel this way after seeing the team’s couple in action, raw and unfiltered. He thought he’d have some answers – that it would make him feel like he was doing the right thing for himself. Instead, he was presented with this overwhelming feeling of emptiness once more. The hole that so desperately needed filling – or rather the deep canyon inside of him, which had grown wider and wider over the course of time in which he had deprived himself of any real romantic affliction – it was staring back at him now. How could he possibly ignore it? How could he move or? And, most importantly: What could he do to make it stop staring him down?

“Weird, hmm…” Nemesis went after a while.

“Not at all,” Martin shook his head. When he turned to inspect whether the midlaner was in the same distraught state of mind, he was surprised to see the other guy already up on his feet.

“Yeah, well… I don’t plan on sticking around to see the end of this,” Tim explained with a shrug, making sure that his OnePlus was stored securely in his pocket.

“You’re leaving, then?” The Swede asked solemnly. He didn’t know whether he was actually disappointed or whether he just dreaded to be alone with Bwipo and Hylissang, but something definitely felt off.

“Yeah… and uhm, I wanted to say that I’m sorry, by the way,” the midlaner mumbled without looking into the ADC’s direction.

“So you did…” Martin whispered, taking a deep breath, “… but why?”

“I just… should have told Oskar sooner. I was too much of a chicken,” Tim muttered with both of his hands disappearing in his sweatpants’ pockets now, “I’m sorry that you got hurt because of it.”

“Ah…” Martin hummed, nodding slowly.

Maybe he should have been angry. Then again, whose fault was it that his relationships always turned out to be this complicated? Was there any point in being angry about something like that when the ADC himself hadn’t told anyone about the break-up, either?

“It’s okay, Tim,” he said, giving the midlaner the hint of a smile, “but thanks.”

“Yeah, I just thought I should tell you. So…”

“So – uhm, are you going out to meet Oskar?” Martin asked without even stopping to think about what he was asking.

“No… not quite,” the midlaner replied, looking slightly confused, “I’m going to hit the office to stream.”

“I see… but you and him… are you going to try?” The ADC inquired. This time, he knew exactly what he was doing – just as well as he knew that he had to know.

“It’s not that easy,” Tim sighed, scratching the back of his head, “there’s still this thing with Caps…”

 _Ouch_ , Martin thought immediately. Yet another stab into his chest, paired with an additional face he didn’t want to think about.

“Anyway…” The midlaner muttered, squinting as he saw the ADC’s expression change, “I’ll go now. See you tomorrow?”

“Sure…” Martin nodded slowly, not even finding the strength to get off the couch to say goodbye. Then again, what was the point? There was no way they could hug – no, even if he had wanted to do that, the midlaner probably wouldn’t have. And so, the ADC remained seated, even when he heard the door fall shut. He sat there, alone on the couch in an apartment he didn’t even live in anymore. He couldn’t have felt any more alienated in any other place of this world in this moment. Suddenly, the sound of a loud shriek shook the ADC out of his gloom.

“He did WHAT??” Hylissang’s voice echoed through the whole apartment.

 _Ah, so Bwipo told him_ , Martin thought, folding his hands in his lap. Despite the fact that the leading Detective on the case had been a new face today, the ADC knew that all would be revealed eventually. And here it was.

“He PUNCHED you? Oskar? Our Oskar??” Zdravets exclaimed hysterically as he stomped back into the living room.

“W-wait, I said I THOUGHT that was what might have happened, please just calm down, Zdravets!” Bwipo stammered right behind the support, trying his best to soothe him.

“He did.” The ADC said.

“Oh my god…” Hylissang mumbled as he let his body plunge down on the couch next to Martin, “how could that happen?”

Martin shrugged.

“Where did Tim go?” The support asked as he noticed that the midlaner had gone missing.

“To the office…” The Swede said, averting his gaze. He wanted to come clean so badly – why did it have to feel so darn uncomfortable?

“Okay…” Zdravets sighed, “I just don’t understand, Martin… was it because of him? But I thought you guys broke up…”

“Uhm, what?” Martin blinked a couple of times, “how do you know that?”

“Tim told us yesterday over some pancakes,” Bwipo explained, looking as if he was lost in a pleasant daydream all of a sudden.

“He did…?” The ADC muttered, not knowing what else to say.

The boy whose catchphrase had been ‘yes’ for the longest time – the boy who shrugged rather than to give an answer – the boy whose gaze was basically married to his OnePlus or his computer screen for the majority of each day. _When did he get better at talking about his feelings than me?_ Martin wondered, unsure of whether this development was thrilling or threatening to him.

“He did – but still, I never thought something like this could happen,” Zdravets whispered, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Why didn’t you fight back, Martin?” Bwipo asked, throwing his arm around the distraught looking Hylissang, “you guys broke up… how does that earn you a punch in the face?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on Oskar’s side?” Martin asked gloomily. It was a rhetorical question, of course. The Swede knew that he had no one backing him up here.

“Don’t be stupid, Martin,” Zdravets mumbled with an irritated look on his face, “we’re a team, remember? No picking sides!”

“Only justice…” Bwipo murmured ominously.

“Ehm okay? I already told you though, it’s whatever…” The ADC sighed, “he was misinformed… I’m sure he’ll come around to apologize eventually. Still, I kind of deserved it, okay?”

“What did he think you did?” Hylissang whispered with wide eyes. Next to him, Bwipo looked more scared than curious, but he was looking anyway.

“It…” Martin started, biting his lower lip. There was no real need for him to share something that might make his teammates think badly of him, was there? “It doesn’t matter,” he finally said.

“I’m not sure I understand what that means, but… you guys are going to make up, right?” Bwipo asked carefully with the worries written all over his face.

“Even if Tim and Oskar would…” Zdravets mumbled, but he didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to.

“So you noticed too, huh?” Martin replied solemnly.

“Uhm… well, Tim was different today, right Gabriël?” Hylissang said, turning his head to the toplaner beside him.

“Oh, for sure,” Bwipo agreed with a nod, “he even smiled, I definitely saw that! How outlandish...”

“Yeah well… if it makes them happy or whatever,” Martin muttered, looking away rather dramatically. He didn’t know why but imagining his midlaner and his jungler together still left a sour taste in his mouth. Or maybe it was rather a bitter taste, on second thought.

“I don’t know, I just feel like this is not going to end well!” Bwipo murmured nervously, clinging onto Zdravet’s hand.

“It’s going to be okay, Gabriël…” Zdravets whispered, caressing his boyfriend’s hand with his thumb, “you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“What?” Martin asked, tilting his head a little, “what was that?”

“Nothing!” Bwipo blurted out way too fast. He definitely looked like he was hiding something, but did Martin want to know?

“Ehm, yeah, I meant to ask,” Zdravets stammered, turning back to the ADC abruptly, “if you’re not here to get revenge on Oskar or something, why did you come to the apartment, Martin?”

“So you didn’t believe me when I said I just wanted to hang out?” The Swede asked with a troubled smile – he should have known that the excuse wouldn’t work out.

“Not really, no,” the support shrugged, reaching for his mug which was still standing on the coffee table, “so?”

“Okay, fine – I actually came because I wanted to talk to Alfonso,” Martin said, scratching the back of his head as he let his gaze wander around, “but he’s not here, is he?”

“No, he left shortly before you came in,” Bwipo explained casually, “he was carrying a suitcase, actually – maybe he needs to go somewhere?”

“Huh…” The Swede hummed.

 _That can’t be good news_ , Martin thought with worry growing in his guts as he pushed his hands down into the pockets of his sweatpants, searching for his phone. Maybe he should just call? Send a text? 

“What did you want to talk about, actually?” Zdravets asked, leaning back against Bwipo’s chest with his eyes half-closed. The usually so eager support didn’t look quite as energetic today.

“Yeah, it’s Sunday after all…” Bwipo yawned for some reason, tilting his head to let it rest against Hylissang’s, “Sunday is fun day…”

“Are you guys tired or something?” Martin frowned, hoping to avoid the question this way.

“A little maybe…” the toplaner mumbled, almost closing his eyes as well.

“We didn’t sleep much last night, you know,” Hylissang explained as he lifted his glasses to rub his eyes.

“Oh wow… good for you?” The ADC chuckled slightly.

“N-no, no I didn’t mean it like that!” Zdravets wailed, shaking his head with renewed energy, “we just had a little movie marathon!”

“Spooky hour turned into spooky night,” Gabriël muttered after another, lengthy yawn.

“Maybe you guys should go take a nap or something,” Martin shrugged. Despite the fact that he hadn’t really slept either, he wasn’t feeling tired at all. There was a whole range of emotions, but fatigue was not mixed up in there for some reason.

“Ohh, a nap sounds pog!” Bwipo said, patting Hylissang’s thigh, “what do you think, Zdravets…?”

“Mhm…” The support nodded ever so slightly before turning to Rekkles, “will you still be there when we wake up?”

“Uhm, maybe?” Martin replied with a half-smile. If Mithy was coming back, maybe he would be. And even if he didn’t, there were not many places the ADC felt he could go to right now, as his hotel room was filled with bad memories, and the office was presumably filled with people he didn’t want to be around right now. Yes – maybe he would just stay. Pretend like this was still his home.

“Okay, later then,” Bwipo mumbled as he got off the couch, pulling the support up at the hand.

It might have been because he was tired, but Hylissang either didn’t notice or didn’t mind that the toplaner was holding his hand and gave him a kiss on the forehead as both of the guys wandered off. Normally, the support made sure not to let their display of public affection take over, even though Gabriël probably had other ideas most of the time. But, right now, the image was nothing but peaceful. For some reason, Martin couldn’t avert his gaze – his eyes followed the couple all the way down the hallway until the door of the support’s room fell shut behind them. He tried to remember the last time he had held hands with someone – unironically, that is. _I’ve never even thought about taking Tim’s hand in mine_ , Martin thought with a sigh, letting his head fall back. If he hadn’t felt like a prick all day long already, this might have been what would have pushed him to do so now. But, as things were, it only added to the Swedes troubles. Of course, the last time he hand interlocked his fingers with someone else’s had been with Rasmus. But, recently, there had also been this event with –

“Shit!” Martin shrieked as his phone suddenly vibrated out of nowhere. He blamed his scaredy-cat reaction on the fact that he had been lost in thoughts and went ahead to check who could be messaging him, as he didn’t exactly go around handing out his private phone number to a lot of people.

[unknown number]: MARTIN!

[unknown number]: Alfonso gave me your number, how are you man?

[unknown number]: long time no see, huh?

The ADC stared at the screen of his phone as if sheer concentration could have revealed who the person behind the unknown number could be. Realistically, he had to ask. Practically, he hated reacting to anonymous people of any sort, mostly due to the bad experiences he had made with that in the past. But, for some reason, Martin felt that this was not just anyone. Yes, somehow, it felt as if this could be just what he needed right now. And so, despite what his head was telling him, the Swede decided to trusts his guts and started typing.

Martin: Hello, who is this?

[unknown number]: Oh haha, right

[unknown number]: I have your number, but you don’t have mine, duh!

[unknown number]: It’s Enrique ;)

A smile hushed across Martin’s face. _That’s so like him_ , he thought as he saved the number as a new contact. It had been a while since he had talked to his former midlaner – among other things – but it was a pleasant surprise, to say the least. Out of all the players the ADC had ever played, lived and, well, _played_ with, the Spaniard was probably the one that had impacted his path in life the most, since he had still been oh so young back then.

Martin: I see :) how have you been?

Enrique <3: Oh, so well!

Enrique <3: how about you? Still rocking the League, huh? ;)

Martin took a deep breath. He felt himself getting swept away by fantasies of the past, and he didn’t want to allow that to happen now, all things considered. Sure, the time he had spent in Enrique’s arms was indescribably special to him. Back then, the problems he had right now weren’t even something he could have imagined – he was just a wild, young newcomer in the magical world that was professional League of Legends, with Enrique’s strong hands guiding him towards exhilarating new experiences in the rift, as well as in the bedroom, quite frequently. _It would be so nice to just go back_ , the Swede thought with a soft sigh. Then again, there were different hurdles he had to overcome during that time in his life. And who would want to give up their status as a legend in the scene just because of some hot guy sending winking emojis?

Martin: Yeah, I’m good I guess

Enrique <3: That doesn’t sound very convincing but oh well haha

Enrique <3: Let me just cut to the chase ;)

Enrique <3: You wanna catch up for real? I’m in the city for some Origen business

 _Damn you, Enrique_ , Martin thought as he smiled at his screen without even noticing. Now, it was hard to deny that the midlaner’s proposal sounded quite suggestive, still, Martin couldn’t help but wonder why his heart was beating so fast. _Wait – I’m doing it again, aren’t I?_ The Swede frowned. Within seconds, he had been wrapped up in a completely different mood, paired with the promise of the sweet ecstasy of another man’s embrace. And, yes, within seconds, he had forgotten that that was the reason for his current, miserable situation in the first place. No, if he ever wanted to break out of his cycle of unhealthy coping mechanisms, he’d have to be strong now. Even if that meant resisting the legendary SexPeke.

Martin: Just the two of us?

Martin: I’m not sure whether that’s a good idea

Enrique <3: oh, haha, looks like I’m not the only one cutting straight to the chase here eh?

Enrique <3: I mean, I could ask Lauri to come of course…

Enrique <3: not sure whether he wants to go out tonight though

 _Right… I should have known they’d still be together_ , Martin pondered, sinking down a little further into the couch’s soft cushions. It had been the midlaner’s relationship with the jungler that had complicated the sexy fun Martin had had with xPeke back in the day in the first place. Back then, the ADC used to be annoyed by the little outbursts of jealousy that would come about ever so often, despite the open nature of the relationship that the Finn and the Spaniard shared. But Martin had experienced his fair share of jealousy himself by now, which had changed his mind on this topic drastically _. I would have killed Enrique for sure if I had been in Lauri’s shoes_ , the Swede thought with the hint of a smirk on his lips as he started typing out a reply. In a sense, he was glad to hear about his ex-teammates still being an item, as that made self-restraint that much easier.

Martin: Ah well it’s fine, I just worry too much I guess

Enrique <3: Always have ;)

Enrique <3: how about right now then? I’m free all afternoon

Martin: Right now?

The ADC checked for the time: it was almost 5 pm already. _Shit, where did the time go?_ He thought, chewing on his lower lip nervously. It felt as if he had just gotten up a few hours or so – well, probably because the previous night had just gone on forever. Which was still something he had to deal with now, and the reason why he was still sitting in Fnatic’s apartment ever so awkwardly, too. Maybe ‘right now’ was not the best idea, after all.

Martin: I’d love to meet, but now is not a great time

Enrique <3: Ah? How come?

Martin: I’m waiting for someone

Enrique <3: I see!

Enrique <3: someone special? ;)

 _Hmm, how am I supposed to explain this?_ Martin wondered, squinting at his screen as his thoughts drifted off. The ADC couldn’t recall talking about ‘someone special’ to the midlaner ever before, so whatever he’d say would probably be news to the other guy. For all he knew, Martin might as well be one of these people unfit for romance – someone who only sought to have fun with others, no strings attached. _Well, who knows, maybe that still applies,_ the Swede thought, letting his head fall back against the backrest of the couch to stare up at the ceiling. Even if that was the case – even if he was strictly incapable of doing what it takes to succeed in romance, he still had someone special. Yes, there was someone he simply couldn’t forget, even now.

Almost instinctively, Martin left the chat with xPeke to look at all the contacts he had blocked. It would be a surprisingly long list to others, but the ADC was used to mute the negative voices as soon as they made themselves noticeable. He scrolled through the numbers, looking for one that he almost knew by heart. When Martin finally laid eyes on the fated digits, he swallowed. The timing felt as off as it did on any other day he had played with the thought of unblocking Rasmus. Yes, ever since his break-up with Tim, the idea of finally reaching out to the midlaner he – and Fnatic – had lost, had been stuck in his head. _Am I too much of a coward to do it? Or am I actually better off without him?_ Martin thought, and he didn’t know whether he wanted to admit the truth to himself at this point. Fear was definitely one of the deciding factors. But, admittingly, after what had happened the night before, Martin simply couldn’t see himself running away anymore. Whatever lied ahead, this time, he wanted to face it. And so, after almost breaking out in cold sweat in the process, the ADC decided to hit ‘unblock’. And that was that. Not even a second afterwards, the phone in Martin’s hand vibrated all of a sudden, causing him to almost throw it away in shock. But it was _not_ the other ADC that had caused the stir.

Enrique <3: Leaving me on read, huh?

Enrique <3: How cold of you, Martin! ;)

Martin: that’s not it

Martin: I just didn’t know what to say

Martin: I’m just waiting for Alfonso

Enrique <3: oh, why not just say that it’s something boring then

 _If only things were that easy for me, Enrique_ , the ADC thought, half-smiling at his phone again. Yes, if only he could be more like the fiery Spaniard, a painfully obnoxious optimist that literally lived his life as if the world was his by right. Someone who never questioned whether he deserved his standing, or his personal relations, or his worth as a person, even. _Must be nice_ , Martin pondered, taking a deep breath.

Martin: You would have continued asking anyway

Enrique <3: True, haha

Enrique <3: where are you btw?

Martin: Fnatic’s apartment… why?

Enrique <3: oh neat, I’m close by

Enrique <3: I’m coming over okay?

Martin: Huh? How do you even know the address

Enrique <3: Alfonso ;)

Martin: Huh… what else did he tell you, exactly?

Enrique <3: I don’t think you want to know :D

Enrique <3: Anyway, cya in 5

Martin: wait, I didn’t agree to this?

But, in a true xPeke fashion, the midlaner had already gone offline, and Martin knew that there was no way to stop this train once it started running. _Some things never change I guess_ , he pondered as he opened Alfonso’s chat to ask the coach whether he was coming home any time soon. Then again, if he had really left with a suitcase, chances were that he wouldn’t be coming back today at all – maybe then, talking to Enrique would be the next best thing to gain some clarity. But, as he prepared himself for this unforeseeable reunion, Martin suddenly remembered a small, yet crucial detail about his appearance.

 _My face – shit, I can’t face him looking like this, can I?_ He thought, jumping up from the couch to look at his reflection in the bathroom as quickly as his feet allowed him to. The ADC wasn’t sure whether it was shame or simple vanity, but he hated the thought of Enrique eyeing the ugly bruise his left cheek was sporting. Almost desperately, Martin scanned the cabinet behind the mirror for something to cover up the unsightly proof of his physical altercation somehow – unsuccessfully so. _Of course no one cares about their appearance around here_ , he thought grumpily as he closed the cabinet again.

His last hope was Alfonso, but, as he couldn’t spot any of his rather expensive haircare products around the bathroom, Martin figured that the coach must stored them in his own chambers. But did he really have time to check now? The ADC nervously glanced at his phone for the time, trying to figure out whether at least one or two of the five minutes xPeke had announced earlier were left. But, before Martin could even start to calculate, the doorbell rang _. Ready or not…_ The Swede thought with a sigh as he slouched over to open the front door, admitting defeat.

“Hello, hello! Here I am!” Enrique exclaimed as he strutted into the apartment as if he already owned it.

“Hi Enrique,” Martin mumbled, facing the other way as much as he could while he closed the door.

“Hmm, fancy place,” the midlaner said with a slight nod, looking around, “where is your room?”

“Wow, uhm, well,” the ADC stammered – he was simply not used to the quick pace of the Spaniard’s mind anymore.

“Come on, don’t worry, I’m not asking you to jump into bed with me, okay?” Enrique smirked, seemingly inspecting the open kitchen area now.

“Right, ehm, I didn’t think that to begin with,” Martin cleared his throat, “I don’t live here with the rest of the guys, though.” 

“Oh, is that so? Are you a little lone wolf or –“ Enrique laughed, but he stopped as soon as he laid eyes on the ADC’s face when he turned around to look at him. He looked more curious than concerned, though – slowly, the Spaniard approached the younger guy and carefully raised his hand to brush over the bruise on the other guy’s cheek with his fingertips. Martin swallowed hard, feeling his heart pumping faster and faster in his chest – but he didn’t dare to move. “I thought I told you to be more careful with these kinds of things… don’t you remember?” The midlaner whispered with a soft smile of his lips.

 _Oh, I remember_ , Martin thought, closing his eyes as he allowed himself to enjoy the oh so familiar sensation for just a second. Yes, in a way, it was almost as if he could see him right in front of him.

“Martin? Come on, open your eyes, you need to pay attention,” xPeke laughed as he gave the ADC a playful pat on the butt.

“Oh, no blindfold today, then?” The young Swede smirked, propping himself up on the bed.

“Hmm, let’s just say I thought you were ready for something a little more… _exciting_.” Enrique explained with a wink as he started looking for something in his closet.

“Ahh, no way,” Martin mumbled, following the other guy’s movements with his eyes ever so eagerly. Whenever he was with Enrique, his curiosity, as well as his excitement, seemed to peak, and today was no exception.

“What can I say, you’ve just been exceptionally good lately…” The midlaner announced in a satisfied tone as he dropped a box full of various items in front of the younger boy, “so I’m allowing you to pick something for yourself tonight.”

“Really?” The ADC whispered with big eyes.

“Yeah, knock yourself out,” Enrique chuckled.

“Oh, those look cool,” Martin mumbled immediately as he started to scan the box, pointing at some black leather cuffs layered on top of each other.

“Yeah? You like them?” Enrique asked patiently, sitting down on the bed as well.

“Think so… can I really only pick one thing?” Martin asked hesitantly, looking up towards the older guy.

“Why, isn’t that enough?” xPeke snickered, “you greedy little bottom.”

“Pff, no fair,” the ADC huffed, but he could help but chuckle as well.

“It’s fine… I like you greedy,” Enrique whispered with a sudden, intense hunger in his eyes, “so… do you want the handcuffs?”

“Handcuffs? I thought they’d go on your wrists _and_ your ankles,” Martin wondered, carefully grabbing one of the leather shackles to inspect it.

“Always so eager…” xPeke grinned as he took out the rest of the necessary equipment before he put the box onto the floor next to the bed, “hands and feet… well, we can make that happen, later maybe…”

“Go hard or go home, right?” Martin smiled mischievously.

“Another thing that we can arrange,” Enrique added with a grin.

He leaned over with one hand on the ADC’s naked lower back, pressing their lips together rather forcefully. Even though Martin had kissed other people before, no one had ever made him quite as weak as Enrique did with his fiery passion and his ridiculously skilled tongue. It only took the midlaner seconds to make the other guy’s head spin, and, as his pants were starting to feel a little tight, Martin rolled over to his side almost instinctively. Of course, Enrique noticed right away.

“This really is all it takes to get you going, huh?” The Spaniard grinned against the younger guy’s lips.

“S-sorry,” Martin mumbled. He didn’t know what to do with his hands – he wanted to reach out to pull the midlaner back into the kiss, but he also knew that he’d only earn himself another punishment with that. Then again…

“Hey, what’s this?” Enrique whispered, grabbing the ADC’s wrist before he could sink his fingers into his dark hair, “touching without permission?”

“Hmm, I just wanted more,” Martin explained with pleading eyes.

“Trust me, I know what you want,” the midlaner grinned, sitting himself up in the next moment, “fine, then. Sit.”

“O-okay,” the ADC nodded, quickly following Enrique’s instructions to sit down on his lap.

As both of the guys had taken off their shirts a while back, one out of habit and the other out of lust, their naked torsos were rubbing together as soon as Martin mounted Enrique. He wanted to swing his arms around the Spaniard’s neck so badly, but was ultimately held back by his wrists again.

“Wow, aren’t you hopeless today?” The midlaner sneered, pushing the younger guy’s arms behind his back, “you still remember how to hold still, right…?”

Martin nodded eagerly. He knew that he’d get what he wanted so badly just by looking into Enrique’s eyes – yes, there was no need to break the rules anymore. At least not yet. Obediently, he held his arms crossed behind his back, allowing the midlaner’s hands to roam freely again.

“Good… now, lift your chin,” the midlaner breathed against Martin’s neck, waiting for him to follow the order before doing as much as touching him again. The ADC closed his eyes as he let his head fall back. Seconds later, he felt the first wave of extasy hit him when Enrique started to suck on his collar bone – gently first, then much harder in the next instance. As Martin felt the sweet prickle turn into a sharp pain, he couldn’t help but let out a small whimper. He could already see the deep purple mark, which would lay hidden under his jersey for the days to come, in front of his inner eye. The thought alone was enough to make his blood boil – and there was no way he’d be satisfied with anything but a whole lot more.

“Hmm, you really like it when it hurts, don’t you?” xPeke smirked, pulling away.

“Sure but… why did you stop…” Martin murmured with pouty lips.

“You little brat!” Enrique laughed, slapping the ADC’s ass playfully, “I asked first, okay? Why do you think you like that?”

“How should I know?” The Swede shrugged ever so slightly, “I just like it… when you do it.”

“Oho, so this is about me?” The midlaner remarked. Martin felt as if the other guy’s bright eyes were watching his movements even closer now, and he was so desperately close.

“I dunno…” The ADC mumbled, blushing a little under the intense stare of his opposite, “I guess you’re just kind of… impressive, right?”

“And that’s why you want me to… grab you like this?” Enrique asked, pulling the Swede’s head back by his combed, blonde hair in one swift motion, making Martin gasp for air. “It’s not like I’m going to complain… oh, hey, I did a good job with this one, didn’t I?” xPeke smiled as he leaned back down to nibble on the hickey he had inflicted on Martin’s collar bone seconds ago.

“Y-yeah…” was all the ADC managed to reply.

“Hmm… on second thought,” the midlaner wondered aloud, pulling away from the Swede’s neck again, much to his disliking, “maybe it’s not the pain that gets you going.”

“What are you saying…” Martin mumbled. It took all of the self-restraint he had in him not to let his hands wander back onto the other guy’s toned, naked chest, and Enrique didn’t make it any easier for him when he looked down to inspect his crotch.

“See, the way you’re sitting here right now… desperate to be touched, yet following my every order… you just like being told what to do, don’t you?” xPeke asked, and, for a moment, Martin felt as if he saw his hand reach down to cup his erection, and so, he held his breath but – nothing.

“I – I don’t know,” the ADC murmured, unsure of whether he should shake his head or not. He had never really been in a similar situation with anyone else, so he couldn’t know for sure whether it was a theme for him – but, after playing in Enrique’s bedroom for some weeks, Martin at least knew that whatever the midlaner did to him felt amazing. Maybe it did have something to do with their power dynamic – yes, maybe it was because Enrique was his –

“Captain…” He whispered without even realizing that he had said it out loud at first.

Enrique looked surprised for a brief moment, but started chuckling soon after. “Captain? Is that your kink or what?”

“M-my what?” Martin asked, feeling his cheeks heat up even more. If the cause for that was embarrassment or arousal was indetectable by now.

“Hmm, never mind,” Enrique hummed, stroking down the ADC’s arms with both of his hands, “I think I get it now. And I don’t mind it, you know – call me _Captain_ for all I care.”

“Why would I –“ Martin started, but he was interrupted by the light clanking of chains next to him, drawing his attention away from the weirdly embarrassing title dilemma. One glance was enough to determine that xPeke had picked up the mystery item Martin had chosen himself earlier on. He swallowed hard.

“Hmm, you wanted these, right?” The midlaner said, licking his lips, “what better time than now?”

“But I can’t… touch you then!” Martin protested – it just felt too early to be restrained that much just yet.

“There are plenty of fun things you can do without your hands, you know?” Enrique mumbled, leaning in closer to lick the ADC’s collar bone again, “if this isn’t proof enough…”

“F-fine,” Martin panted as he felt his vision get a little blurry from the other guy’s hot breath on his neck, “do it, then…”

“Good…” The midlaner said with a slight grin.

He rested his head on the younger guy’s shoulder to look down his back as he put on the handcuffs, making sure that they were tight enough, yet not uncomfortably so. In a way, Martin felt relieved as soon as he noticed that he couldn’t accidentally pull his arms away anymore – yes, in a way, the required amount of self-restraint had decreased dramatically. Paired with the way in which Enrique was looking at him now, that caused Martin to feel as if his body was heating up even further. _What’s next? Will he let me…_ The ADC wondered, biting on his lip to keep himself from accidentally letting the words fall out of his mouth again.

“Looking good,” Enrique nodded appreciatively, giving the Swede a slap on the butt to round off his work, “you think you can get up?”

“Uhm, yeah?” Martin asked rather than he stated, “b-but why?”

“Just do it, okay? I got something delicious in mind,” xPeke smirked, leaning back on the bed with his hands on either of his sides.

“Fine…” Martin mumbled, hesitantly and more or less reluctantly getting off the Spaniard’s warm, ever so promising lap. It felt counterintuitive to say the least, but whatever delicious thing the other guy had in mind, Martin was sure that he wanted to taste it.

“That’s a good little ADC,” xPeke said, smiling from ear to ear as he looked up at the flustered face of the Swede.

“W-well, what am I supposed to do now?”

“You really need me to tell you everything, hmm?” The midlaner remarked, tilting his head to the side, “alright, well… kneel.”

“What, like, on the floor?” Martin mumbled, looking down at the floor in front of Enrique’s bed, which was covered with old clothes, empty energy drink cans and various other things that could be classified as trash. He couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose a little.

“Is that a problem?” Enrique asked with a slight sigh, doing his part of the job by sitting down at the edge of the bed with his legs spread. The sight was enough to cause Martin to stop questioning whether it was worth it – _oh, it definitely is_ , he thought as he kneeled down in front of the other guy, almost diving head first into his crotch.

“Not a problem then, huh?” xPeke grinned as he cupped the younger guy’s face with both of his hands. Martin shook his head promptly, sticking out his tongue rather suggestively – leading to the Spaniard chuckling once more.

“I see you already know what you’re down there for, right? Good then…” The midlaner continued, sticking one of his fingers inside Martin’s mouth to keep it occupied for the moment. The ADC started sucking on his finger as soon as he was presented with it, not wasting a breath.

“Ah…” Enrique breathed, looking at the other guy’s mouth even more intensely now. It was more than enough for Martin to know for sure that he was doing a good job – that he’d be allowed to do more rather sooner than later. “Did I mention that I like how eager you are a lot?” The Spaniard mumbled with a smile on his lips, stroking through the Swede’s hair before pulling his head away from the finger he was sucking on rather abruptly. Hesitantly, Martin searched for eye-contact again, with his mouth still wide open. _Is it time yet?_ He wondered impatiently. One look into Enrique’s wild eyes was enough to determine that the answer was ‘yes’.

“Let’s see how your training is coming along, shall we?” The midlaner said calmly as he pulled down his sweatpants and boxers, revealing what Martin had been hungry for from the beginning. Even though the Spaniard’s dick was the only one the young Swede had ever tasted or felt before, he simply knew that it was special – that it would always be special. And so, he couldn’t stop staring at it when he had the chance. This time was no exception. Martin marvelled at the midlaner’s glorious erection, swallowing hard to keep himself from trying to engulf it right away. It was slightly bigger than his own cock, and had a slightly darker, pink complexion – but was that what fascinated the young guy about it? _Ah well, does it matter?_ The ADC thought, glancing back up at the midlaner’s face. He looked quite amused.

“You want it bad, huh?” Enrique murmured with a grin. He pulled his hand away from the other guy’s blonde hair to give him the freedom to move again. “Go ahead, then. Show me what you’ve learned.”

“Mhm…” Martin nodded, opening his mouth as much as he could before leaning forward to enclose the Spaniard’s hard on with his lips. The glans fit inside quite effortlessly, and the ADC took a moment to swirl his tongue around the way Enrique liked it. Almost instinctively, Martin closed his eyes, focussing on the hot sensation inside of his mouth as much as he could. With his arms restrained on his back, the ADC had to move his whole body forward to fit more of Enrique’s cock inside. This crucial lack of control – namely the ability to stable himself with the help of his hands – made the whole spectacle harder, but also that much more exhilarating. Above him, Enrique gave the Swede an appreciative nod.

“You’re doing well… I’d say that’s almost half.” The midlaner remarked, “now, do you think you can fit in more…?”

Martin nodded as much as he could – he had to pay close attention to his gag reflex now that the Spaniard’s dick started hitting the back of his throat. But he was determined to do even better tonight. Somehow, the friction the handcuffs conflicted on his wrists seemed to heighten the ADC’s pleasure, and he felt as if there was nothing he couldn’t do. Plus, the way in which Enrique’s breathing kept getting a little heavier with each centimetre Martin downed made his body feel incredibly tingly. He wanted more, so much more – who knew, maybe he would even be able to carry his captain across the finish line tonight? _Hmm, I want it so badly_ , he thought as he pushed his head up and then down again, even further, feeling his eyes getting watery.

“Hmm, wow,” Enrique huffed, wiping the single tear that made its way down the ADC’s cheek away gently, “you’re really giving it your all, hmm? That’s probably two thirds already…”

As soon as he felt the other guy touch his face, Martin opened his eyes to look up at his face. He was thrilled to find that the midlaner’s cheeks looked slightly flushed – oh, he seemed to be enjoying what the ADC was doing. But would it be enough? Without waiting for another prompt, the Swede pushed forward for more.

“Even more?” Enrique whispered, biting his lower lip way too erotically, “gosh, Martin… if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you want to make me cum.”

Immediately, Martin’s eyes lit up – _of course that’s what I want_ , he thought, with his head spinning relentlessly. But he couldn’t simply tell the other guy, for more or less obvious reasons. No, instead, he had to show him. And so, the Swede started to move his mouth up and down faster and further. He didn’t even care about the fact that it must have looked as if he was crying by now – no, his eyes might have gotten teary, but he didn’t even notice, as they were constantly rolled back in pleasure. Martin’s own cock was effortlessly hard without having been touched a single time so far, which made him wonder just how much self-restraint it must take Enrique not to shoot his load. _If I only try hard enough…_ The ADC pondered as he continued to give it his all, trying to work his tongue in as much as the little room for movement his mouth offered allowed him to.

“I was right, hmm?” Enrique muttered, accompanied by a small moan, “well – I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t plan on –“

Suddenly, without the trace of a warning, the door of the midlaner’s room opened in a flash. Despite the rather loud noise it caused, it took Martin a moment to realize what was happening – a moment in which he simply continued his attempt to suck Enrique’s soul right out of his hard cock. The midlaner, who was the one facing the entrance of his room as he was sitting on the bed, noticed much sooner.

“Hey, I just ordered some pizza, could we maybe –“ Lauri started, walking into the room casually with his eyes fixated on the phone in his hand at first. He stopped as soon as he lifted his gaze to see what was going on behind the door he had opened without knocking – something that he, without a doubt, regretted by now.

“L-Lauri, I – ahh!” Enrique panted, suddenly grabbing Martin’s head to hold it still with both of his hands rather forcefully. The ADC didn’t know what was happening just yet – but he felt the midlaner’s body tense up around him, and his cock growing even harder, until he suddenly felt his hot cum shoot down his throat. With a sound that could only be described as a mixture of moaning and gurgling, he swallowed it all, almost as if he was trying to prove something to himself. Above him, Enrique was a grunting mess, something that rarely ever happened. Carefully, Martin pulled away from the midlaner’s cock as he came back down from his high. Or, well, as he finally realized that they were not alone, to be more precise.

“Jesus, Enrique…” Lauri mumbled – Martin didn’t have to turn around to know that the jungler must have looked disturbed. Or maybe disgusted. Well, probably both.

“Sorry, uhm…” The midlaner stammered as he scratched the back of his head.

 _But what are you apologizing for?_ Martin wondered, wiping the edge of his mouth rather sullenly. The jungler should know what they were doing, right? They had an open relationship, right? It was beyond the young ADC why Enrique would have to apologize for doing what he wanted, especially since he wasn’t breaking any rules. Cyanide just kept sulking because of it regardless _. Relationships are such a pain… I’ll never do those,_ Martin thought, looking up at the midlaner in front of him with the annoyance written all over his face. He didn’t want to turn around to look at his jungler, and much less apologize himself – he just wanted to continue.

“I told you I didn’t want to see this…” Lauri sighed, “well, my fault I guess. Should have knocked. Bye.”

“Lauri, wait,” Enrique muttered, carefully trying to get up, which was more or less an impossible task with the stubborn, young ADC kneeling in between his legs. And so, he simply reached out his hand and said, “wait!”

“What?” The jungler grumbled.

“Uhh…” Enrique stammered, looking down at Martin and then around the room, almost as if he was grasping at straws to make the other guy stay, “ít’s just… maybe you want to join?”

“Fuck no,” Lauri responded bluntly. And, with that, he closed the door again.

“Ah… shoot,” Enrique sighed, letting his head hang down low.

“What’s the matter?” Martin asked, trying his best not to sound bitter, “can’t we just… continue?”

“Yeah just… give me a minute.” The midlaner mumbled, “ah – sorry by the way, I didn’t mean to finish that… well, abruptly?”

“I-it’s okay,” the ADC stuttered, blushing almost as if he had forgotten what had happened moments ago. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder whether he had succeeded in getting the midlaner there himself – or whether it had been the jungler’s face popping up in the room. _Why does he have so much power over him?_ Martin thought with pouty lips, resting his head on the midlaner’s firm thigh. Didn’t he do everything he could to satisfy the team’s captain and all of his desires? It was a true mystery to the young Swede.

“What’s wrong, Martin?” Enrique asked as he noticed the gloomy expression on his face.

“N-nothing.” Martin shook his head – he didn’t want to bring it up now. Not with the hopes of their scene finding an even more thrilling conclusion on the line.

“Okay… you did really well just now, you know? What would you like as your reward?” The midlaner asked with a slight smirk, propping himself up with the help of his elbows.

“I want you to… fuck me, Enrique,” Martin whispered quietly, hoping that it was loud enough for the other guy to hear.

“Oh, are you sure you didn’t mean to say, ‘I want you to fuck me, _Captain_?” The Spaniard chuckled.

“S-shut up,” the young Swede muttered, blushing much harder than before. Now, why was that such an embarrassing thing for him to even think about?

“Fine, fine… I’m just pulling your leg,” Enrique grinned, patting the spot next to him, “come lay down, then… I want you face first in the covers, ass up.”

“Yes…” Martin nodded, feeling his heart starting to pump faster as he got up to follow the other guy’s order. Oh, he had waited for too long by now – he wanted it, no, he _needed_ it as much as a fish needed the water it swam in. Not even the unsightly intrusion they had experienced earlier was enough to keep his desires down. If anything, he wanted to prove himself even more – he wanted to prove that he was a worthy lover, and a worthy rookie in the League, and, well, just worthy, period. If only he could get Enrique’s approval… He wondered just how much more he could learn and experience with the help of the experienced Spaniard. In silent anticipation, and with his ass up in the air, Martin waited for the other guy to make his move with his eyes closed. _Any second now_ , he thought, swallowing hard, _any second and he will…_

“Martin?” Enrique asked, softly patting his cheek which, for some reason, hurt way more than it should.

“Huh?” The ADC huffed, opening his eyes in a flash – only to find himself fully clothed, standing in the middle of the living room of his team’s apartment, with the former midlaner staring back at him with a confused look on his face. Now, his mind might have arrived back in reality seconds after, but his nether regions seemed to be stuck in his flashback.

“I think you spaced out for a momet there and... oh, wow,” xPeke laughed after glancing down for a moment, “is this an open invitation…? I can’t, though.”

“N-no it’s not, shut up,” Martin mumbled, turning away from the Spaniard, “I was just… thinking about something else, this has nothing to do with you!”

“Sure, sure… when did it ever have _nothing_ to do with me?” Enrique chuckled knowingly, “isn’t this what you call… muscle memory or whatever?”

 _Painfully accurate_ , the Swede thought grumpily, praying that his erection would go down rather sooner than later. Out of all times, why did he have to reminisce in those old memories now? And why that particular moment, anyway? The midlaner had taken him on so many, much more exotic adventures, so why would this rather tame scene pop up?

“Ahh, Lauri would be so mad if I told him about this,” Enrique said with a smile, playfully knocking his fist against the side of his head, “better not tell him, eh?”

 _Ah, right. That’s why_ , Martin thought with a sigh, _I really did promise myself that I’d never have these sort of relationship troubles, didn’t I?_ It was more than ironic to think about that now that his love life did, more or less metaphorically, lie in front of him, in absolute shambles. Not just once, not just twice, not even three times – no, all of his relationships, and there had been plenty, had burned up in flames faster than he ever could have imagined. _So why is it that him and Lauri_ … Martin wondered as his eyes found the Spaniard’s hand, which was propped up on his hip. A ring – wait, why was there a ring?

“Geez Martin, why do you look like someone died all of a sudden?” Enrique asked with a worried smile on his lips.

 _Not the first time I heard that today_ , Martin thought, frowning sourly.

“Is it because of this?” The midlaner wondered as he lifted his hand and presented the ring on his finger even more proudly, “listen, I was about to tell you that Lauri and I…”

“No… no it’s fine,” the ADC muttered, “congratulations, I guess...?"

"Thank you but... what is it, then? Are you worried about the split?"

"What? No..." Martin shook his head, wishing that the few games Fnatic had dropped really were the only problems he had to face. "It’s… much more complicated than that. I’ve been through some… things since you left, you know?” He finally admitted. 

“So I’ve heard…” the Spaniard sighed as he positioned himself on the big couch, patting the spot next to him, “how about you sit down and tell _Papá Enrique_ everything about your troubles?”

“What the – oh my god, never call yourself that again,” Martin chuckled, sitting down beside the midlaner anyway, “but it’s kind of a long story?”

“That’s fine,” Enrique replied with a soft smile, glancing at his watch, “see, I happen to have some time. So how about it?”

“Okay, well…” Martin swallowed hard, trying his best to stay as calm and objective as the situation allowed it, “…it all started with Febiven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Rekkles' POV! Wait, no, not really... that's a wrap on one part of Rekkles' POV! Man, that doesn't have the same ring to it... anyway. 
> 
> What are your thoughts and feelings about the huge mess the ADC has maneuvered himself into this time around? What happened to him anyway? And what will happen next? So many questions, and so many ways to let me know about your thoughts and feelings! I'm looking forward to hearing all about those here on ao3 or in #story-discussions on the DreamServer. See you there!
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	54. Part 12: Martin (II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! And happy Halloween! Yes, it is the spookiest day of the year, and I woke up with a fairly spooky headache-ghost haunting me... but I'm here now, and very happy to welcome you to another POV of Part 12: No Sleep!
> 
> What's this, another Rekkles POV? Yes, just like previously announced, we're picking things back up where we left off. Are you ready for the sequel? Are you ready for the latest? In the garden of - ah, well. My song reference game is getting stale. Anyway, hope you enjoy the shennanigans going down in this chapter. It is a funny coincidence that I'm posting this on Halloween... but more on that later. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> PS: If you still haven't joined our Discord community, the DreamServer, are you even living? Don't miss out on all the exclusive content and holiday events waiting for you there! Check out the notes of the newest chapter to join!
> 
> Tw for this chapter: excessive alcohol consumption, bad decision making (what's new lol)

After listening to Martin for a good twenty minutes - admittingly, the ADC had no idea that his former could even be that patient - Enrique clapped his hands, slowly and weirdly dramatically as soon as the story had found its conclusion. Or rather, as soon as it had reached the present. Martin's troubles were far from over, after all.

“Wow, you weren’t lying when you called it a lot,” Enrique laughed, patting the ADC’s shoulder in acknowledgement, “see, I had my wild days too, but that’s something else…”

“Uhm, well, I’m not exactly proud of it,” Martin mumbled, looking down at his hands.

“But why not?” The Spaniard asked with a way too genuine smile, “as long as you had fun, there’s nothing wrong with gaining experiences, right?”

“Well… it wasn’t just fun,” the Swede sighed, turning his thumbs around each other, “and today… I just can’t help but wonder whether I’m missing out.”

“What, because of me?” Enrique grinned, flexing his ring again.

“No, not you!” Martin chuckled, playfully punching the older guy’s shoulder, “or… you know, not _just_ you.”

“Ahh, is this about the fateful botlane lovers Mithy and Zven, then? That’s why you were waiting to talk to Alfonso, right?” The midlaner asked, nodding knowingly. Except he didn’t know. That, Martin was sure of now.

“Uhm…” The ADC hummed, not really knowing what else to say. It wasn’t his place to tell his coach’s former teammate about his recent break-up, right? But how was he supposed to finish his story otherwise?

“Come on, don’t worry, I know about their relationship,” Enrique laughed, “in fact, I was there when it all began! Oh, you have no idea how awkward their first couple of dates were, Alfonso was such a perfectionist when it came to that… he never really knew how to go with the flow, you know?”

As Martin watched the Spaniard move his arms to simulate a wave in an effort to emphasize his words with movement, he felt guilty. He didn’t want to pop the romantic bubble the midlaner seemed to be living in when it came to his former, dorky yet desperately loving teammates. But, alas, Alfonso wasn’t here to tell the story himself. And Martin desperately needed to tell _someone_ about what he had heard and seen the night before. _Yes, I have no choice_ , the ADC pondered, collecting all of his courage.

“That is also more complicated than what you might think,” he started, searching for eye contact rather clumsily.

“Oh yeah?” Enrique smirked back at him.

“Yeah… you see, last night, Alfonso called me and I –“

But he couldn’t finish his sentence – not after hearing the rumbling and clinking of the coach’s gigantic set of keys outside of the front door. Instead, Martin held his breath.

“What? What did he say?” Enrique inquired, eyeing the ADC more carefully, “what’s going on?”

“This GOD DAMN DOOR IS PLAYING WITH ME!” Alfonso yelled as he pushed the front door open with way more force than necessary, almost stumbling inside in the process. As he noticed the confused stares of Martin and Enrique on him, he almost shrieked up. “W-what are you looking at, huh?”

“Welcome home!” Enrique chanted, opening up his arms as if he was inviting the other guy in for a hug from across the room, “are you happy to see me?”

“Fuck no,” Alfonso grumbled as he pulled his gigantic suitcase in behind him, barely managing to maneuver it through the doorway without throwing another fit.

“Oho, someone’s in a mood, eh?” The midlaner snickered next to Martin, poking the ADC’s side with his elbow, “can you believe this guy…”

 _Oh, I sure can_ , Martin thought, feeling frozen up to the core once more. It wasn’t like he had forgotten what had happened the night before. In fact, he was about to tell Enrique everything before Alfonso barged in at the worst possible timing. But seeing the Spaniard’s face made him remember that much more clearly.

“What’s up with you?” Alfonso asked sullenly after placing his shoes on the rack, a task that should have been impossible to someone as enraged as him, but here we were.

“He was just telling me about… hmm, what actually?” Enrique wondered aloud, turning to Martin.

“What were you saying?” The coach asked without a second delay, staring at the ADC even more intensely now.

“Just…” Martin started, biting his lip.

_Yeah, what exactly happened, anyway?_

\---

As Martin stood in front of his hotel room’s huge window front, letting his gaze wander across Berlin’s night sky, he wondered whether the stars had always looked as bright as they did that night. He wondered whether he had ever taken the time to appreciate the way the city lights looked in the dark, even though it was nothing compared to the ravishing beauty that was his hometown. He also wondered whether it was the alcohol that made him view his surroundings in a whole new light – it wouldn’t be the first time. Plus, there was an empty wine bottle lying on the floor, only inches away from his foot. Yes, it didn’t take a detective to solve the case of this episode of _Criminal Minds_ , after all. Martin suddenly heard soft footsteps behind him, but he didn’t bother to turn around. The reflection in the window revealed the secrets of the night anyway.

“What are you looking for, hmm?” A silky voice that could only belong to a woman asked behind him. The ADC felt her fingers run down his naked back, sending shivers down his spine.

“Just… the stars,” he replied slowly, closing his eyes. 

“I see… and here I was thinking you get bored too easily. Did you enjoy yourself?” The girl asked, and Martin could feel her hot breath on his neck. He could picture her on her tiptoes, as she was a good bit shorter than him. The thought made the Swede chuckle.“Of course I did,” he replied after a moment of amusement, “how about you?”

“How couldn’t I?” She smirked, and another hand slid down his naked side, “you do live up to expectations.”

“Expectations? You mean rumours?” Martin mumbled, still smiling ever so slightly. The rumours flying around the League were ridiculous - something about him and Febiven stealing someone's girls. Something about him seducing fans left and right - it couldn't have been further from the truth. Martin never had to do much, let alone steal anyone away. It didn't matter whether it was one of his teammates or fangirls - the attention. Especially on his lowest days, it was always the attention that got him. He did like to be wooed, after all.

“Rumours? Well… more like legacy, right?”

As the ADC felt the fingers of what must have been two hands run through his hair, he opened his eyes in a flash. Lost in a daydream - if one could still call it that - Martin had almost forgotten. He didn’t want to miss a second of this – no, he was supposed to enjoy it to the fullest. And so, he turned around, to take a closer look at his female companions of the night.

“Looks like someone’s got enough of the stars,” the Blonde laughed, pulling her hands away.

“Well, one could argue we shine just as brightly or whatever,” the Brunette hummed as she zipped up her jacket.

“Something like that… what, you’re leaving already?” Martin muttered, looking down at the girls’ fully dressed bodies he had held and witnessed in bare conditions just some moments before.

“Yeah, we’ve had our fun,” the Blonde shrugged, turning on her heel to search for her shoes near the bed.

“You should probably get some rest too, eh? Must be busy, being a pro gamer and all,” the Brunette added as she did the same.

“Well, yeah, I guess…” Martin nodded slowly, grabbing his robe off a chair near him so that he wouldn’t be the only half-naked person in the room. As it seemed like the girls were about to leave, there was one thing he had to make sure of. Even though his mind felt cloudy, he somehow had to figure out a way to prevent a new rumour from spreading - these last couple of years, he had been able to redeem his image from his cursed snapchat days, after all. He cleared his throat. “Sooo….”

“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone,” the Brunette smiled, almost as if she knew exactly what Martin was trying to get at. Well, maybe it was not that much of a secret. 

“Yep, so… see you. Or, well, something,” the Blonde said, waving goodbye as she headed for the door, pulling the Brunette by the hand.

“Right,” Martin mumbled awkwardly, “bye.”

A small part in him wanted to call after them, to ask them to stay. But, as terrible as it was to admit that to himself, he couldn’t even remember their names. Or maybe they didn’t tell him – did it matter now? It was not like he really wanted those girls he had basically just met hours before in the LEC studio to keep him company anyway. _I just don’t want to be alone_ , he thought with a sigh as he sat down on his huge bed. Sure, he could have gone for another round – even though he had, admittingly, been overwhelmed by not just one, but two females to handle at once. It had been a while, after all. He liked to believe that having intercourse was a lot like riding a bike – in the sense that you never forget how to do it, not that it really hurts when you screw it up. He could only silently hope that it wasn’t both this time around.

Slowly, Martin slouched down to lay on his flat back. He couldn’t tell whether it was his head or just the room that was spinning, but, either way, he felt dizzy. And a little lost. _What am I going to do?_ He wondered, covering his face with his hands, _if I don’t do something, I’ll just start thinking about him again…_

Suddenly, the almost aggressive sounding vibration of his phone shook the ADC out of his misery. Luckily enough, it was lying on his bedside table, just in reach for him to grab without leaving his miserable looking position, with his legs still dangling off the side of the bed. As the phone wouldn’t stop vibrating, Martin finally realized that he was being _called_ , something that didn’t happen a lot in the age of texting and voice messages. When he saw that it was Alfonso, his drunk brain figured it must be important and work-related, for whatever reason. Almost as if it had forgotten what had happened before he had left the studio, barely hours ago.

“Hello?” Martin muttered.

“Martin!” Alfonso shouted, startling the guy on the other end of the line, “where are you??”

“W-what do you mean?” The ADC stammered, staring up at the ceiling in confusion. “I’m in my room, where else would I be?”

“Well, what do I know?? Everyone seems to be doing whatever the hell they please these days,” the coach scoffed.

“Uhm… okay?” Martin asked. “What’s going on with you?”

“What do you mean?” Alfonso muttered, and it sounded like he put a glass down on a table somewhere.

“Well, it’s three in the morning… why are you calling me to ask where I am anyway?”

“Well, why are YOU picking up the phone if it’s so WEIRD to you??” The coach almost yelled again, and Martin couldn’t help but wonder why he’d be so angry at this ungodly hour.

“I can just hang up you know…” The Swede replied rather sullenly.

“No! Wait just – if you’re home,” Alfonso stammered, clearing his throat in between sentences, “would you mind sending me a cab or something?”

“What? Why… where are _you?_ ” Martin mumbled, slowly sitting himself up as he realized something must have been going on.

“Just at some bar… I wanted to get away from our place, because… ugh, have you been to our apartment lately? It’s super depressing these days!” Alfonso whined.

“I’m not sure I understand…” The Swede said slowly, trying to find the light switch near the side of his bed in the dark.

“I just… really don’t want to go back home. I thought your hotel might have some free rooms left?” Alfonso said, sounding a little calmer, but not much.

“I don’t think so, it’s always pretty much booked out…” Martin pondered.

“Geez, aren’t you the golden boy that gets everything then,” the coach hissed, making the ADC wonder just how drunk he was yet again.

“Ehm, sure… I mean, if it’s that bad, you could just…” he wasn’t sure whether he’d regret finishing that sentence, but his body decided to go for it before his mind could intervene to say, “you could just crash at my place.”

“Really? Don’t you think that would be –“ Alfonso paused before continuing, “don’t you think that would be kind of weird?”

 _Of course it would be weird_ , Martin thought, scratching the back of his head which felt like it was burning up. Outside of their work-related issues, the ADC had not even talked to his coach much, let alone bonded on a personal level. The fact that they both seemed to be drunk, in a bad mood and in the need for some company felt like a weird twist of fate because of that. And yet, Martin didn’t feel like he was in the position to push the opportunity away – it was more the opposite. He hoped that, despite what he had heard from his teammates, that it would be easy to get along with the Spaniard, that he could help him, even. He vaguely remembered Alfonso giving him and Hylissang life advice some time ago, which had at least worked out in the support’s favour. Maybe it was his time now. Or, maybe, he wasn’t thinking that far ahead at all.

“I think it will be fine… I don’t mind having someone to talk to, you know?” Martin said.

“Talk? Sure, we can talk…” The coach mumbled quietly, “I have a thing or two to say as well.

 _Oh, I can imagine_ , the ADC thought, rising up from the bed to get a change of clothes out of his closet. He hasn’t been around for most of it in these past few weeks, but Martin knew about the coach’s dramatic tendencies. It might have been a cliché, but, since the Swede had managed to work things out with a fiery Spaniard before, he would be able to handle everything Alfonso could throw his way. Although in a very different way, of course.

“Sounds good… do you know the address? Ah – what am I saying,” Martin grumbled as he pulled his pants up with his phone on speaker mode, “of course you do. You send those G2 bastards to me that one time…”

“Huh?” Alfonso huffed, “I think I would remember something like that… ehm… yeah okay, now that I think about it, I might have asked Perkz for a favour.”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” Martin sighed, zipping up his jacket, “but whatever, we can talk about it later. Can you send me your location?”

“What, are you going to come here?” The coach asked with a surprised tone.

“No… you asked me to send a cab to get you, right, so I’m assuming you didn’t bring your wallet.”

“I – did I say that? Uhm, well, yeah, thank you.” Alfonso stammered. Martin wondered whether the coach always had such a hard time with accepting help, even though specifically asked for it.

“It’s okay…” The ADC mumbled as he opened the message he had just received to look for the address – only to realize that the bar was, in fact, quite close to his hotel. In walking distance, one might add. But the fact that Martin had had significant problems with putting on his shoes without sitting down was proof enough that what seemed to be a manageable distance normally could be hard to handle in his current state of mind. And so, he requested a cab anyway. “It should be there in five minutes. Can you wait outside?”

“Y-yeah, sounds good,” Alfonso said quietly, shouting something like ‘put it on the tab’ to the bartender in the next moment before getting up to walk outside. Martin wondered whether that was even a real thing, as he had only heard about this concept on TV shows before - but he chose not to ask, just in case the coach had actually just turned criminal.

"Okay, uhm - guess we're doing this." This coach murmured as the door fell shut behind him with the sound of a bell chiming brightly.

“Alright, well… say, why do you sound so surprised, Alfonso?” Martin wondered as he headed for the door himself.

“I don’t know, I guess I didn’t _really_ expect you to help me when I called.” The coach admitted.

“Mean…” Martin huffed, feeling mildly insulted, “why did you call in the first place, then?”

“I just… don’t have anyone else.” Alfonso whispered so quietly that the ADC almost couldn’t hear it.

“Oh…” Martin mouthed, not really knowing what else to say. Alfonso’s words got even sadder as the ADC considered the fact that he had just thought about how him and the coach shared little to no relationship. Yes, he was also desperate for some company tonight. But maybe not like that.

“Sorry, that sounded really lame,” the coach said after clearing his throat, “so yeah, see you soon.”

“Yeah, see you.” Martin replied with a nod.

He hung up the phone and crammed it into one pocket, and his key card in the other. As the Swede strolled down the hotel’s empty corridor, he wondered whether he was making the right decision. In one of the shows he used to watch on TV, someone once said that nothing good ever happens after 2 am. That statement had proven to be somewhat close to the truth in Martin’s life on multiple occasions – but he had also ignored that revelation due to alcohol before. _He just needs someone to talk to_ , the ADC thought with determination as he was standing in front of the elevator _, he needs that and so do I. I’m totally overthinking this again_.

Yes, overthinking was one of the many flaws Martin found in himself. One that was prone to be torn apart and put together again, naturally. Normally, alcohol numbed the Swede’s self-destructing tendencies, but it hadn’t quite gotten the job done today it seemed. _Well, I’ve only had a sip of wine or two… no wonder I’m hardly feeling anything_ , the ADC considered quietly as he stepped through the hotel’s lobby, nodding over to the night receptionist he knew well by now.

As he positioned himself near the entrance outside of the building, Martin pulled out his pack of cigarettes. It had become a bad habit of his to smoke in his most dire times – and, right now, he really didn’t see a reason why he shouldn’t do it. Sure, there had been certain people who’d ask him to stop smoking in the past. Slowly, he placed the cigarette between his lips and got out his lighter. _He’s not here, and he probably doesn’t even care anymore_ , Martin thought with a flinch as he lit up his smoke. With a deep inhale, he allowed himself to imagine Rasmus’ face in front of his inner eye for the fragment of a moment before pushing it away with his exhale.

The white smoke danced up into the dark sky, forming a contrast that would be poetic to any drunk at 3 am in the morning. As Martin took another drag, his eyes kept glancing upwards. The stars simply had a hypnotic power over him that night. _The last time I looked at the stars this intensely, I was with…_ he didn’t want to finish his thought. How many more regrets could creep up on him now? Martin was, in fact, so lost in staring at the smoke and the stars that he almost didn’t catch the car pulling up right before him. But, as soon as Alfonso climbed out of it, anyone would have noticed it.

“This is it?” The coach almost yelled, poking his head back into the car, “thank you very much, good sir!”

Martin didn’t catch a glimpse of the driver’s face, but he could imagine what it must have looked like. “Why are you shouting?” He asked quietly, putting out his cigarette in the designated bin next to him before walking up to Alfonso, “he could probably hear you perfectly well.”

“Huh? I wasn’t shouting,” the coach mumbled, dusting off his coat in an attempt to straighten it out.

“Right…” The ADC shrugged, “well, here we are.”

“Yep…” Alfonso nodded, looking up and down the huge building, “… here we are.”

"The stars are really pretty tonight, don't you think?"

"What the... what is that supposed to mean?" The coach huffed, "can't see the stars for shit here in Berlin..."

"I guess," Martin nodded. "I just meant compared to most other nights... I don't know. They look brighter somehow."

"Who would have thought you were such a romantic?" Alfonso grumbled with a flinch. That might not have been his favourite topic at the moment. It was at this moment that the ADC regretted attempting to initiate smalltalk. “So… you wanna go up?” Martin asked instead, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he didn’t really know what else to do with them. Had he always been this awkward around the coach?

“Yes, sure, uhm… you don’t happen to have any booze in your room, do you?” The coach murmured with squinted eyes.

“Oh, yes, yes I do!” Martin nodded eagerly, feeling as if another drink was the light at the end of this dark tunnel. He wouldn’t be able to take more of this awkward and weirdly tense conversation otherwise, that he was sure of.

“Great… I barely had enough to feel tipsy,” the Spaniard explained as he started walking towards the hotel’s entrance.

“Yeah, same,” Martin mumbled as he followed the coach’s lead.

Both of them either chose to believe that was true or actually believed it – either way, they were on the same page for the first time in a while. Martin made sure to let the receptionist know Alfonso was his guest before both of the guys walked up to the elevator. He already pictured the cooled wine bottles lying in his mini bar as he pressed the button of his floor. Next to him, Alfonso looked terribly tense all of a sudden – his posture was so off that someone who had just met the coach would have noticed. Although Martin did feel a little nervous himself – as he usual did around people he didn’t know too well – he wondered why that was. Maybe there was something else going on in the Spaniard’s head. Something that Martin hadn’t anticipated.

“So…” The ADC started after another moment of incredibly awkward silence inside of the elevator, “the thing you mentioned earlier… does it have anything to do with Zven?”

“W-what?” Alfonso stammered, turning his head way too abruptly, “what would make you think that?”

“Just a hunch…” Martin shrugged, “isn’t it always something about Zven when something’s up with you…”

“Excuse me, I don’t think that’s –“ Alfonso started, but then he stopped, clenching his fist in an overly dramatic manner.

“You don’t think that’s…?”

“Ugh, what do you want to hear?” The coach sighed, turning away from the ADC, “I wanted to say it wasn’t true, but what’s the point now…”

“Well that’s one way to answer my question,” Martin sighed, “come on, turn around. We’re here.”

The doors of the elevator opened in an elegant, slow manner, but the Spaniard didn’t see it as he still had his back turned on the ADC. Martin kept his hand on the side of the door to keep it open while he waited for Alfonso to get out as well. “Are you coming or not?” He finally asked as he felt himself getting annoyed.

“Yeah, just – just give me a moment,” Mithy hissed, and it almost looked like he used his sleeve to wipe something off his face – but Martin was sure he must have imagined that in the next moment. The coach’s wardrobe was too expensive and too important to him to be dirtied like that, in the end.

“My room is down this hall,” the ADC explained after the coach had finally decided to trot out of the elevator. Alfonso nodded as a response, but Martin was not quite satisfied with that. “I thought you said you wanted to talk? Doesn’t really look like it to me at the moment.” He said, shooting the coach an agitated look.

“Yeah, well… I also said I wanted another drink, so how about we start with that…” Alfonso grumbled next to him.

“Ugh, fine… we’re here,” Martin announced as he stopped in front of one of the many fancy doors on either side of the hallway. The coach looked at it with weirdly curious eyes, but he didn’t say anything. After the ADC had opened the door with the help of his key card, both of them roamed inside rather clumsily.

“So this is it, huh?” Alfonso said, looking around the huge room with his hands on his hips, “it’s about as nice as I imagined it to be.”

“Thanks?” Martin remarked as he bent down to get a bottle of wine out of his mini bar. He figured the occasion called for red wine, even though he preferred white on normal days.

“Oh no, thank you!” The coach exclaimed as he snatched the bottle right out of the ADC’s hand, “where can I sit?”

“Uhh… anywhere?” Martin mumbled, looking at his empty hands as he wondered whether he should get another bottle or share the one Alfonso just grabbed without a warning.

“This chair is fine, then?” The Spaniard inquired – but Martin didn’t really like sitting in the armchairs of his hotel room these days, mostly because he had had exclusively uncomfortable conversations in those so far. “Maybe somewhere else?” He suggested, slowly walking into the room after he had taken off his shoes.

“Okay, well… how about the bed, then?” Alfonso glanced at the huge bed, which still looked quite messy after what had gone down on there not too long ago. Martin didn’t have to explain why that was not an ideal choice either – the coach had already wrinkled his nose at the chaos. He finally decided to just sit down on the floor, leaning against the bed with his back. “This is fine, too,” Alfonso concluded as he tried to open the bottle of wine in his hand.

“Ah, let me help you with that,” Martin muttered as he sat down next to his coach. He opened his right hand to reveal a small corkscrew he had grabbed from the cabinet above the mini bar.

“I see you came prepared…” Alfonso grinned, handing over the bottle, “very well.”

“They barely have bottles that you can screw open around here,” the Swede chuckled as he worked his magic with the tool he had been accustomed to since his childhood as his father was a fan of fine wine as well. He put the cork down next to him as he put the bottle up to his lips.

“Cheers I guess,” the coach mumbled next to him, still smiling ever so faintly as he shuffled to sit down cross-legged.

Martin simply nodded as he was already taking a sip. Normally, he would have tried to guessed the wine’s flavouring first, but, right now, he just enjoyed the feeling the wine caused in his guts instead. After a few generous chugs, he handed the bottle over to his coach, who followed his example suit. This time around, the silence wasn’t quite as awkward – there was a sense of relief in the room. As the alcohol had certainly not had enough time to show any effect in this moment, the reason why both of the guys found it easier to breathe was, without a doubt, a placebo effect. But did it matter what it was as long as it allowed them to share the troubles they had kept hidden until now?

“I’m sorry for how… harsh I was just now.” Alfonso said.

“I don’t know if harsh is the right word, but yeah. What was up with that?” Martin sighed, carefully taking the bottle out of the coach’s hand again.

“I don’t know, I guess you just hit the nail right on the head… It is always about Jesper, isn’t it?” The coach replied with a sad smile, now looking out through the huge window front they were facing.

“Uhm, I don’t know – it was just what I heard,” Martin shrugged, “it’s not like it’s anyone’s business as long as it works for you guys.”

“Yeah… the thing is that it doesn’t,” Alfonso mumbled, clasping his hands together, “at least not anymore.”

“What does that mean?” The ADC wondered with his head tilted to the side.

“Well… we broke up. Or rather I did.” The coach said solemnly.

“What? Are you for real? When?” Martin muttered, staring at the guy beside him with wide eyes. He had already assumed that the coach must have had another fight with his boyfriend when he went full berserk on him and Selfmade the day before, but he didn’t think it would be quite this bad.

“Yesterday,” Alfonso sighed, scratching his cheek, “I don’t even think I told anyone until now. It’s still so surreal…”

“Yeah, no shit – I thought you guys have been dating for ages now?” Martin stammered, and he couldn’t point out why he felt so weirdly agitated all of a sudden. He took another chug of wine.

“Ugh, don’t say it like that!” Alfonso grunted, stretching out his open hand as if he was a little kid demanding candy.

“Fine, fine,” Martin mumbled, handing over the bottle reluctantly, “I just want to know what happened to mess all of that up.”

“Yeah, me too,” the coach sighed, “I mean, I know _what_ happened, obviously, I just don’t know how… or why.”

“That sounds pretty damn ominous,” the ADC frowned, snatching the bottle the Spaniard was sucking on again, “would you just start explaining already?”

“Wow, calm down – who said I wanted to explain?” Alfonso sulked, crossing his arms.

“What? You were the one who was like ‘ _oh, I have a thing or two to say as well’_ …!” Martin said, mimicking the coach’s gestures as well as he could.

“EHM yeah well I meant to say that I’m sad and angry and frustrated and – yeah, all that. I didn’t want to actually talk _about it_.” Alfonso scoffed, pretending like that was the most logical conclusion anyone could draw.

“Jesus, you can’t be serious, Alfonso,” Martin grumbled, glaring at his coach now, “how is anyone supposed to talk to you like this?”

“That’s big coming from you, _Mr. I’m-not-talking-to-Oskar-because-he’s-mean-to-me!_ ” The coach barked back, turning his whole body towards the ADC without even attempting to hide his animosity.

“OH MY GOD HE LITERALLY PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE!” Martin yelled out mindlessly.

That was finally enough to shut the coach up. He stared at the Swede with wide eyes, obviously not knowing how to respond. As Martin realized what he had just spat out in the heat of the moment, he considered whether it was possible to backpaddle – but Alfonso’s gaze was already fixated on his left cheek. He knew. “I’m sorry I just… didn’t think that was even a possibility.” The coach said hesitantly.

“Yeah well… you don’t know _half_ of the things that are happening in this team,” Martin continued, and he realized that he was rambling in front of the worst possible person for that. But, to his surprise, the news didn’t seem to make the coach angry. If he had to put his finger on it, he’d say that Alfonso’s facial expression reflected concern, and maybe a little surprise, still. But no anger.

“Is it bad?” The coach asked, slowly bringing up his hand towards the Swede’s face, but not close enough to actually touch it.

“W-what are you getting at? It’s fine,” Martin muttered, moving away from the other guy’s hand almost instinctively, “I’ve had worse in the past. It was a bullshit thing of him to do, though.”

“Violence is never the solution,” Alfonso remarked, shaking his head in disappointment, “I mean… it’s not like I couldn’t imagine punching someone under certain circumstances…”

“Shit, I hope you two don’t have the same reason,” Martin frowned, turning back towards the coach.

“W-what do you mean?”

“I told you it’s a long story but basically… he thought I was cheating on Tim.” The ADC mumbled barely audible, and he realized it was still something he didn’t enjoy talking about.

“Cheating on Tim?” Alfonso said, looking weirdly disturbed by the thought, “but you weren’t right? Wait, even if you were… what does that have to do with Oskar?”

“See, it doesn’t make any sense!” Martin grunted, crossing his arms – only to sigh in the next moment. “Except it kind of does… because he’s had a thing for Tim since, well, forever.”

“What? Oskar likes Tim? Shit!” Alfonso said, covering his mouth with his previously extended hand. Martin thought it was because of shock in the first moment, but he soon realized that the coach was laughing. Quietly at first, and much louder then – it might have been due to the alcohol hijacking his brain, but Martin found himself chuckle, too, even though he had no idea what was going on. Or, well, exactly because of that.

“Damn, you were right, I really have no idea what’s going on with this team!” Alfonso wheezed, and Martin had never heard the coach laugh this whole-heartedly, about something that wasn’t funny at all, on top of that.

“Yeah well… that was the story,” Martin said, still grinning somehow.

“No, no you still have to tell me,” Alfonso replied, shaking his head intensely, “you have to tell me whether you _really_ cheated on Tim!”

“Why, would you be on Oskar’s side, then?” The ADC muttered, putting the bottle up to his lips to take another sip of wine. “Shit, how is it almost empty?”

“Don’t try to deflect, come on, tell meee,” Alfonso whined, pulling on Martin’s sleeve.

“Geez, you’re so pushy when you’re drunk,” Martin laughed. Since he found it amusing, he didn’t pull away from the Spaniard’s touch this time around.

“Pff, I’m not drunk,” Alfonso replied sullenly, looking mopey all of a sudden.

“Sure you’re not…” The ADC teased.

“Come on, you’re just trying to get out of telling me you cheated!” Alfonso exclaimed, glaring at the other guy.

“No… even though I do wonder why that would irritate you this much,” Martin said, tilting his head to the side while still resting it against the bed.

“W-who wouldn’t be irritated by the idea that someone… close to them was cheating on there significant other??” Alfonso stammered as his cheeks started to flush in a bright red. Or was it his nose? Maybe his whole face gave off a rosy glow, as much as the dim lighting off the room allowed it to be noticed, at least.

“Sorry that… hit a nerve, huh?” Martin said solemnly, putting his hand up on the coach’s shoulder to give it a squeeze as he wasn’t great when it came to encouraging words.

“Wow I mean, way to jump to conclusions but, yeah,” Alfonso swallowed hard, visibly trying to compose himself before continuing, “…it was kind of a disaster.”

“Again I’m… sorry,” the Swede mumbled.

"It is what it is..." The Spaniard mumbled quietly. "Still, I never thought he'd..."

Martin sighed. “I... don’t know if it helps or anything, but I didn’t cheat on Tim.” 

“You didn’t…?” Alfonso whispered, looking Martin directly in the eye – it was now that the ADC noticed how glossy the Spaniard’s eyes were. How much he was trying not to cry.

“Yeah, I didn’t do anything – and I really can’t imagine Zven doing something like that either, you know? Not to you…” The Swede muttered.

He wasn’t sure whether he should just take the coach into his arms, or whether that would be weird considering their professional relationship, or whether that even mattered anymore now that they were drinking wine on the floor of his hotel room. In the end, he didn’t have to make that decision. Alfonso collapsed like a card house next to him, clinging on to his shirt as he started weeping with his face pressed up against the ADC’s chest.

Martin had no idea what to do at first – offer tissues? Say something else to console the sobbing mess that was his coach? Did he even have any useful advice in this weirdly emotional situation? He was probably overthinking it. Hesitantly, Martin put his hand on the Spaniard’s back and patted it ever so lightly. Oddly enough, he found himself wanted to cry, too, as he slowly leaned his head against Alfonso’s, feeling each sob with his entire body. Even though the both of them couldn’t really say anything to help, maybe it wasn’t the worst thing imaginable that they were there to hold each other.

“S-sorry, this is so unprofessional,” Alfonso stuttered after a while, pulling away from the other guy’s embrace hastily.

“I feel like we left that lane a long time ago,” Martin joked. For some reason, his hand had slid down from Alfonso’s back and was now resting on his leg. Something that neither of the guys questioned somehow.

“Yeah, guess you’re right,” Alfonso muttered almost shyly. As he took off his glasses to wipe his eyes, Martin found himself looking at the coach’s face again – but it felt different this time around. Maybe it was due to the fact that his eyes were a little watery, but the Spaniard seemed to have this magical glow that drew Martin in. He swallowed hard.

“Alfonso?”

“Hmm?” The coach hummed, lifting his gaze again – only to be met with Martin’s face, only inches away from his.

“Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are… really pretty?” Martin mumbled, squinting as he tried to make out the coach’s eye colour in the dim light. As no one had bothered to turn on the lights, only the star light illuminated the room. Well - that, and the heavy light pollution of the city. 

“W-what? Where is that coming from all of a sudden?” The coach huffed, blushing more or less instantly – but he didn’t move away again.

“I don’t know, you just took off your glasses and I…” Martin whispered. He didn’t finish his sentence – instead, he glanced down at Alfonso’s lips. Had they always looked this luscious?

“What is this, one of these cliché ugly duckling movies?” The coach scoffed dismissively. His eyes didn’t reflect the same conviction his voice tried to, though. They kept flashing up and down Martin’s face with obvious uncertainty. _Maybe the alcohol is heightening my senses, after all,_ Martin thought. Or maybe it really was the first time the coach had looked at him with this longing in his eyes.

“I just thought I’d tell you,” the Swede said quietly, somehow still coming closer to the other guy, “you know, to build your confidence or something.”

“Isn’t that my job, though?” Alfonso replied with a mild smile.

“I mean, technically, yeah,” Martin smiled back, biting his lower lip in between sentences, “is there anything you wanna compliment me on, then?”

“Hmm, well…” Alfonso hummed. He brought his right hand up to run his fingers through the Swede’s hair, which looked messy after everything it had indulged during that night already. He seemed to marvel at the feeling – _or maybe the colour?_ – for a moment, before he whispered, “you hair…”

“You like it?” Martin smirked. He didn’t hate being touched by Alfonso – no, a part of him even enjoyed it immensely.

“Yeah…” Alfonso mouthed.

As his gaze dropped back down, he looked startled to find Martin’s face so close to his. The ADC felt the coach’s hot breath on his lips, which drove him absolutely nuts. Yes, he hadn’t been sure at first, but now, he knew what his body wanted. It was an absolutely terrible idea, but something told Martin that there was no way to back off now - except maybe if he had imagined the Spaniard reciprocating his longing. But, during the second in which the ADC has hesitated to close the distance between their lips, Alfonso moved his hand down to grab Martin by the back of his head, pushing the other guy towards him.

As Martin’s lips were pressed up against Alfonso’s, his body suddenly felt like it was burning up. What followed was too much tongue in too little time, but with undeniable passion and fire. Before Martin knew it, Alfonso had straddled him, with both of his hands holding onto the Swede’s neck. _Talk about going from zero to a hundred._.. Martin thought as his own hands wandered up and down the coach’s expensive looking and feeling pants, unsure of where he was allowed to touch the older guy. Before he could decide, Alfonso suddenly pushed himself away from Martin’s mouth, much to the ADC’s disappointment.

“Fuck – this is… I mean, I haven’t done this in so long,” Alfonso stammered, looking down almost shamefully, “I don’t think this is a good idea…”

“You’re right…” Martin mumbled, swallowing hard as he followed the coach’s example to look down, only to be met with the tent Alfonso was pitching in his pants. That might just be enough to change his mind. “I mean, we can just take it slow, you know?”

“Shit, Martin, we’re on really thin ice here,” the coach whispered, breathing heavily as his hips moved up a little, seemingly involuntarily.

“Who’s gonna care? Zven? Rasmus?” Martin asked, fully aware of his bitter tone.

“Rasmus?” Alfonso squinted, looking quite irritated, “you mean Caps? Where is that coming from?”

“J-just forget I said that” Martin murmured, stroking up the Spaniard’s thighs, approaching his crotch with his fingertips, “why don’t we just… make each other feel good tonight?”

“Feel good, huh…” Alfonso whispered, running his fingers down the Swede’s defined chest above his shirt, “even though we’re just trying to forget who we can’t seem to let go?”

“Well, it won’t work if you say things like that,” Martin replied with a crooked smile, ignoring the metaphorical stab into his chest as much as possible. His mind was already working on auto-pilot by now – in a good or a bad way, that, he couldn’t tell.

“Yeah… you’re right,” Alfonso mumbled. In the next moment, he was pulling on the ADC’s shirt, trying to get it off way too clumsily.

“Y-you want me to take this off?” Martin chuckled.

“Geez don’t – don’t ask stuff like that!” The Spaniard huffed, looking quite flustered, “just… do it. Don’t ask.”

“Dangerous…” Martin hummed, pulling his shirt off in a flash, “I like it.”

Seconds after, Alfonso’s mouth was reunited with Martin’s and his hands were touching the ADC all over, openly inviting him to do the same. Martin slipped his rather cold hands under the coach’s shirt, causing him to shiver for a brief moment before they started to heat up. It was impossible to tell whether the explosively passionate kisses they shared were induced by the alcohol or just the Spaniard’s hot-blooded nature, but Martin had never quite experienced something like it before. His pants were growing tighter by the second, and he felt impossibly impatient for more. His hands moved back down as Alfonso moved on to sucking on Martin’s neck. Normally, the ADC would be worried for hickeys, but he couldn’t care less in this moment. He was busy with unzipping Alfonso’s pants.

“C-careful,” the coach moaned against the Swede’s neck.

“Of course,” Martin nodded gently as he made his way inside, cupping Alfonso’s hard cock over the fabric of his briefs. The way in which solely that caused the other guy to let out another moan was proof enough that Alfonso was beyond touch starved. Despite his mostly well-fed status, Martin felt a whole lot hungrier all of a sudden. He rubbed the twitching erection from base to tip, making sure to let the coach feel the friction of the fabric. Alfonso’s hips moved up against the ADC’s touch ever so eagerly, much to Martin’s awe.

“Wow, you like that?” He smirked as his other hand travelled down the Spaniard’s backside.

“I – I told you not to ask!” Alfonso groaned, digging his nails into the back of Martin’s neck, “just... keep doing that!”

“It would be easier if you took off your pants, you know?”

“Oh my god, shut up!” Alfonso wailed, glaring at the ADC with his face fully flushed.

“Mhm…” Martin hummed with a smile, bending his head down a little to find the coach’s lips with his again.

As one of his hands was stroking Alfonso’s cock slowly and sensually, the other one made its way inside of the Spaniard’s briefs in the back. More or less to test the waters, Martin carefully pushed up against the other guy’s hole, with one finger at first. He was welcomed in a hot and steamy fashion, combined with another muffled moan trying to escape Alfonso’s lips. Effortlessly, he pushed his finger inside – only to feel the coach’s dick in his other hand grow even harder. He had to hold back another _‘you like that?’_ , which was not as hard when he could grin against Alfonso’s lips instead.

Martin finally ripped down the Spaniard’s briefs, as much as he could while he was still straddling him, that is. He glanced down to look at his cock, taking it back into his free hand in the next moment. Alfonso was panting hard, not able or not willing to say anything against it – it was too obvious that he wanted to be touched more. Martin started stroking up and down the coach’s length a little faster now, using the vast amount of precum dripping down the sides as lube. But, as the coach squirmed under the sensation of Martin’s hands on and inside of his body, the Swede began to wonder how their playtime would continue.

“Say…” he started, glancing up hesitantly, “you’re a bottom, right?”

“I – I swear to god,” Alfonso moaned, leaning his head against the other guy’s forehead, “you keep… asking questions like that!”

“That’s how it works, you know…” Martin said with a slight grin, “or, well, I guess you wouldn’t know.”

“Shit… whatever, maybe I am,” the coach muttered. “So what? You too?”

“What would make you think that?” Martin scoffed, pushing his index finger a little deeper inside of the other guy, almost instinctively.

“Ahh! I – I don’t know, just a feeling,” Alfonso moaned, moving his hips up against the Swede’s hands.

“Yeah, well, I can go either way…” Martin mumbled, debating whether he could fit another finger inside.

“Perfect,” Alfonso whispered, hesitantly pulling on the ADC’s sweatpants, which were barely holding back his erection at all. As his hard cock popped out of his underwear after another pull, the coach’s gaze dropped instantly. Martin kept his hands moving but eyed the other guy’s reaction curiously. His eyes widened at first, but then he looked up at Martin’s face with an irritated expression.

“What is it?” The Swede asked.

“Where’s the rest of it?” Alfonso replied sullenly, seemingly measuring the ADC’s dick with the help of his fingers.

“Wow, really?” Martin frowned, curling up his finger inside of the other guy to make him squeal again, “big talk for someone who can’t even take more than a finger.”

“I – I’m just…. Just out of practice!” Alfonso wailed, suddenly sporting a way too erotic facial expression, “but it… feels good, Martin.”

 _Fuck - don’t just say things like that_ , Martin thought, pulling away to lick his fingers before finally pushing two fingers up into the Spaniard’s tight ass, with his other hand jerking the other guy off even faster. He wanted to make him feel even better now. “How’s that?” He asked shamelessly.

“Shut up, shut up it’s –“ Alfonso moaned, holding onto Martin’s dick as if it was his last life line, “it’s too good, if you keep going I’ll just –“

"You'll just come...?" The ADC murmured slyly as he brought his face up a bit closer to Alfonso's.

"Oh my god, shut up you -"

As his words turned into gibberish, Alfonso shot his load all over Martin’s hand, his thighs, his chest – it looked as if he had held it in for a long time, judging by the amount of hot cum that was dripping down the Swede’s body as Alfonso rode out his orgasm. _His hips are agile, that’s for sure_ , Martin thought, licking his lips as he slowly pulled his fingers out.

“Sorry – I don’t know how that happened,” Alfonso stammered, trying to steady his breathing somehow.

“You just felt good… no harm in that,” Martin smiled, looking down to inspect the damage. “Wow, it’s everywhere, even here…” He turned his cock in his hand, looking at the Spaniard’s cum running down its side. “That can’t be sanitary, huh?”

“Sorry, I can just… clean it up,” Alfonso mumbled, jumping up to kneel down in between Martin’s legs. It had been a joke, of course, but, before the ADC could intervene, the coach had already taken his whole length into his mouth, slicking up and down while sucking simultaneously. Martin threw his head back and barely supressed a moan. _What is this? How is he doing that?_ He thought in astonishment, with his head spinning in the next moment, and his whole body fizzing in pleasure. Despite all of his various experiences, Martin had never quite experienced someone blowing him like that. The occasional gagging noises, combined with the alcohol that had gone down the same path prior, made Martin worry about what could happen – but not enough to stop him from enjoying the best deep throat of his life. His fingers curled up in Alfonso’s curls, pushing the coach’s head back and forth lightly to support his rhythm. In only a minute or so, Martin felt like he was approaching his limits.

“A-Alfonso, if you keep this up... I’ll come soon,” Martin panted, preparing himself to ask the last shameless question he had in mind. “Where do you want it?”

In a quick motion, the Spaniard pulled away and started jerking the Swede’s impossibly hard cock off with his hand instead. With lust in his eyes, he looked up at Martin and whispered, “just… return the favour.” He opened his mouth suggestively and closed his eyes. Martin gasped, shuffling around to get up on his knees somehow, elevating himself just enough. He took his cock right out of the coach’s hand, stroking it tightly as he felt himself being pushed over the edge. With a loud grunt, Martin started shooting his load across the other guy’s willing face, one pump after the other, finding his cheek, his lips, his tongue – everything.

It was such a lewd and unexpected sight. Considering that the Spaniard had barely managed to express what he wanted moments before, Martin wondered whether he had been liberated somehow as he slowly came down from his high. As Alfonso started to lick his lips, opening his eyes again, Martin was still catching his breath, and he was still surprised at the amount of cum his third orgasm of the night had spurted out. He let himself slump back down on his butt, leaning against the side of his bed to rest. In front of him, Alfonso was still kneeling with his hands on his thighs, looking weirdly lost.

“It’s dripping down your chin,” Martin chuckled, tapping his own chin. “We made quite a mess, huh?”

“Mess is the right word for it,” Alfonso replied sharply, staring down at the floor.

“Hmm?”

“A mess, Martin! This is a fucking mess!” The coach exclaimed, and it took the ADC a good moment to understand that there was actual agitation in his tone.

“What do you mean? Here, we can just clean it up,” he mumbled, grabbing some tissues from the bed to give them to Alfonso.

“That’s not what I mean! Oh my god, what did we do? What did _I_ do?” The Spaniard rambled, shaking his head in disbelief.

“We had fun, remember? No harm done, we just –“

“EXCEPT THIS DID DO HARM!” Alfonso yelled out, getting up to his feet in the next moment, “my god, Jesper was right – I was such a fool!”

“I don’t think I understand, but how about you take this tissue and –“

“Yes, how could you understand! This is all wrong, can’t you see?” The coach grunted as he grabbed the tissue right out of Martin’s hand to wipe his face with it.

“I…” Martin started, looking down at his chest, which was still covered in cum. Again. It was always the same, wasn’t it? “Of course I can see it,” he admitted after a moment.

“Great – okay, well, maybe there’s a way to save this,” Alfonso mumbled, dropping the crumbled up tissue into the trash can near the bed as he zipped his pants back up.

“Woah, what are you trying to do?” Martin stammered as he jumped up on his feet as well, “you can’t leave now, you can’t even think straight, you’re drunk!”

“Bullshit, I’ve never seen things clearer!” Alfonso shouted, grabbing his jacket, “I need to get back to him, don’t you understand?”

“But how – how, Alfonso, that’s so crazy!” Martin said, trying to stop the other guy.

“No – this is crazy. Us trying to bang our fucking tears away, that’s crazy!” The coach replied, looking the ADC directly into his eyes. Martin didn’t know what to say to that – it was, of course, one hundred percent true. It was in that moment that he realized that he couldn’t stop the Spaniard, no matter what he said.

“Still, just… just be safe, okay?” He muttered softly. 

“Yeah…” Alfonso nodded slowly, “you too.”

With a tissue in hand, Martin wiped his chest as he watched the coach put on his shoes and walk away. It made him wonder whether he needed to go somewhere, too. Not right now, no – but was there someone he needed to tell something to this badly? Of course, he knew the answer oh too well.

\---

“Martin? Martin, I asked you a question!” Alfonso said snappishly, “come on, what were you going to tell Enrique?”

“Give the man a break, Alfonso, he keeps spacing out today somehow,” Enrique laughed, patting the empty spot on his other side “Just sit down, okay?”

“I don’t have time for this…” The coach muttered, but he sat down anyway as he got his phone out of his pocket, “shit – already, really?”

“What is it?” Enrique asked curiously, leaning over the other Spaniard’s shoulder to catch a glimpse of his phone’s screen, “why are you in a hurry? Didn’t you just get back from a trip or whatever?”

“Huh? What makes you think that?” Alfonso huffed angrily as he turned away from the nosy guy.

“Your suitcase?”

“Oh – yeah, I wanted to go away but it didn’t work, doesn’t… matter now,” the coach explained as he typed something on his phone.

“What do you mean you were going somewhere? We’re in the middle of our Split, Alfonso!” Martin said, feeling astonished by his coach’s apparent lack of judgement. He had already feared that the other guy might have planned an overly romantic gesture of some sort to win back Zven’s heart, but this went beyond his wildest imagination.

“W-well, I didn’t go, so let’s just stop talking about it,” Alfonso grumbled. He suddenly turned around, looking up and down Enrique’s and Martin’s body, seemingly judging the way they were dressed. “Your look is okay… do you want to go out to a bar with me?”

“A bar? Now?” Martin remarked, feeling baffled by the coach’s sudden change of plans.

“Sounds great!” Enrique chimed in. “Just us? Who else is coming? Should I ask Lauri?”

"What? No, please, that's the last thing I want right now," Alfonso remarked with a deep frown.

"Wow, I better not let Lauri hear that," the other Spaniard said with a shrug.

"What's going on, Alfonso?" Martin asked, as the more important questions had still not been answered, "who do you want us to meet up with?"

“No, it’s just… I asked stupid Grabbz to meet me for drinks, and he thought it was an invitation for both of our teams to meet?” The annoyance was writing all over Alfonso’s gloomy face as he scanned the rest of the room. “Where is the rest of our guys, actually?”

“Sleeping, sleeping, out somewhere, gaming in the office,” Martin explained, counting down the line on his fingers.

“Great…” Alfonso sighed, “it’s just us three then, what a delight…”

“Don’t say it like that, sounds like a great opportunity to me!” Enrique grinned as he got off the couch, “come on, guys, let’s make the night ours!”

“Why are you here again?” Alfonso mumbled under his breath.

“You’re way too enthusiastic, Enrique,” Martin muttered as he reluctantly got up as well. “This might not be as fun as you imagine it to be…”

“Nonsense, Martin,” the midlaner smirked with one arm up on the ADC’s shoulders, “I think you’re the one who doesn’t realize what kind of an opportunity this is!”

“An opportunity to get wasted, I hope,” the coach grumbled behind them, “let’s just go, okay?”

“Fine…”

With mixed feelings, Martin left the seemingly safe space that was Fnatic's apartment with the two Spaniards by his side. He didn't know what unnerved him the most. Was it that he still had no idea how to talk to Alfonso about the night before? Or that he was about to walk into a storm that could only be even worse than that? For the first time in a while, Martin was sure that he wasn't overthinking his situation. If anything, he couldn't possibly be thinking about it _enough_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand that's a wrap on Rekkles' POV! No, wait, actually - I lied again. As you could probably tell, there will be another Rekkles chapter, I simply couldn't bring it down any further... but worry not, all will be revealed eventually! 
> 
> So, what do you think? Was the decision making in this chapter bad enough to be Halloween-worthy? Did it freak you out? What do you think awaits Rekkles in the bar? Oh, I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts about it, either here on ao3 or on the DS under #story-discussions. Every form of feedback is highly appreciated!
> 
> And, as always, thank you for tuning in!


	55. Part 12: The other Martin (I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome back everybody! This is another chapter of the infamous Part 12 of this whacky story: No Sleep! 
> 
> First of all, I want to apologize for bamboozling most of you guys into thinking that I'd post the last part of the Rekkles triology today - to be fair, that was the plan some time ago, but I changed the schedule for reasons that may be revealed eventually. However, I hope that you can forgive me, especially since the chapter will be posted at some point. Now, if anyone can take the spotlight away from our lovely Rekkclown, it should at least be the other Martin, right? Right. 
> 
> I also want to say that I am very proud of this chapter. Writing it was so different from any other chapter, in more ways than I had anticipated initially. It's also the only chapter that has ever been beta-read by more than one person (shout-out to a very special friend from the DreamServer!). I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I did while writing it, and well, while re-reading it over and over again. 
> 
> PS: I know, I know, I keep asking, but have you joined our lovely community, the DreamServer on Discord yet? I can just emphasize what a lovely bunch of people have collected on that platform yet again, and point towards the Holiday events coming up soon! Check the notes of the newest chapter to join!

There were a few things that Wunder had always felt certain about. For one, he had always known what he wanted. And, for the other, he had always known who he was. Both of these things had gotten the toplaner into trouble on a regular basis, as his teammates tried to get him to clean up his perfectly cozy room or play champs he didn’t like all the time these days. But that never made the toplaner falter _. It’s my room, why would I change anything about it for those clowns?_ The Dane thought grumpily as he kicked the empty cans of Red Bull surrounding his bed to the side to climb out of it. Admitting that the growing chaos surrounding him was getting out of hand would certainly speak against everything Martin stood for, and so he decided to just strategically move around the piles of dirty clothes on his floor to grab some fresh clothes out of his closet. _There, no problem at all_ , the toplaner thought with a triumphant smile as he finally made it out of the room after almost falling flat on his face about three times.

Martin didn’t particularly enjoy showering in the mornings, but he had made it a habit after he had moved into a house filled with a horde of other smelly guys his age anyway, out of respect towards everyone’s nostrils, mostly. Even though today was Sunday, the toplaner didn’t want to skip his morning wash today, either – because it wasn’t just any other off-day. Because he wouldn’t just spend his day playing WoW in his dark room all day. No, today, Martin would go out to do something he hadn’t done in a very long time: he was going on a date. It was quite unusual for the normally so composed Dane, but Martin started to feel nervous as soon as he turned on the water in the shower. Maybe because it finally started to feel real. _It’s really happening,_ he thought, staring at the scarce selection of haircare products that were available in the G2 bathroom, _just_ _me and Hannah_ …

Now, there were several reasons why the thought of a date made the toplaner nervous. For one, it had been a while since his last romantic encounter, sure. For the other, the girl he had asked out was someone his long-time rival – and teammate – Jankos had also had his eye on, which simply added to the pressure of making it count. _He’s already more than annoying enough the way it is, no need to give him more material to bug me with,_ Martin thought with a sigh as he reached for the old faithful 3-in-1 bodywash. Yes, the obnoxious jungler who always seemed to breathe down his neck in the most irritating way possible was probably what bothered him the most.

Or at least that was what the Dane tried to convince himself of as he started to soap his body. As he brushed down his left arm, Martin thought about incorporating a few more exercises for his biceps into his workouts in the future, as he certainly did not want to lose any mass on his guns. _One more rep on the chest press, maybe_ , the toplaner considered as he proceeded to put the soap all around his upper body. As his hands kept roaming further and further down, Martin’s gaze didn’t follow anymore. _Who am I kidding_ , he finally thought as he turned on the hot water to rinse his body, _of course this would be what I’m most nervous about._

Yes, Martin had truly always known who he was and what he wanted. But, in some ways, the world around him had needed some time to catch up with that. And this particular part of his body was one of the last things that reminded him of that. It’s why Martin preferred not to think about it – his mind went venturing elsewhere. The disconnection was abrupt and always felt a bit strange, which is why the toplaner tended to hurry during this part of his morning routine. He quickly dried himself off to put on his boxers as fast as possible right after stepping out of the shower, as he always did. As for the rest of his body, Martin mostly liked looking at it. He liked the fact that he was almost too tall to look at himself in the bathroom mirror, and that his shoulders were broader than his stupid jungler’s, and that there was nothing but a generous amount of hair gracing his chest. Yes, in many ways, Martin had gotten lucky with various aspects of his body, as ironic as that sounded. But there were certain insecurities regarding some topics that would probably always remain – and dating was most definitely one of them. _What if this is a dealbreaker for her?_ Wunder thought nervously as he shoved his toothbrush into his mouth, _what if she doesn’t want to see me anymore after this?_

When it came to the people around him that had needed to catch up with who he was and what he wanted, Martin had, fortunately, mostly been very lucky as well. His parents had gotten him whatever toys he wanted, his dad even drove him to gaming conventions as soon as he had gotten old enough to know about them – and, most importantly, they also had been incredibly supportive when it came to his transition. The legal and medical process up until now had been tedious, painful and exhausting, but it had been well worth it. Now, as he looked around the messy and barely equipped bathroom of the G2 boys, he really felt at home, because that’s all he was – one of the boys.

Yes, Martin had always know that that was what he was. It had never been a question to him that he was a trans, that he was a man. And, finally, he was at a place where the world around him didn't question that anymore either. During his career as a pro player, around his friends, and in most other social context, the toplaner had never even felt the need to talk about it. Sure, his teammates would probably be just as accepting as his parents if he’d ever decide to tell them about his past. But the distinct possibility of them seeing him as anything else as their grumpy mad lad of a toplaner repulsed Martin immensely – he simply didn’t see any use in it.

Sadly enough, the same logic didn’t apply when it came to dating, which is why the Dane knew he’d have to tell Hannah now. If he had been in it for a simple fling or a one night stand even, he might have been able to work around it, as he had successfully managed to in the past – but, somehow, he could already tell that he had different intentions with the Brunette he had gotten to know just a few weeks ago. There was something about her that fascinated him to the point where he could imagine a serious relationship with her – something that Martin had mostly given up on after entering the professional League of Legends scene. It should have been an exciting thing to feel, but all it did was scare the Dane, as it had, indeed, been quite some time since he had last been scared of being rejected for who he was.

After dwelling on the possible outcomes of his nearing confession and trying to comb his hair in a way that didn’t look awkward for a little too long, Wunder finally finished up getting dressed and left the steamy bathroom behind. The cold air of the hallway hit his face, bringing him back to his senses – enough to realize that there were voices coming from the living room. When Martin realized that it was Rasmus and Jankos talking – a considerably easy conclusion to come to – he hurried over to check out what was going on right away. After everything they had talked about the night before, he simply worried about the wellbeing of the other Dane too much to ignore the insecure tone of his voice.

“What’s wrong?” Wunder muttered instead of the usual ‘good morning’ when he entered the room.

“Morning Martin,” Rasmus said with a soft smile, lifting his head for the toplaner, “it’s still the same thing, really.”

“You mean what we talked about last night?” Wunder yawned loudly as he sat down at Rasmus’ side. Conveniently enough, the fact that Jankos was sitting on the ADC’s other side allowed the toplaner to ignore him altogether. “No news from Oskar, huh…” He went on.

“Nothing,” Rasmus nodded slowly, “what about you? Still nervous?”

“Tons! It doesn’t really help that I barely slept…” The toplaner grumbled, staring into the distance. Come to think of it, he might have not slept at all – but he was past the age of bragging about that. “I feel like I might need some coffee to make it through the day.” He finally explained.

“I made some earlier, feel free to drink it!” Jankos exclaimed, nodding towards the kitchen.

“Did you just… offer me coffee?” Wunder squinted in disbelief. That might have been the most uncharacteristic thing he had ever heard the jungler say. “Are you okay…?” He asked carefully, with a slight hint of irony tinting his voice.

“WHY IS IT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND THAT I’M NICE NOW!” The jungler grunted, stomping his foot onto the ground, “just TAKE it, would you??”

“…Sure. I’ve got bigger fish to fry today anyway,” the toplaner shrugged, slouching towards the kitchen.

And that was certainly true. Even though Jankos’ drastic change in character, which made Wunder question whether he might have been replaced by a different, equally as annoying Polish jungler, was concerning, he didn’t want to waste too much time thinking about it. For now, he was just happy to accept the coffee, hoping it would inject him with some desperately needed energy. But, as the toplaner started to rummage through the kitchen’s cabinet, he was met with a oh too well-known problem. _No clean mugs?_ What’s new… He thought with a sigh. As someone who had skipped loading the dishwasher as long as he could remember, he was used to improvising when there was a shortage of clean dishes of any sort. Cardboard boxes were perfectly good plates in a different life, drinks could even be filled into plastic bags if there were straws around, and of course, most food could be eaten with your hands anyway. One could argue that it would be much easier to just do the dishes as soon as they piled up, as Miky liked to do when he teased Wunder, but the toplaner would simply disagree. And so, Martin grabbed a bowl and filled it to the brim, taking the first sip as a precaution as he started moving towards the living room.

One glance towards the apartment’s entrance was enough to realize that he was, in fact, walking right into what he liked to call the _‘Miky & Perkz Show’_, something that the toplaner usually avoided as much as he could. Even after playing with him on two different teams over the course of years, Wunder still found Mihael to be unpredictable and sometimes incredibly irritating – not just when he started talking about anime, that is. Perkz, on the other hand, had been quite chill during the toplaner’s first year with the team. Sure, he was the definition of cocky, but Martin didn’t mind that too much, as his confidence was confused for arrogance on a regular basis as well.

But then, after Miky had joined the team, everything changed – the devilish Duo was born. They’d make sly remarks, start teasing everyone except for Rasmus mercilessly, and – so help him god – Wunder was sure he even caught them fucking on multiple occasions in the most random settings. It was not like he was repulsed by homosexuality – that would, in a sense, be hypocritical as a member of the community that had welcomed him during his difficult times back in Denmark. But Martin had never been someone to really let his flag fly high. He felt like he was just a normal dude, and wanted to be treated that way, too. _But some people around here have never heard of the word ‘privacy’, I guess_ , the toplaner thought as he listened to Perkz and Miky talking about their threesome with Sam a little too openly. Wunder was about to mentally check out of the conversation, as he had done many times before, until Perkz mentioned something that was bound to get his attention right back.

“So, who wants gifts?”

“Just tell us what you brought!” Jankos shouted, bringing down his volume towards the end to add, “…please.”

Wunder reassumed the position of giving Jankos an irritated stare. Just as he had thought that the jungler offering him coffee was the weirdest thing to happen that day, he said ‘please’ to no other than Perkz – Wunder could not believe it. It was not like Jankos was an impolite person, but he shared a very complicated relationship with most of his teammates, in which the word ‘please’ had certainly never had a place. _Maybe for Rasmus_ , Martin considered, glancing over at the ADC next to him. Caps was laughing, sounding weirdly nervous – he must have been thinking the same thing. Perkz and Miky, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of their lifes.

“What was that? _Please?_ Well, if you want to know THAT badly…” Perkz smirked ever so smugly, pulling out a very small, square and heavily decorated box to toss it over to the Pole.

“What is this…?” Jankos asked, carefully eyeing the box from all sides.

“Smells like lavender,” Caps mumbled, holding his nose a bit closer to the unknown object to get a better idea of its smell. Wunder couldn’t help but smirk when he pictured the smaller Dane as an eager search dog.

“It’s a bar of soap.” Perkz snickered, signalling the jungler to open it. As Jankos looked at the delicately carved out piece of soap in his hands, Wunder was sure that, this time, the jungler would explode like he always did when the devilish Duo provoked him. This simply had to be the end of the line.

“We immediately thought about you when we saw it,” Mihael added, slyly swinging one leg over the other, “do with that information what you want.”

Wunder eyed the Pole’s reaction carefully, while wondering whether it was fair to call anyone out in this team of smelly idiots. _I guess Miky smells nice most of the time_ , he thought grumpily, as he figured that must have something to do with the support’s questionable hobbies. Jankos’ head was still steaming when the toplaner concluded that they’d probably all use the soap if there was nothing else around, anyway.

“You….” Jankos hissed, glaring at Mihael as he enclosed the soap in his fist

“…Yeah?” The support asked after a second of waiting for a reaction.

“You look really GOOD today, Miky,” Jankos continued, looking at the Slovenian with the hint of a sparkle in his eyes, “it’s like you’re GLOWING or something…”

“What the…” Wunder started. At this point, irritated stares just wouldn’t cut it anymore.

The jungler’s reaction was not only nice, no – for a brief moment, the toplaner thought he actually saw a flirtatious attempt. Now, that was something he had gotten used to on the team, but certainly not when it came to Jankos. It was not like he thought the Pole was homophobic – well, considering where he grew up, that might have been a reasonable thing to assume. Still, Martin chose to believe that the jungler probably had some deeply rooted insecurities that caused him to be a little uncomfortable around any sort of homoerotic insinuations. Wunder couldn’t say that the same didn’t apply to him sometimes, even though out of an entirely different motivation. Still, he would have never expected Jankos to start acting like he was actually interested in Miky _– or is it possible that he really could be? For real?_ Wunder contemplated. But it felt too ridiculous. No, it must have been some sort of scheme.

“Stay out of my lane, Jankos,” Perkz laughed, waving the other guy off before reaching for the next gift, “okay what’s next… right, this premium, high quality mix of nuts!”

“I guess out of you three, Rasmus is the only one that likes ‘em,” Miky remarked, taking the quite expensive looking snack out of the midlaner’s hand to toss it over to the Dane.

“Oh wow, these look great, thanks!” The ADC said, smiling appreciatively, “I’ll try some later…”

“WHO SAYS THAT RASMUS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO LIKES NUTS?” Jankos shouted, balling his fists for whatever reason.

“Okay, dude, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you really need to chill…” Luka shook his head, but he was still grinning from ear to ear.

Again, Wunder couldn’t help but shake his head at the jungler’s outburst – but he also silently agreed. Ever since he could remember, he had wanted some nuts for himself, after all. _One pair is enough though,_ the toplaner thought solemnly as he watched Rasmus turn the bag of nuts around in his hands with big eyes _, I’ll leave the rest to you guys._ He was tempted to chuckle at what others might have called dark humour, but Martin was able to pull himself together before anyone could have asked what he was thinking about.

“Right, see, we got these amazingly soft slippers right here…” Miky explained as he pulled the luxurious footwear out of the branded bag, “Wunder, we are very excited to give them to you. And even more excited about not seeing those hooves you call feet anymore every single morning.”

“Oh fuck off…!” Wunder smirked, grabbing the slippers to put them on right away. He didn’t even know why he enjoyed being called out for his big feet – maybe it was an ego thing.

“See, that’s just that much better…” Perkz said, acknowledging the toplaner’s elegant new look.

“They do look quite comfortable,” Rasmus agreed.

“He does look a little more CONFIDENT!” Jankos remarked with a shrug.

“Well, why wouldn’t he be…” Luka said, sitting down next to the big toplaner suggestively.

“Well, actually…” The Dane muttered, staring at the slippers in a more serious manner now. He wasn’t sure whether he actually wanted any of his teammate’s advice on the topic, as Rasmus was probably the most empathetic and competent out of all of them, anyway – but, at this point, it felt as if it was worth a shot somehow. _If Miky and Perkz can somehow get a three-way-thing to work, maybe they know something I don’t_ , he considered for a moment, looking up to watch the chaotic pair’s reaction.

“Oh, why so serious? Is it a touchy subject?” Miky asked, tapping his cheek with his index finger, “… like _World of Warcraft_?” .

“You’re a riot, Miky…” Wunder said after a moment of silence in which he had expected Jankos to crack a joke that didn’t come. He rolled his eyes a little as he went on, “if I didn’t look like my most confident self before, it’s probably because I have a date coming up and I’m kind of nervous about it…”

“WHAT? You – I thought you were joking when you said that yesterday!” Jankos spluttered with his face still beaming bright red.

“Why would I be joking about that…” The toplaner answered, kicking the slippers off in a way that could only be described as aggressive. He really thought his lengthy quarrel with the jungler would have come to an end by now, after everything he had tried to make it right – but, then again, he had yet to tell the other guy that the girl he was going out with was, in fact, Hannah. _One thing after the other_ , Martin thought grumpily.

“It is unusual, but not an unwelcomed change!” Luka smirked beside the Dane, putting his arm around his bulky shoulders, “see, I knew it would only take the right lady to see what a great guy you are!”

“Hey, I said the same thing yesterday, didn’t I?” Rasmus chimed happily.

“You need a pep-talk or something?” Miky asked with one brow cocked up, but he seemed to be prepared for the job. Now that he thought about it, the support had always been the first to cheer him up. After cracking a joke or two about his misery first, of course, but still.

“Maybe I underestimated you guys… even you, Jankos,” the toplaner muttered, glancing over to the jungler who seemed to hold his breath, presumably in order not to say anything uncalled for.

“Us gamers gotta stick up for each other, right?” Rasmus said eagerly, clasping his hands together demonstratively.

“Sure… I’m in the mood to help out, actually,” Luka shrugged, sporting a smug grin, “tell me, Martin… where are you going to meet this mysterious woman?”

“Not too sure, actually… maybe a Café? Or a park or something? We haven’t worked out the details, but I should get going in…” Wunder explained, pausing to check his phone for the time – just to look completely panicked seconds later. _Shit, shit, shit!_ He thought, cramming the phone back into his pocket immediately.

“What is it? Are you running LATE or something??” The jungler inquired.

“SUPER LATE!” The toplaner shouted, jumping up from the couch, “I thought I had more time, shit… I don’t feel ready at all…”

“Let’s just take a second to breathe, hmm?” Perkz suggested casually.

“It always helps me to think about my happy place…” Rasmus added hesitantly. 

“I appreciate it guys, but this is really not helping…” Wunder stammered, walking in a small circle, “god, this is so not like me…!”

“She must be really SPECIAL, hmm…” Jankos hummed.

“Look, you showered, you put on fresh clothes and it looks like you’ve tanked up some caffeine as well. What else could you do to get ready?” Perkz explained, “I think you’re good to go.”

“Did you put on nice _Wunderwear_ , though?” Mihael smirked, “just in case you’re finally gonna get some.”

“Miky!” Rasmus intervened, giving the support a concerned look.

“What? I’m just saying…” The Slovenian shrugged.

Normally, Wunder would have expected this impossibly annoying grin on the support’s face to persevere, but he looked like his mind was occupied by something else somehow. Sometimes, when the support would make jokes like these, Wunder wondered whether Miky knew. Considering how much time they had spent living under the same roof together, it wouldn’t have been a surprise – but they had never talked about it, not even close. If the Slovenian had found out at some point, he seemed to be willing to keep it to himself. Wunder wouldn’t have wanted anything else. _But he’s probably just being a mischievous fuck like always_ , the toplaner thought with the hint of a smirk on his lips that he tried to not let anyone see.

“Would you cut it out?” Wunder finally murmured. Of course, he didn’t mind the joke. Hell, he himself had thought it was a great idea to call himself freaking _Wunderwear_ at some point. But the Dane also did take offence at the support’s insinuation regarding Hannah. “We haven’t even kissed yet. Or held hands. Or anything, really…”

“Aww, but that’s okay,” Rasmus mumbled, giving the toplaner his most encouraging smile.

“Ahh, to be young and in love…” Luka hummed with a wide smile on his lips, “don’t worry, big guy, you got this.”

“Who is this MYSTERIOUS WOMAN anyway??” Jankos asked loudly.

Martin almost flinched – that was about the last thing he wanted to say in front of the jungler in this moment. “Just… someone I met on Tinder,” he muttered. That had to be enough for now.

“Someone from Tinder you didn’t hook up with immediately?” Miky said, squinting at the Dane in disbelief, “what a wild concept…”

“Measured by your questionable standards, maybe,” the Dane grumbled. He wondered whether the support had ever mentioned going on a date – then again, that didn’t necessarily fit his ‘style’, if one could call it that. But Martin had never felt the need to ask the Slovenian. Considering that he tended to overshare the most ridiculous things, there was probably a reason for why Miky decided to keep certain aspects of himself hidden, after all.

“I think it’s really sweet,” Rasmus added hesitantly. Martin gave the other Dane a short, deeply concerned look. He knew that his first date panic hit his ADC at the worst possible timing, but there was nothing he could really do about that right now.

“Just go get her, tiger,” Perkz remarked, giving the toplaner a mental push.

There was no use in postponing his leave now that he was late anyway – he was probably as ready as he was ever going to be, just like his teammate had suggested. But he was not about to let them hear that. “Right… well, you guys have been no help whatsoever,” Martin sighed. “I’ll get going now. See you later or whatever…”

“Good luck!” Rasmus shouted. It was the last thing Wunder heard before exiting the room.

\---

When Martin finally arrived at the destination he and Hannah had worked out the day before, he already felt a lot more relaxed. He had hurried enough to forget putting on some proper pants and was now rocking his usual sweatpants, but, besides that, everything was going better than expected. The toplaner had texted Hannah as soon as he had mounted the train, and, as it turned out, she also had forgotten about time altogether. _To think I’d ever be this excited about someone running late_ , Wunder thought with a smirk as he leaned against the cold brick wall of a building near the train station he was waiting at.

He didn’t particularly know his way around the neighbourhood around here, but Hannah had offered to lead the way, which was why Martin did not feel particularly nervous about their pathing. But he wasn’t so sure when it came to the items. _Should I have brought her flowers or something?_ The toplaner contemplated with his hands in his pockets. But, in the end, it was too late to consider sprinting to the gift shop on the other side of the street now. _There she is,_ Martin thought with a soft smile on his lips as he spotted the much smaller brunette walking up the stairs. Hannah had her long hair up in a bun, hiding her usually so present curls. Her scarf was thick and crimson, matching the colour of her lipstick. She was wearing a long, dark-grey coat with a hood, almost resembling the robe of a mage on the first look. Wunder found himself so fascinated by that particular thought that he spaced out for a second.

“Martin?” Hannah asked carefully, stopping a good meter away from the much taller guy.

“Yeah, uhm, hey Hannah,” the toplaner muttered, awkwardly leaning down to hug her briefly.

“Everything okay?” She asked when she noticed Martin’s continuous stare, glancing down at her outfit, “do I look weird or something?”

“No, no not at all,” the Dane said quickly, “I think the coat is…” _Don’t make this about World of Warcraft, don’t make this about World of Warcraft, don’t make this about World of Warcraft_ , Martin thought with immense concentration. “It’s beautiful,” he finally concluded.

“Oh, thank you!” Hannah beamed, “I bought it because it reminded me of the cloak my _Guild Wars 2_ Elementalist wears.”

“Really?” Martin hummed, smiling a little brighter.

“Was that a weird thing to say?” She asked hesitantly. The toplaner wondered whether she might have been just as nervous as him somehow. “Not at all,” he answered, pushing himself away from the wall, “so, uhm, do you have any idea where we could go first?”

“Oh yeah, tons,” Hannah replied with a confident nod, “this is the best part of the city for fun activities if you ask me. But first, I have an important question for you…”

“Uhm, yeah?” Martin mumbled as he shoved his hands into his pockets for some warmth.

“Have you ever had Boba Tea?” She asked with a dead serious expression.

In Wunder’s head, his weeb-siren started to go off. It took an immense amount of restraint not to act upon his instinct – for now, he wanted to play it cool. _You don’t even know whether that’s really a Japanese thing_ , he thought, biting his tongue, _and for god’s sake, don’t call her a weeb in the first 5 minutes of the date_. Martin decided to simply shake his head instead of opening his mouth.

“Alright, good – see, I thought it was just one of these stupid trends, but it’s actually quite fun. I know a good place right around the corner, you wanna go?”

“Sure,” Martin agreed, smirking ever so slightly as he started following the Brunette who was leading the way.

Walking next to Hannah felt a little awkward at first, as Wunder wasn’t sure just how close he was supposed to walk next to her – or what he was supposed to do with his hands – or whether he should try to look for a conversation starter. It was, however, quite difficult to come up with something when all Martin could think about was how cute the Brunette’s tiny steps were next to his. The toplaner had slowed down his pace to match hers already, but, even though she was wearing boots with a considerably high heel, she was still just that much shorter than him. _Not that I mind_ , Martin thought, smiling to himself. Yes, in a way, this arguably irrelevant fact made him feel the tiniest bit more secure in the outcome of this date.

After a surprisingly complicated process of ordering the supposedly perfect combination of flavours in the local Bubble Tea shop, Martin and Hannah were back on the road, both carrying a large cup of the trendy drink. The toplaner didn’t like to admit it, but he found himself enjoying the taste of his mango-maracuja-mixture more or less after the first sip, even though the feeling of the bubbles popping in his mouth was something he’d have to get used to somehow. In a way, he was glad that the beverage had presented itself as a convenient excuse for not talking too much, as Martin was busy with chewing on the bubbles and trying his best not to chuckle about each pop.

Yes, if it hadn’t been for the Bubble Tea, he might have ended up saying something stupid, after all – this way, he could just trot next to Hannah and listen to her. She talked about work, about how she had first met Sam, about how she had stumbled upon League of Legends a while ago, about how her sister had teased her because of it – in what felt like the timespan of ten minutes. _She sure talks a lot_ , Martin pondered, sucking on his thick straw a little harder to get the last bubbles out of his cup. He didn’t hate it, though. He listened in awe, only trailing off sometimes when he found himself counting Hannah's freckles. _Should be illegal to look this cute_ , Martin thought as he smiled at her with the straw still stuck between his lips.

“And then, I said ‘so what if I want to shoot some of the bubbles out of my straw like it was a blowpipe, I paid for it and it’s way over the top to call it freaking blasphemy’ and she just looked at me like – ahh, gosh, sorry... I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” Hannah muttered, slowing down her pace a little as she looked up, “I tend to ramble when I’m nervous and… okay, that’s a lie, I just talk a lot, really. But even more in situations like these…”

“I don’t mind,” Martin replied with a slight shrug, looking around for a trash can to toss his empty cup. But he stopped as soon as he realized that they seemed to have teleported to a different part of the city. The toplaner somehow hadn’t even noticed that they must have strolled into a park at some point, let alone which one. “Sorry but – where are we?” The toplaner asked after a brief moment of irritation.

“Oh, well, this is one of my favourite parks! It’s called _‘Großer Tiergarten’_ – uhm, I think it roughly translates to _great animal garden_ , but it has little to do with that,” Hannah chuckled, poking the bubbles at the bottom of her cup with her straw, “we’d reach the zoo if we kept walking into this direction, though.”

“Hmm, alright, that sounds kind of cool…” The toplaner mumbled, looking around himself to take in the fact that they were surrounded by nothing but wide, perfectly trimmed green areas, decorated with a huge variation of trees and evergreen shrubs. He could still hear the traffic noise in the distance, but, besides that, it was hard to recognize this place as a part of Berlin.

“It’s nice here, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah, for sure – I was just wondering about the name,” Martin went on, reeling his thoughts back in as he looked back to face the Brunette next to him, “if there are no animals around here, why call it an animal garden?”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly around for that decision,” Hannah laughed, “but my Dad told me this place used to be a hunting ground. That might have something to do with it.”

“Ohh, I see,” the Dane hummed, grinning without even noticing, “that’s brutal.”

“Why do you look so happy, then?” The girl snickered, tucking on the much taller guy’s sleeve playfully.

“Do I?” Martin smirked, glancing away as he noticed himself getting flustered. _God, when did I become so lame_ , he thought, reminding himself of the fact that she was merely touching his thick winter jacket, and that that didn’t even mean anything. _Lame_.

“Kind of,” Hannah said with a much softer voice. Her hand lingered on the toplaner’s arm a little while longer – but only for a couple of steps. “Ahh – look ahead, the monument that’s coming up is bound to make you laugh for real!” The Brunette added quickly as she moved away again, both hands now holding her cup again.

“What makes you think that?” Martin asked after clearing his throat.

“You know…” Hannah giggled, lowering her cup to mimic the motion of shooting a crossbow.

As the toplaner’s gaze followed the trajectory of the Brunette’s imaginary weapon, he noticed what she had meant immediately. The statue they were walking towards, which had just looked like a huge stone from a distance, was now starting to show its full form to the Dane’s curious eyes. It was a pair of lions – actually, as Martin looked closer at them, he noticed the outlines of two lion cubs posing on each side of their mother. The lioness was lying down, with the much bigger lion towering over her. At first glance, the scene could only be described as majestic and blissful. But then, Martin noticed it. As if Hannah’s allusion had fleshed out into reality, the end of the bronze bolt of a crossbow was sticking out of the lioness’ shoulder. He shuddered. This sight would certainly not make him laugh any time soon. As Martin stopped walking about twenty meters in front of the statue, wondering about when he had last looked at a piece of art for this long – and then about where this inexplicable sadness came from all of a sudden – Hannah gave him a concerned look.

“What’s wrong?” She asked carefully, glancing back and forth between the monument and the brick wall of a toplaner, “it was just a joke, you know… since you seemed to be enjoying the hunting thing and everything?”

“Yeah, uhm, no, it was a good one,” Wunder stammered, trying to shake whatever gloom he had dammed up somehow, “this statue is just… something else.” _Yes, but what?_

“Oh! Oh, I didn’t realize you were such an animal lover,” Hannah muttered, looking weirdly insecure from one moment to the next, “I was thinking about showing you the zoo later, and the restaurant I had in mind basically only serves steak – ahh, how stupid of me!”

“What? No – god no, I’m not a vegetarian or anything, I could never,” the toplaner said quickly, “steak is perfect, really!”

“And the zoo?” The Brunette asked with big eyes.

“Sure, that sounds like fun, too… you’d think I would have been there after all these years of living in Berlin,” Martin replied with a slight shrug.

“I’m not too surprised,” Hannah chuckled.

“Yeah, I’ve just been busy with… other stuff.”

“Spoken like a true gamer…!”

“For real, though,” Wunder mumbled with a slight smile on his lips, “I really wanna go – but I think we should sit down here for a moment first.”

“Oh? Do you mean so that we can toss these cups?” the Brunette asked, nodding over to the empty container in the toplaner’s hand, “you’ve been carrying yours around for a while now, haven’t you?”

“Uhh, yeah, I’m just a fast drinker I guess,” Martin muttered as he pointed over towards a bench with a trash can propped up on its side, “it works though, let’s just take this one.”

“You sound so serious all of a sudden – am I in trouble?” Hannah asked as she trotted alongside the Dane.

 _No, you’re not the one who’s in trouble_ , Martin thought with a sigh as he sat down on the cold, wooden bench on the edge of the path after finally getting rid of his trash. It was hard to deny that, so far, the date had gone way better than the toplaner had hoped it would. Even though he could feel Hannah’s nerves just as much as she could probably feel his, she was just the same smart and witty girl she had always been via texts. _Maybe even a little more_ , he thought as he glanced down, noticing how the girl’s right hand was seemingly searching for her hair to play with before pulling it back as soon as she remembered it was wrapped up in a bun. It was straight up adorable.

 _Come on, Martin_ , the Dane silently thought to himself, urging to push through, _she deserves to hear the truth_. Yes, there would not be a better time than now. If he waited until they arrived at the zoo, there would be too many people around. The Dane was already nervous enough, he certainly didn’t need the added pressure of someone possibly overhearing their conversation. A huge crowd would also make things considerably more difficult if his confession did somehow end badly for either side. It was something he specifically didn’t want to think about in this moment, but Martin was also realistic enough to consider it as a possible outcome. Better to be safe.

“Are you still looking at the lions?” Hannah asked after a moment of silence, which Martin had spent brooding with his gaze lost somewhere in the distance. “Is that your favourite animal, perhaps?”

“Lions? No way,” he smirked, “I had to learn just how annoying they can be the hard way when MAD Lions joined the League this split, you know?”

“Oh god, I nearly forgot about that,” the girl next to him chuckled.

“Yeah, it’s so ducking hard to play against them because they are a super chaotic team, and that says a lot coming from me since my team is – ah, anyway,” Wunder muttered, “guess I’m the one rambling now…”

“I kind of like it,” Hannah smiled back up at him.

“Ahh – well, uhm, so, what I wanted to ask…”

“Yeah?”

“Did – did Sam tell you anything about how things are around our team? Since she’s been basically living with us for some time now…” Martin asked. While he was slapping his forehead mentally for that coward move, it did not feel like the worst idea to scout out the girl’s mindset towards topics that were related to his situation.

“Hmm, well… I’ve heard that living with you guys is pretty much like a sitcom… just with more drama, right?” Hannah laughed, swaying her feet which didn’t quite touch the ground from side to side, “yeah, like that one time this other player fled your apartment in the morning after spending the night with - oh, shoot, maybe I wasn’t supposed to know that?”

“Drama, yeah, you got that right…” Wunder nodded in agreement, “I don’t know, it might have been a bit… weird to hear about it first for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know… the gay stuff.”

“Oh.” Hannah hummed, scratching her chin, “I didn’t think about it that way to be honest. I just thought that my life was pretty boring when Sam told me about it.”

“Hmm, I’d gladly trade in some of the drama for some peace and quiet,” Martin sighed, “but that’s a different story. I was just asking because it’s still a huge deal in esports… just like any other sports, you know?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” Hannah remarked with a smile on her lips, beaming up at the toplaner, “it’s really sweet how you look out for your teammates!”

“S-sweet? For my teammates? No, that’s not it at all,” Wunder shuddered. _Well, maybe for Rasmus_.

“Why ask me about it then?” The Brunette wondered. "Or... did you actually do it yourself?”

“Huh?”

“Hook up with one of your teammates, I mean! Just for fun, maybe?” Hannah cocked a brow rather suggestively. She looked a lot more interested than disturbed.

“Eww, no way,” the toplaner muttered, forcefully shaking his head – the thought alone was enough to send shivers down his spine.

“Alright, big man, what else is going on here, then?” Hannah sighed. She was still smiling, but it looked a little less bright for a second. “I can feel that you’ve got something to say – like you’re not being honest with me somehow.”

“Well, I can assure you it has nothing to do with being gay for my teammates,” Wunder grumbled, balling his fists in his pockets. “It’s just that…”

“Yeah?”

“Just – ahh, I don’t know how to say this,” he sighed.

“Martin, I hope you know that I know that you’re a professional gamer. And I’ve also heard about the mess you call your room, I can take that, you know?” Hannah suggested as the toplaner couldn’t seem to collect his words. Entirely wrong guess, but she was trying.

“What ? No, it has nothing to do with that,” Martin stammered.

“I also know that you MMORPG of choice is WoW, but I really feel like we can make that work, you know? I tried to play it a while back, I think my Hunter is still low level but maybe –“

“Hannah, what are you doing?” Wunder mumbled, looking down to find eye contact with the babbling girl next to him.

She bit her lower lip. “I don’t know, I just felt like… if it was one of those things, we could just laugh about it. Sorry, I guess I’m a bit nervous…”

“Well – me too, okay? Just… let me talk for a minute,” Martin sighed, ruffling through his hair with one hand before continuing, “this is kind of important.”

“Okay…” Hannah nodded slowly. She folded her hands in her lap, seemingly in an effort to make them stop fidgeting around.

“Alright, uhm… here we go,” the toplaner started, hyping himself up more or less subconsciously, “okay, ehm – god damn it, why is this so hard…” He sighed again. His leg was wiggling up and down, like it usually only did when he was impatiently waiting for his queue to pop. Next to him, Hannah looked like she really wanted to say something, but she composed herself somehow.

“Okay, so…. This is not easy, because we’ve only been texting for a few weeks, but I just… really like you,” Martin mumbled. It was impossibly hard not to look away, not to hide the fact that his cheeks were starting to feel hot – but he persevered. Normally, this would be the hard part of a first-date-conversation. Not for Martin, unfortunately.

“l – I like you, too,” the Brunette intercepted quickly, practically piercing the tall Dane with her huge, hazel eyes. “Sorry, sorry, I know I should just be listening but... I had to get that out there.”

“Uhm, well, I can’t know whether you really like me for sure before I tell you,” Wunder said solemnly. God knows it wouldn’t be the first time someone had changed their mind.

“I’m starting to get scared over here,” Hannah muttered, putting one hand down on the bench between them. “Why would I feel any differently about you after hearing about this… ominous thing?”

“Well… let’s just say I was not always the guy you see today.” Martin said, looking down on the ground, not being able to withstand the Brunette’s gaze any longer. Something in his mind told him to stop – to just enjoy the date, to relish in what could be for as long as he could, to just leave it at that. But, no matter how impossibly uncomfortable Martin was in this moment, he knew that that was not an option. Not if he wanted it to last. “I always knew this is who I was supposed to be, and I’m really much happier today but – but I was born... _different_. It took me some time and, uhm... _changes_ to get here. And I’m not one hundred percent where I want to be, either.” He finally said.

“I’m not sure I understand,” Hannah said hesitantly, shaking her head ever so softly.

“…. I’m not really sure what else to say,” Wunder muttered.

There was a pause. Martin could practically see the wheels in Hannah’s head turning, that’s how concentrated she thought about what he had just presented her with. He couldn’t do anything but hold his breath at this point.

“I might be completely off here, but…” Hannah mumbled hesitantly, “are you… are you, perhaps, trying to tell me that you’re a trans man, Martin?”

“Yeah – yeah, I guess that is it.”

Hannah gave him a slow nod, but not more than that. For another moment that felt painfully long, there was silence. Wunder was determined to give Hannah some time to take in the news, but that turned to be a lot harder than he could have ever imagined. “Sorry, I figured I owed you the truth before we… get too deep into this,” the toplaner added in an effort to explain, maybe to make it less awkward – without success.

“Before we get too deep into what?” Hannah asked, still looking down at her hands.

“You know – this dating thing. It would hurt more if you decided to go the longer we… see each other and stuff.”

 _Oh my god, it can’t possibly get any worse_ , Martin thought, cringing at each of the words that left his lips.

“Has that happened to you before?” Hannah asked quietly, “that someone left you after finding out?”

“Well, you could say that,” the toplaner grumbled. It was not something he liked to remember, but the rejection was also a part of his journey, at last. “You can either deal with it or you can’t - that’s not something I could blame anyone for to be honest..” 

“Really?”

“…Yeah.” Martin sighed. The toplaner’s eyes wandered off to the lion statue again without him even noticing. He looked at the lion cubs cowering around their wounded mother – he could almost hear them weeping. The male lion, on the other hand, looked right at him, almost viciously, with obvious hunger for revenge in his eyes. The reason for his hesitation was right there, laid out in front of him. “In the end, it’s just stupid to think that these things don’t matter. So yeah, I wouldn’t blame anyone.”

“Well, I disagree.”

“Huh?”

“I disagree! I think it’s a shit thing to do to someone.” Hannah shook her head dismissively, looking both angry and sad at the same time somehow.

“Ehm. Well.” Martin muttered. Obviously, he agreed. But that didn’t change the fact that it happened.

“I’m sorry, I know that’s barely helpful,” Hannah sighed, “I’m just a bit mad, to be honest.”

“At me?” Wunder asked hesitantly.

“What? No, just – at the world, maybe?” The Brunette grunted, shuffling closer to the edge to kick one of the pebble stones across the path. Despite his ongoing confusion and the gravity of the situation, Martin found himself almost melting at this impossibly cute display of rage. “Besides – you’re timing for this is way off, If I may say so.”

“What do you mean?” The toplaner said. His worries were, by now, visible in the deep furrows on his forehead.

“Well, you said you wanted to do this before we get too deep into it but… I already like you a lot, you know?” She looked up at him with eyes as big as the moon. There was no disgust, no more anger, no panic – she just looked at him. And then, her lips curled up into a smile.

“Sorry it’s just… nothing I wanted to discuss via texts.” Martin mumbled. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to look into the Brunette’s eyes or at her lips, but he knew for sure that he didn’t want to look away.

“Don’t apologize – that’s not what I mean, dummy,” Hannah chuckled softly. Very carefully, she put her hand on Martin’s, which had tapped his upper thigh up until this point. It was so cold – the toplaner shuddered as he put his other hand on top to warm hers up without thinking too much about it. For a second, it looked as if Hannah was holding her breath.

“So… you’re really okay with it?” Martin asked clumsily, “with… all of me?”

“Well…” Hannah grinned slyly, “we might have to talk about a trim on the beard?”

“I…” Martin mouthed – but he didn’t know what to say. He just knew what he felt. And so, instead of stammering, or laughing, or shaking his head, he pulled Hannah into a close embrace, wrapping his arms around her. With one hand up against the back of her head, he just held her, thanking her and whatever bigger powers he didn’t really believe in had made this possible. The Dane felt the girl’s small hands on his back, stroking it softly. “Sorry, the timing for that joke might have been a bit off – but you know what I meant, right?” Hannah whispered against Martin’s chest. “It was perfect.” He replied without letting go. It might have been because of the cold surrounding them, or the big weight that had just been lifted off of the Dane’s shoulders, but he could, indeed, not remember a time a hug had ever felt more perfect.

“So, uhm,” Hannah murmured as she slowly moved back a little, just to lean her head against the tall guy’s shoulder in the next moment, “it’s going to be a bit hard for me, but I’ll try to be good and listen to what you have to say.”

“Uhh – that was kind of it?” Wunder said with a crooked smile.

“What? No way,” Hannah shook her head with determination, “there’s simply no way that that was all there is to know about Martin Nordahl Hansen. So, how about you tell me something else now?”

“Oh – well, uhm, what do you want to know?” He grinned.

“Well, everything!” The Brunette beamed, lifting her head to look up at the toplaner with her hands still holding on to his arm. “But let’s start with your teammates, maybe – I’m dying to get a new perspective on the G2 drama.”

“Wow, where do I start,” Martin snickered, “this might take some time, though. Maybe we should get moving to warm up a bit?”

“Not a bad idea,” Hannah said with a slight nod, “we could still go to the zoo if you’re up for it?”

“Oh, perfect idea!” Wunder remarked as he got up from the bench, carefully helping the girl up as well, “looking at the monkeys interacting with each other will make talking about my teammates that much easier, actually…”

“Savage,” Hannah laughed, holding onto Wunder’s arm a little closer as they started walking, “I kind of like it.”

\---

Reference pictures for the Lion statue _"Löwengruppe"_ and the benches in front of it in the _Großer Tiergarten_ in Berlin:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on the other Martin's POV! Actually, no... man, I have to think of a new line to end chapters on. I keep dividing the chapters into several parts because they just keep getting longer and longer... As you could probably tell by the rather abrupt end of this POV, there will be a part 2. I won't say when, though, please spare my head! 
> 
> Still, I'd love to get some feedback on this chapter, here on ao3 or in #story-discussions on the DreamServer! As I've said in the beginning, this chapter is incredibly dear to my heart, which is why I'm even more excited about hearing from you guys than usual. Can't wait!
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	56. Part 12: The other Martin (II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to another Part 2 of a POV it seems! Let me tell you, Part 12 is robbing me of all sleep as well... every time I think I'm finally done, there is a new idea, or a new scene I just have to put in, and, well, the hustle never ends, it seems. While uploading this chapter, I wrote another 1k words somehow? Honestly, sometimes I feel like this story has more power over me than the other way around... 
> 
> Anyway! Hope you enjoy Part 2 of Wunder's adventure! 
> 
> PS: Yes, this is another advertisement for our Discord server, the DreamServer... you wanna join? I'd be thrilled to see you there, check the newest chapter for the link to join!

"Wow, that was amazing, right?" Hannah said with a huge smile on her face as she walked through the zoo's exit with Wunder by her side.

"Definitely... can't believe this was my first time seeing all this, this zoo is great..." Martin explained, glancing back at the huge gate one last time."Also, I'm pretty sure those penguins have a better social structure than most esports teams..."

"Haha, you think?" Hannah chuckled. She pulled on Martin's sleeve to guide him down the right path. One would think the Dane would have gotten used to the Brunette's touch after spending a whole day with her, but he still ended up holding his breath. "I'm also glad we came here, the animals are so amazing... I mean, I've never seen a snake unhinge its jaw like that before, at least not from up close like we did earlier!"

"Meh, I was on Splyce with Miky," Wunder shrugged casually, but he couldn't suppress his smug grin.

"Oof!" Hannah laughed. Her laughter was so light, so charming... hearing it was almost like a drug. At least that's what Martin must have felt like by now, has he kept bending over backwards to make his date laugh. "You know, Martin - I really can't remember the last time I had this much fun on a date."

"Yeah, same," the toplaner mumbled without wasting a breath. Slowly, the both of them slowed down their pace to the point where they came to a stop. Martin's eyes flickered down to look at Hannah's face - she was looking back up, with her impossible big eyes. "So... yeah, I had a lot of fun, and my station is around the corner... when are we going to do this again, Martin?" She asked hesitantly.

"That sounds a lot like a goodbye," Wunder mumbled softly. He was smiling, but he didn't like that thought at all.

"Yeah, well... it's kind of late, and I have to get to work early tomorrow, you know?"

"Can't relate..." Martin sighed.

"Pff, well, not all of us can play video games all day and sleep until noon," the Brunette chuckled. She had a point, of course.

"I guess, yeah," the Dane smirked. "So uhm... I really have to let you go home, huh?"

"Hmm, you make it sound even worse," Hannah said with a soft smile on her ruby red lips. Martin wondered whether the colour of her lipstick had ever been as apparant to him in this very moment - or what that could mean, for that matter. "Just in case that didn't translate earlier I... I want to see you again, Martin." She almost whispered.

"Can't be soon enough," Wunder mumbled, feeling his heart pound in his chest. He put his hand up to gently, stroking the single stray strand of hair that had made its way out of the Brunette's bun out of her face lovingly. He could feel it - this was the perfect moment. The perfect opportunity. He had not been able to stop thinking about kissing Hannah ever since he had first laid eyes on her, but now, the time had finally come to pull all of his courage together and -

"Are you going to..." She whispered softly, lifting her chin up a little higher.

Martin couldn't tell whether Hannah's face glowed red because of the cold or because of her heart beating just as fast as his, but, again, he could sense that she was probably just as nervous as him. And did it really matter how awkward it was somehow? Slowly, Martin wrapped his arms around Hannah's waist, pulling her up ever so slightly as he bent down himself. It felt as if his heart was about to explode in his chest, but the toplaner pushed forward anyway. He closed his eyes, getting closer, closer, closer... and, finally, oh, after all the waiting, his lips were united with Hannah's. The kiss was so soft, so tender, but it was enough to make the angels sing in Martin's head. Yes, anyone could have been able to tell just how perfect it was, even though the moment might have only lasted for a second or two. Martin had not even noticed that he was holding his breath again until he had to gasped for air, pressing Hannah to his chest in the same moment.

"Wow..." She said as she snuggled against him eagerly, hugging him back as hard as her tiny arms allowed her to. And Martin couldn't agree more. Oh, if only they could have held each other forever... but, alas, it was only getting darker around them, and not even a wish as big as this one could stop the passage of time. "So, uhm... we'll do this again soon," Wunder finally said as he slowly let go of the small Brunette.

"I hope so," Hannah replied with a bright smile.

"I'll text you?" Martin mumbled, somehow suppressing the urge to kiss her again, to hold her tight, to never let her go. The prospect of going to work had somehow appealed to the adult in him, whoever that was.

"Sounds perfect," Hannah agreed with a nod. "So, uhm... thanks for all of this?"

"All you," the toplaner said, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Aww, well... actually, there's one last thing I wanted to tell you," the Brunette said quietly, signalling that the much taller guy was supposed to lean down with her index finger.

"What is it...?" Martin asked hesitantly, wondering why Hannah would need to whisper something into his ear all of a sudden - but, before his mind could come up with any theories, he felt her soft lips pressed up to his cheek. "There, there," she beamed as Martin shot back up, unable to say anything in response. "Sorry I just... really wanted to do that. Anyway, I'll be on my way, talk to you later, Martin!"

"Yeah, uhm... be safe, alright?" He stammered, holding his cheek with his right hand almost out of instinct. He could feel the slightly sticky imprint of Hannah's lips on his skin, and he debated whether he'd ever want to shower ever again. Not like that was not something he thought about every now and then anyway.

"Sure, you too!" Hannah exclaimed, waving as she walked off, backwards at first, then turned as she had almost stumbled over her own feet. _I'll never get enough of this_ , Martin thought as he watched her walking away while waving ever so clumsily with a wide, almost stupid-looking smile on his face.

And so, after a day filled with lots of different stories, a delicious meal, surprisingly entertaining animal sightings, a little bit of hand holding and the most fantastic first kiss anyone has ever had, Martin’s and Hannah’s first date finally found its end. The only regret the toplaner had was not kissing Hannah sooner, or more often, or both, realistically speaking. _But next time for sure_ , Martin thought after a couple of minutes of standing on the same spot. He went ahead and grabbed his phone after the Brunette’s train had supposedly taken off to text her to get home safely again. And to text him once she’s there – can’t hurt to be safe.

Now, before the toplaner could even begin to figure out how he’d get back home from this different train station, he noticed that he had tons of unread texts as soon as he opened his messenger. Unsurprisingly, the culprit was the G2 team group chat he had muted ages ago. With a flinch, he scrolled through the abundance of his teammates’ snarky remarks. _100 messages to argue about which bar we should go to? You’ve got to be kidding me,_ Martin thought with a sigh, _guess I’m not going to go home after all._ It was not like he had been eager to hop into playing SoloQ, like the rest of his team usually did all Sunday long. But he certainly was sad about missing the 7pm raid. With mixed emotions, Wunder mounted the train that would take him to the location his bickering teammates had agreed on. It probably couldn’t hurt to have them around for a while.

\---

“It took me over 30 minutes to get here… remind me what’s so special about this place, Grabbz?” Martin mumbled grumpily after finally arriving at the scene, only to find Jankos and his coach standing in front of a non-descript looking entry with puzzled expressions on their faces.

“Don’t ask me, Martin, Luka insisted that we come here,” the coach said solemnly.

“Who CARES, let’s just go INSIDE and get something to DRINK!” Jankos wailed impatiently. It had only been a couple of hours, but it seemed as if the jungler’s path to a new personality was starting to get bumpy already.

“Well, the others seem to be late… again…” Grabbz sighed, scratching his head. After looking left and right a couple of times, he concluded, “fine, let’s go inside. They’ll find us.”

“Will they, though?” Wunder wondered out loud as he followed the German’s lead. He wouldn’t give the trophy for ‘best orientation’ to any of the still missing players, that much was for sure.

“I reserved a pretty big table, it should be manageable,” the coach explained as he pointed towards the other end of the room. The reserved table was, indeed, quite obviously recognizable – but why did it have to be this big in the first place?

“Last time I COUNTED, we had FIVE PLAYERS, why book a table for an entire FOOTBALL TEAM, GRABBZ??” Jankos yelled out. His volume didn’t seem as out of place in the rather crowded bar, or restaurant, or whatever it was.

“Well, Alfonso and I agreed to have our teams meet tonight.” Grabbz explained as he made his way through the mass of enthusiastic drunks to get to their table.

“Agreed?” Wunder frowned. “But you didn’t ask any of us, did you?”

“Yeah, well – ahh, just do this for me, okay? Just once!” The coach grumbled, sitting down at one side of the impossibly long table. “I _still_ have not received a single birthday gift, so maybe…”

“Jesus, okay, okay!” The jungler muttered as he sat down next to the coach. “But why would you need US here for THIS?”

“Yeah, haven’t you and Mithy been meeting up a lot in secret? Just the two of you?” The toplaner shrugged as he strategically moved to the other side of the table. Rasmus had told him about the coach’s activities in secret and he probably should have kept it that way as well, but the Dane was too tired to remember to stay civil in this moment.

“WHAT??” Jankos spluttered, looking shocked from one second to the other.

“Ehm – that’s not how I would have said it, but… sure, we get along.” Grabbz sighed, looking down on the table. “…Most of the time.”

“I’m shocked, Grabbz,” the jungler murmured. “ _Fraternizing with the enemy_ , you?”

“Oh, come on, don’t be dramatic like that,” the coach replied instantly, “we’ve got one of those _‘enemies’_ basically living under our roof anyway, right?”

“He’s different, though…” Jankos replied grumpily – an answer that surprised Martin, that was for sure. But he didn’t want to ask, since thinking about Oskar only lead to worry about Rasmus right now. The jungler and the coach didn’t seem to have the same concern – probably because they didn’t know any better.

“Different or not… Don’t you think we could just make peace and be good rivals for once?” Grabbz suggested with a mild smile. He looked straight up exhausted already, and the evening had barely just begun.

“Good rivals? I don’t know…” Jankos wondered aloud.

“Can’t shake the feeling that you are using this as an excuse somehow,” Wunder said, staring at the coach’s unsettled facial expression.

Yes, something was up, but he couldn’t say what it was just yet. Then again, there was a lot hanging in the air. Martin thought about Rasmus again as he tried to make out his drink options from a distance. _Did he meet up with Oskar already?_ He considered for a moment. Well, either way, he’d know as soon as he saw his face. Just to be sure, the toplaner got out his phone as soon as he had settled on his usual: beer.

There were no new messages from the other Dane, unfortunately, but one unread message from Perkz, asking about what he and Jankos wanted to order. A weird thing to ask someone via text before even entering the establishment, arguably – but the midlaner added that it was part of a prank planned out specifically for Grabbz. Wunder didn’t need any further information and simply told the other guy his drink of choice, as well as the jungler’s. As difficult as that was to admit, at least when it came to drinking, Wunder and Jankos did share the same taste, after all. _Maybe also when it comes to girls_ , Martin thought with a shudder. Sure, his date had been amazing. But the prospect of talking about that with his team made Wunder feel like the beer couldn’t get to him fast enough.

“Come on, GRABBZ, tell us why you’re SCARED of meeting up with MITHY all of a sudden!” Jankos demanded vigorously.

“I told you, I’m not scared!” The coach replied, looking around the room for a second, “gosh, is there any service around here? We really need those drinks…”

“You’re dodging the question,” Wunder said in an attempt to conceal his midlaner’s dumb prank, “if this has anything to do with Mithy’s tendencies to rant about his relationship…”

“How would you know anything about that?” Grabbz asked, squinting at the toplaner.

 _Whoops_. He might have underestimated just how much inside scoop one night of talking to Rasmus had provided him with. “Uhm, well,” Martin muttered, “just heard some rumours I guess…”

“Rumours? I’m not buying it…” The coach sighed, “but fine, I might as well talk about it now that you’re about to experience it first-hand. Alfonso is… going through a tough time right now.”

“Alfonso? So THAT’S how it is!” Jankos exclaimed as if the first name basis was something awfully telling.

“What? That’s just – ah, whatever,” the German grumbled, looking over to Wunder instead of the weirdly suspicious looking jungler, “I just want to make sure that we make him feel safe here. Keep your snarky remarks to a minimum, got it?”

“You sound awfully lawful for someone who dragged his team along just so that he wouldn’t have to listen to Mithy’s wails about Zven by yourself,” Martin said, crossing his arms – just to realize that his tongue had, yet again, slipped way too hard. _I swear I’m normally really good at keeping secrets_ , he thought to himself as he watched Jankos’ face drop on the other side of the table. Today was, however, certainly not a normal day.

“Come on, Wunder, why did you have to –“

“So MITHY is GAY TOO??” Jankos yelled out way too loudly. Martin was very thankful for the fact that the music playing around them was already pretty loud, otherwise his ears might have suffered of a severe case of _Had-to-listen-to-Jankos-shout-from-up-close-itis_.

“Would you bring it down? Geez,” Grabbz murmured, giving the jungler a sour look. “People’s careers are on the line here…”

“Sorry, it’s JUST that…” Jankos said slowly, looking weirdly gloomy all of a sudden, “I never realized just how… _gay_ our whole League is.”

“Our whole League?” Wunder frowned at his opposite, “what have you been smoking?”

“WHAT?” The jungler scoffed.

“It’s really not that common, don’t know where you get your numbers from,” Grabbz shrugged, “also, what’s wrong with that, dude?”

“I – I didn’t say it was wrong, it’s just…” Jankos stammered, “it’s just WEIRD to me to think that someone could like GUYS when GIRLS exist??”

“Uhm… you do know that there are orientations between hetero- and homosexual, right?” The coach mumbled. He looked quite irritated, but he remained calm, much to the toplaner’s fascination.

“I mean – what?” The jungler huffed.

“You can like one gender, or both, or people regardless of that, and so on, and so on…” Grabbz mumbled with a rotating hand gesture, “didn’t you have Sex Ed in school or something?”

“Well…” Jankos mumbled. His face looked so _different_ all of a sudden – if Martin hadn’t known any better, he might have thought the jungler was scared, or sad, or ashamed… but it must have been something else. Before he could even think about asking, new winds hit the troupe from the West.

“What’s up with the long face?” Perkz hummed as he gave the jungler a slap on the back, taking the spot next to him.

“Hi guys,” Rasmus said with a smile, taking the spot next to Wunder’s side.

“Ahh, this is the perfect spot for me,” Miky smirked as he took a seat at the head of the table.

“There you are! You’re late,” Grabbz sighed, “did you, by any chance, tell any of the waiters to come to our table? Still nothing so far…”

“Nope,” Luka shook his head, putting his elbow up on the jungler’s shoulder instead, “tell me, what happened to the new and improved Jankos since earlier today?”

“Nothing!” Jankos scoffed with pouty lips. His cheeks still looked rosy, but what Wunder had previously interpreted as ‘sadness’ was gone. _Must have been my imagination_ , the toplaner concluded. Still, somehow, he felt the need to say something to his midlaner.

“Leave him be, Perkz,” Wunder muttered.

“Pff, what’s gotten into you?” Luka replied with a frown.

“Just… we were talking about something important I guess. Just give it a rest.” Martin said calmly. He never thought that he would ever stumble across this thought, but the toplaner still felt bad for the Pole, weirdly enough. There was not much you could change about where you were born and how you were raised, after all.

“Important…?” Luka asked, shooting his jungler a confused glance. "Now, now, now... what could that have been? Are you, perhaps... rubbing your happiness into everyone's face, big guy?"

"What...?" Wunder mumbled with very apparent annoyance splattered all over his face.

"You know, because of your date? Guess it must have been great, then," Perkz smirked.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Rasmus said with a soft smile on his lips, patting the toplaner's arm as if the midlaner's words had been coined as the truth already.

"I - I never said that," Martin muttered, glancing over at Jankos - now, why did he care about the jungler's feelings all of a sudden anyway? And was that the only reason why he felt so damn nervous when it came to talking about his date? He should have just been excited to do so. When was the last time he had ever been so happy? Still, something was holding him back. Maybe it was Jankos' weird gloom, or the huge cloud hanging above Rasmus' head. Maybe a fear that Martin was unaware of alltogether. But, whatever it was, the toplaner was determined to just play it cool for now. "It was alright. We don't have to talk about it, though."

"Alright? Okay, I'm not buying that..." Luka said slowly, squinting at his teammate from across the table. "What are you hiding from us, big guy?"

"Hiding??" Jankos exclaimed, looking all fired up all of a sudden as well.

“Hmm, looks like the drama is starting early today,” Mihael said on the midlaner’s other side with an appreciative whistle, “and the rest of our guests have not even shown up!”

“Guests?” Rasmus asked hesitantly. He looked distraught in more than just one way by now. 

“Well, look at this monster of a table…” The support glanced over at the coach, “who are we waiting on, Grabbz?”

“Now that you say it…” Perkz chimed in. _Thank god he's so damn easy to distract_ , Martin thought.

“Just… the whole Fnatic squad.” Grabbz sighed. He didn’t even have the energy to sugar-coat his plans anymore from the looks of it.

“What…?” Rasmus whispered with big eyes. Until now, Wunder hadn’t even thought about what that meant for his ADC, who already looked beaten up enough with the way things were. The toplaner could not yet assess how the ADC’s conversation with Oskar might have turned out and adding Rekkles and Nemesis to the mix just sounded like the worst idea anyone could have come up with. _If there is such a thing as fate, she sure is a cruel bitch sometimes,_ Wunder thought grumpily as he eyed the continuously shrinking Rasmus next to him. No matter how you looked at it, the small Dane didn’t deserve any of this.

“The whole squad… damn, that’s worse than I thought,” Miky mumbled with a slow nod and crossed arms.

“Honestly, your timing is pretty shit, Grabbz,” Martin grumbled.

“Is there ever a right time for this unfortunate mix-up?” Perkz frowned, glancing over at Caps as well, “what were you thinking, Grabbz?”

“Oh my god, you guys, it’s not like I had a choice!” The coach exclaimed angrily. “You have no idea what Alfonso is like when he’s upset!”

“I’m still really CONFUSED, I just want to put that out there,” Jankos muttered next to Grabbz, shyly looking over at Miky every now and then. Wunder _wanted_ to believe that he was imagining things again this time around.

“Fonso is upset?” Luka asked, looking even more concerned all of a sudden, “does it have anything to do with Jesper?”

“Jesus, is there anything you guys don’t know?” Grabbz sighed, hanging his head down low in defeat, “I have no idea what all of this is about, Luka… I just know that he sounded like he was really out of it. Last time he was that eager to get drunk, I had to get the backseat of my car chemically cleaned.”

“Yikes,” Wunder mumbled.

“And so you thought you’d invite both of our teams to de-escalate the situation? Fnatic and G2? Under the same roof?” Mihael asked with a cocked brow. “I’m sorry, but did you think this one through at all?”

“Let’s just say I’m already regretting this decision,” the coach muttered, rubbing circles in his temples.

“Well…” Rasmus said after the table had fallen quiet for a moment, “now that we’re already here, we might as well try to make the best out of it, right?”

“I agree,” Luka nodded, pointing at something behind Wunder, “look, there are our drinks – that will probably help with the mood.”

“Finally!” Jankos exclaimed.

“Drinks? What do you mean?” Grabbz huffed, lifting his head in a flash, “but – but we didn’t order anything yet?”

“Whoops, I already spotted the next banger,” Miky interjected before the coach could address the waitress who was carrying an assemble of beer, more beer, a cocktail and a fancy-looking fruit juice.

“What is it?” Martin sighed.

“Well, the boys are here… only three of them, though.”

“Where’s the REST of them, though?” Jankos snorted, almost sounding disappointed.

“Wait!” Mihael exclaimed with wide eyes. The support squinted into the distance, causing almost all heads to turn. Finally, he wondered, “…is that xPeke?”

“Dude, that’s so fucking random,” Luka laughed as he watched the hesitantly approaching trio, “I hate to say it, but this is going to be interesting…”

“Either that, or a complete disaster,” the toplaner concluded.

He was the only one who didn’t have to turn around to look at the mess that was rolling their way – the completely tensed up ADC sitting next to the Dane was more than enough proof of the gravity of the situation.

“Alfonso, there you are!” Grabbz exclaimed, waving the three guys over without paying much attention to his squirming players, “I see you brought company but… wait, what are you doing here, xPeke?”

“Surprise!” The Spaniard exclaimed proudly as he sat down across the table from the coach.

 _Surprise is the right word for it,_ Wunder thought, rolling his eyes. Sure, a part of him had wanted to get to know one of the biggest legends of the scene, but the circumstances made it almost impossible for him to actually enjoy their encounter. Especially since Rekkles was sitting right next to the Spaniard, with his stupid face and his stupid hair – _ah, why am I so angry all of a sudden?_ Martin wondered, sipping on his beer pensively. Maybe because of Rasmus.

“Damn, what brings you here, old man?” Perkz smirked as he put his phone down to give the new arrivals a warm welcome.

“And where’s the rest of Fnatic, hmm? United in rivalry my ass,” Miky sneered with his arm on Luka’s shoulder. Ah yes, the _Miky & Perkz_ show was back on air once more.

“Great to see you too,” Alfonso muttered, smiling through gritted teeth, “the others were busy, and Enrique happened to be around, so…”

So what? Martin didn’t feel like listening. Not when he was this worried about his ADC. With each word that Fnatic’s current and honorary members said, Rasmus seemed to get smaller. His smile disappeared, little by little. Yes – it was almost like the cheery Dane himself was disappearing, all caused by that cursed Swede’s magical ban on him. Martin hated watching it. He hated it so much that he could hardly listen to any of the conversations held around him, no matter how interesting they might have been normally. But then, a question that was even weird for his chaotic support's standards caught the toplaner's attention anyway.

“So, xPeke… I was wondering,” Mihael said, dramatically putting his drink down on the table, “would you ever consider… _immortalising_ yourself?”

“Immortal – what? You mean going to NA?” The Spaniard laughed, gesturing that it was hard for him to understand the support from across the table.

“No, I meant – I don’t know, model for a portray or a statue or something?” The Slovenian was almost shouting to make sure he was heard this time around.

"Maybe just of a part of your body?" Perkz added with a smug grin on his face.

“That’s an odd question… you mean a bronze statue of my... head, maybe? Not sure whether Lauri would want that around the house…”

Next to the former midlaner, Rekkles looked inherently confused whenever he lifted his gaze from up from something under the table. Martin noticed simply because he found himself staring, again and again. He wondered whether the ADC might have known what this episode of the _Miky & Perkz_ show was about.

“I wasn’t thinking about bronze, but, you know…” Miky smirked eerily. Perkz started laughing as well.

And, weirdly enough, Rasmus was chuckling, too. “Don’t you think he’s legendary enough already, Luka? No one would ever forget about the Backdoor-King, right?” The ADC beamed with a smile. And, for a moment, everything was okay. At least it should have been, because a young midlaner speaking to one of his midlane idols should have been nothing but wholesome. While Miky and Perkz were still murmuring about how that was ‘missing the point’ somehow, Wunder watched Rasmus smile fade once again as soon as he laid eyes on Rekkles – or so it seemed. The conversation changed courses, but the toplaner didn’t follow. He was so damn worried.

Having a somewhat enjoyable evening without addressing the obvious was basically impossible at this point – that, Wunder was sure of now. He thought it had already helped that Fnatic’s ADC had chosen to sit as far away from them as humanly possible. But, as Wunder’s gaze dropped on Rasmus’ phone, which he was holding under the table now, he soon realized that that was not enough.

“Rasmus,” he whispered firmly, just loud enough for his seatmate to hear.

“Uhh, yeah?” The other Dane muttered, shrieking up a little, almost as if he had just been caught red-handed.

“Did he really just text you?” The toplaner went on, nodding over towards Rekkles. On the other side of the table, Miky and Perkz were now telling Jankos about some girl they had met that might be interesting for him, and the jungler’s expression did, admittingly, look a little less bitter. Only a little, though – not like Wunder cared. He simply noticed because it took Rasmus painfully long to answer his question. “He said he had… something to say to me.” He finally admitted.

“He did what? The nerve, I – ugh, okay, never mind, let’s just…” Wunder grumbled, balling his fist. “Would you mind coming to the restrooms with me for a moment?”

“Uhh, sure – is this about…” Rasmus came a bit closer, whispering into the taller guy’s ear. “… _Hannah?_ ”

“Uhh, sure, let’s say it’s a part of it… let’s just go, okay?” The toplaner explained as he got up from his chair.

"Wait, where are you two going?" Perkz asked as he noticed their attempted departure.

"The fun is only just beginning around here and -" Miky stopped himself as soon as he looked up at his ADC's face. His grin disappeared, and Martin could suddenly see the same worry he had in his guts displayed on the support's face for the world to see. "Rasmus... what's up?"

"Nothing, nothing... just wanted to go to the toilet," the smaller Dane replied with his usual crooked smile. It was not really believable, but he must have been aware of that.

"Do you need anything?" Perkz asked with a serious tone, shooting the other end of the table a quick look, "is it... is this about _him?_ "

"No, no, uhm, I..." Rasmus stammered. Wunder knew that he had to help somehow. "I just wanted to ask him something in private," Martin explained.

"About your date, huh?" Luka smirked.

"What was that about his DATE?" Jankos asked loudly, checking into the conversation.

"Something like that, yeah," Martin sighed.

"Okay then... take care," Mihael mumbled, still eyeing both of the Dane's closely.

Martin could tell that the support wasn't sold, but if he was willing to let them go, then that was all Wunder could ask for in this moment. Next to him, Caps looked quite relieved as well as they started making their way through the crowded place, away from the table of terror. There were two very obvious topics flying through the room, and Wunder didn’t feel comfortable with addressing either of those with this weird mix of people around, after all. The restrooms were not a great setting for any sort of serious conversation, but, sometimes, that’s just what a man’s gotta do – _improvise, adapt, overcome_.

“Alright, I think the toilets are over here,” Rasmus remarked as he turned right.

“Oh, you’ve been here before?” Martin wondered as he followed the ADC.

“You could say that…” The smaller guy replied with a sad smile on his lips. Maybe it was better not to ask.

As soon as the door of the restrooms fell shut behind them, Wunder put both hands up on his hips without even noticing, assuming the position of a parent ready to scold their rebellious teenager. That was not the vibe he had wanted to convey, necessarily – but maybe that was just what the other Dane needed. Some tough love, or a wake-up call, even.

“So… how was your date with Hannah?” Rasmus asked quietly. His eyes were practically glued to the floor.

“It was great, actually,” Wunder mumbled. One of his hands slipped down into his pocket.

“Really? You made it sound different earlier but... ah, well, I’m happy for you,” the ADC said, lifting his head just enough for the toplaner to see his pained smile.

“Thanks, but – Rasmus, this is not why I asked you to come here,” Martin replied with his face full of worries. “Just look at you… what happened with Oskar? Aren’t you freaking out? And Rekkles… this whole situation is so…”

“It’s pretty messed up, yeah,” the other Dane nodded.

“Well…?”

“Oskar and I… that’s over now. I guess. I don’t know…”

“I’m sorry…” Wunder mouthed as he put his hand up on the much smaller guy’s back for some comfort.

“It is what it is,” Rasmus muttered, turning away from the toplaner, almost shamefully, “we kind of agreed that we were both still… that we really wanted another chance with…”

“What? No…” Martin huffed.

“Yeah, actually… you know, like I told you yesterday – he’s probably going to try out things with Nemesis or whatever,” the ADC shrugged. It looked like the most half-assed shrug anyone had ever done.

“God, I can’t believe this…” The toplaner sighed, scratching his forehead, “I don’t know what to say about Oskar, I guess that’s not exactly any of my business anyway. But Rekkles? Rasmus…”

“W-what? I didn’t say anything about him, haha…” The ADC smiled up nervously. Even though he tried, it wasn’t hard for Martin to read his expression. He had literally just said that he had agreed with Oskar – that they both wanted to try again to be with someone else. And then there was this ominous text from the Swedish prick that went by the name of Rekkles. Yes, the thought about his namesake was enough to make Martin’s blood boil in his veins. After all, he had heard all about how the ADC had treated Rasmus. Rasmus, who was probably one of the best people this world had ever created – that just didn’t seem fair.

“Rasmus!” Wunder exclaimed – it came out a bit louder than he had anticipated, but it felt needed. The other Dane winced in response. “You can’t be serious, not after everything that happened!”

“Please, calm down, Martin,” Rasmus muttered faintly.

“How am I supposed to calm down?” Wunder grunted, “you told me all about his stupid games… this just smells like another one of those!”

“It’s not like I just forget about everything, okay?” Rasmus replied with a shaky voice.

“Well, you shouldn’t. If you ask me, there’s no point in listening to what he has to say,” the toplaner went on as he turned on the tab to wash his hands. He hadn’t even done anything that would require doing that but thinking about the injustice of this world was seemingly enough to make his hands feel dirty. “He’s just going to come up with another bullshit excuse.”

“You might be right…” Rasmus sighed. He didn’t look awfully convinced, though.

“I don’t understand why you can’t let go,” Wunder said slowly, shaking his head, “he’s just… awful to you. And Oskar was so nice…”

“Yeah…” Rasmus smiled sorrowfully, “you’re right.”

“Then why…?”

“You know what it feels like, right?” The ADC murmured with closed eyes, “when you… love someone so much that it hurts?”

“Well….” Martin sighed. He wish he could have said he didn’t. “Of course I do…”

“Then you should know why I can’t just leave this page unturned,” Rasmus explained, grabbing his phone out of his pocket before the other guy could intervene. _Weirdly dramatic transition_ , but okay, Martin thought, staring at the other Dane’s hands.

“What are you going to do, huh? Jump back into his arms?” Wunder huffed, taking one step into Rasmus’ direction, “that can’t be the answer here!”

“It’s not… but there are so many things I never said to him. Probably even more he never said to me – I think I just need to try to… talk, you know?”

“You two, talking? That’s strange,” Martin sighed.

“I know, I know… but I have to do it. I simply have to,” the ADC whispered, staring at the illuminated screen of his phone as he typed something.

“I just wish there was an easier way for you to be happy,” Wunder admitted. Out of all of his teammates, Rasmus was probably the one Martin wished that for the most.

“Yeah, well… you’ll have to trust me on this one,” Rasmus said with a smile, “I’ll have to go outside for a bit… but I promise I’ll come back to the table soon.”

“I’ll come get you if you’re not back in thirty minutes, okay?” Wunder muttered. There it was again – this weird, parental feeling for someone who was practically his age.

“Sure, sure,” Rasmus laughed as he reached for the door. “And, by the way, Martin…”

“Hmm?”

“You deserve your happiness, too. I think you should tell the others about your date,” the ADC explained with the attempt of a wink, “I’m sure they will be happy for you, too!”

“I don’t know about that but… maybe. See you in a bit,” Wunder nodded. And then, he turned his back on the idea of trying to save Rasmus from the other Martin. Instead, he wanted to trust that he’d know what was best for him himself.

When Wunder got back to the table, the mood had changed drastically. Even though it felt like he had only been gone for a couple of minutes, everyone’s glasses were empty. Cheeks were glowing bright red. There was laughter in the room. And, most importantly: Rekkles was gone. Martin should have known that Rasmus had not talked about texting the Swede from outside of the restaurant, or bar, or whatever this place was, but the idea of the both of them standing so close to each other made him ball his fists in his pockets as he sat down, nonetheless. Now, as Alfonso was practically lying on Grabbz’ shoulder, whining about what could only be interpreted as relationship troubles from the sounds of it, and the devilish Duo had somehow wrapped xPeke up into a heated debate again, this time about a mysterious pink object, Jankos was the only one that actually noticed Wunder’s return. He looked at the toplaner a little too closely – it was not too hard to understand that he had a thing or two to say.

“Yeah?” Wunder sighed, reaching for his jug of beer, “what is it, Jankos?”

“Well…” He muttered as he put his glass down with a little too much force, “you didn’t… tell us about your DATE yet. What did RASMUS say?”

“And you really wanna know about it?” Wunder cocked a brow as he took another sip. _Maybe Rasmus was right_ , he considered silently.

“I didn’t say that,” the jungler grumbled, folding his hands together. As he was sitting on the direct opposite side of the table, Wunder could get the full scope of his pouty expression. The envy was practically oozing out of his pores.

“It was… nice, actually.” The toplaner finally said. He still did not have any urge to rub his happiness into the other guy’s face, for whatever reason. Maybe because he didn’t look like he deserved it – maybe because the toplaner felt like he didn’t have to. He could be happy either way.

“Just… nice?” Jankos frowned. “That still doesn’t sound like a great date at all…”

“Well… I did hold her hand for a while when we were at the zoo,” Wunder muttered, quickly sipping on his beer straight after to hide the fact that he was still embarrassed about saying that out loud. _Lame_. He didn't even dare to mention the kiss somehow.

“You… held hands?” The jungler asked with a crooked grin on his face. “If that’s not out of character, I don’t know what is…”

“Maybe you don’t really know me, then,” Martin muttered, “or, rather, we don’t know each other. See, I didn’t know you were capable of using an _inside voice_.”

“Oh, fuck off!” Jankos snickered.

“It’s true,” the toplaner shrugged, looking down into his seemingly half-full glass. “It’s funny, you know… I don’t even know her for all that long, but I already know I like her a lot.”

“Wow, look at you being all… SOFT!” The jungler said, “I must be REALLY drunk already…”

“You shithead…” Wunder smirked.

“No really… I always thought we were kind of the SAME, you know??” Jankos sighed, slowly putting his head down to rest on his arms.

“The same? How so?” Martin squinted at his opposite.

“You KNOW… we like GIRLS, we’re big MEN… unlike the _rest of our team_ ,” Jankos went on, seemingly giving Perkz a death stare for whatever reason.

“That’s like, not really a lot of relevant similarities to have,” Wunder mumbled. His gaze wandered off to watch Miky write something down on his phone with an excited expression on his face. Grabbz was still wrapped up in a conversation with Mithy and looked back at the toplaner with a pleading expression – but that could have meant anything, right?

“Maybe not… but I didn’t want to think I was all ALONE,” Jankos explained solemnly. Wunder was surprised – normally, the Pole would get hyperactive and sometimes aggressive while drunk, but never sad. That was not his style. He must have been sad from the beginning, just as Martin’s hunch had suggested – now, why was that so hard to believe?

“I’m sure there are plenty of people who’d be very happy to be with you,” Wunder finally said, and it was not really a lie. Maybe not the people that Jankos would have preferred, but a lot of them, nonetheless.

“I don’t just want anyone, though,” the jungler whimpered. Of course, Wunder knew what, or rather who, he was talking about.

“Well… we both know that’s not happening. She’s with Perkz and… well, also with Miky, apparently,” Wunder shuddered.

“You think I don’t know that?” Jankos asked quietly.

“No, I was just… I don’t know.”

“Well, I do know, thank you very much – it’s not like Sam is the only one I was talking about, though,” the jungler added grumpily. The toplaner didn’t know what to reply. But Jankos did not look like he was happy with the Dane’s silence. “How did you do it, Wunder? How did you get over it? Please, just tell me… tell me who _she_ is!”

“Hmm… well,” Martin sighed, taking another huge slug of beer for some time to consider. _There probably won’t be a better time than now, right?_ “I meant to tell you before but… I didn’t know how. Since we sort of, kind of got to an okay place? You and me?”

“No idea what you’re talking about.” Jankos frowned.

“Oh – yeah, well, see… it’s Hannah.”

“Huh?”

“Hannah.”

“I – I got that, but you can’t be SERIOUS??” Jankos scoffed with lightning bolts shooting from his furious eyes. “After EVERYTHING we talked about you just – THAT’S why she turned me down??”

“I don’t know, I guess?” Wunder muttered. Now, why was he almost all out of beer, too?

“God, that’s just… perfect!” The jungler rambled on. “Aren’t I just the PERFECT loser…!”

“You’re not, though,” the toplaner replied immediately as he shrugged.

“What??” The jungler squinted at his opposite.

“I told you, I didn’t mean to –“

“No, why are you so NICE to me?” Jankos grunted, “it’s so IRRITATING.. you should wave it in my FACE! God knows that’s what I would have done…”

“Yeah, that’s fair but… I kind of don’t want to?” Wunder slowly shook his head. That was still just as weird to him as it sounded to say it out loud.

“I just don’t get why –“

“FABIAN!” Alfonso suddenly shouted, much louder than any of the other guys sitting at the table, “ _warum nur sin’ alläh Männa Schweine??_ ”

 _"Alle? Du hattest doch nur einen..."_ Grabbz sighed. In the next moment, Fnatic's coach wailed even louder in response.

Even if Wunder would have understood what the coaches had uttered in what kind of sounded like German, he was not about to tap into that conversation, just like the other guy’s sitting around them. Grabbz still looked slightly helpless, but also like he was slowly but surely accepting his fate. He patted the other guy’s back as soothingly as possible, and Martin couldn’t help but commend his coach for his patience. Then again, he knew why the German was so well trained when it came to being patient with difficult personalities – he was sitting across one of them, after all.

“You know, things could always be worse,” Wunder grumbled after a while, still looking over at the other side of the table.

“What do you mean?” Jankos asked bluntly.

“Well, you could be Grabbz..” The toplaner nodded over towards the team’s coach, who was currently being used as a shoulder to cry on by Alfonso – quite literally.

“Oh my GOD, the thought alone is enough to make me SHUDDER! Grabbz?? Oh no!” Jankos frowned, shaking his head dramatically. “Or – wait, did you mean because of Mithy?”

“Yeah, I mean, look at the way he’s being bombarded and…” Wunder stopped for a second. “Wait – what did you mean?”

“Ehm, you know,” Jankos laughed, peering down into his empty glass to avoid answering, “I think I need a new drink… or maybe a shot or something…”

“We could head to the bar in a second,” Wunder suggested as he was running low on beer as well, “don’t think any of these clowns would miss us.”

“Not a bad idea,” Jankos nodded slowly, but he suddenly looked a lot more serious again.

“What is it?”

“Wunder…?”

“Uhm, yeah, dude?” Martin mumbled.

“Do you think it’s possible that we have… _maybe_ … been overdoing this whole fighting thing?” The jungler asked carefully. The hesitant tone of his voice was more than enough to reveal just how drunk he was already.

“I don’t just think so, I know so,” Wunder replied with the hint of a smirk, “that’s just how we are, though…”

“How we are…?” Jankos muttered, “but I don’t fight as much with… well, at least not with Rasmus!”

“But that’s because of the way Rasmus is,” Martin explained with a soft smile, “you and me we’re… different. Like… brothers and shit.”

“BROTHERS?” Jankos exclaimed, looking weirdly excited all of a sudden. It was almost like there was a sparkle in his eye again.

“Well… I think?” The toplaner asked more than he stated, “at least in my experience –“

“Yes!! That’s – you’re so right,” the jungler nodded eagerly, “I just never THOUGHT about it that way!”

“Okay, good, but… don’t quote me on that, okay?” Wunder sighed as he got up from the table.

“Okay!” Jankos agreed as he followed, “now, Wunder – I have a LOT to tell you, brother!”

“Nooo, don’t say it like that,” Martin cringed. The arm the Pole had swung around his shoulders felt a little over the top as well.

“Do you also think that _Miky_ is the most attractive guy out of our team?” Jankos slurred against the toplaner’s shoulder.

“What? Dude, that’s so random…” Wunder sighed. “Maybe we should just get you some water instead of another shot.”

“No, no I’m fine, really,” the jungler protested, “I guess you don’t KNOW about it yet, but… it’s actually _super-hot_ for a guy to be into other guys…”

“You’re… really not making any sense,” Martin grumbled with a frown. Sure, Hannah had not exactly seemed to be put off by the thought, but that didn’t have to mean anything. Right?

“No you!” Jankos pointed at the toplaner, coming to a full stop a few meters away from the bar.

“You can’t just _‘noU’_ me in real life, Jankos,” the Dane explained as he sat down on one of the barstools.

“Well… I guess,” Jankos grunted as he followed the other guy’s lead. “But I meant it, you know? Sam told me…”

“Sam did?” Wunder frowned, turning his body towards the jungler. “I mean… it makes sense for her, but I’m sure it doesn’t apply to every woman out there.”

“How would you know?” Marcin almost whispered. “Some of us have to… take these chances, you know?”

“Dude…” The toplaner mouthed, “that’s just… insane. You don’t have to change to find a girlfriend, that’s just –“

“Easy for you to say!” Jankos protested. “It’s not like you need extra sex appeal ANYWAY! Since you got… HANNAH somehow…”

“Yeah… no idea how I got so lucky, honestly,” Wunder replied with a soft smile on his lips. It was a mystery that he did not mind being left unsolved.

“Me neither,” the jungler beside him muttered. He was seemingly trying to get the bartenders attention, but the bar was more than stacked.

“Just… keep your head up, okay?” Martin murmured as he gave the other guy a pat on his back. It was about the most encouraging gesture he could think of in this moment, and definitely more than he had ever done for the jungler. _Maybe that was a mistake_ , Wunder thought as he looked at his struggling teammate. Just because he had been okay with his social isolation beyond their league duties, that didn’t have to mean that the Pole felt the same way, right? Maybe he could have reached out a little more before, when he had first suspected that –

“You and Hannah… Diana won’t believe this,” Marcin muttered under his breath as he turned away, and, this time, Martin was sure that he must have misheard.

“What?”

“Hmm?”

“Who?”

“Just… WHAT, I didn’t say ANYTHING!” The jungler yelled. Seconds later, his face beamed bright red.

“You… you already have a new crush?” The toplaner asked hesitantly, trying to figure out what this sudden embarrassment could imply.

“NO! No, not at all, I was just… making a JOKE!” Jankos stammered. It didn’t seem like much of an explanation, though.

“A joke about me and Hannah…?” Martin murmured.

“No, geez… let’s just FORGET about it, okay?” The jungler grunted.

“So this is not about the girl Perkz and Miky told you about?”

“It’s not!”

“And not about me and Hannah?”

“No, it’s not!”

“Fine, fine…” Wunder mumbled, smiling ever so slightly. He was a little concerned, mostly because it seemed as if the jungler was trying to keep a secret – something he inherently sucked at, which is why it never turned out well – but he didn’t want to torture the other guy any more than necessary. And so, he decided to leave it at that.

“Still, about you and Hannah…” Jankos said after a pause, finally signalling the barkeeper to get them some drinks with his fingers. “Do you think it will last…?”

“Well… I really hope so. I like her a lot,” Martin admitted.

“Hmm…” The jungler hummed, “and she likes you, too?”

“Yeah – trust me, I couldn’t believe it, either,” Wunder shrugged, “but I really think she does. And like she just… accepts everything about me, you know?”

As the barkeeper presented the both of them with new glasses with mystery alcohol inside, the Pole smiled brightly. If it had anything to do with what the toplaner had just said was not something Martin could be certain of, but yes, Jankos smiled. He took a long sip before turning to the side to face his teammate. “Everything, huh?”

“Yep,” Martin nodded. He also tried whatever clear mixture the bartender had prepared for them – it was hard not to spit it out again right away. _Is that just plain Vodka?_ He considered quietly as his mouth burned like a damn prairie fire. The jungler beside him didn’t seem to mind.

“And you really mean she accepts everything?” Jankos squinted, somehow feeling the need to clarify.

“Yes…?” Wunder asked rather than he stated. Why did the Pole look so inquisitive all of a sudden? Did he say something that he shouldn’t have? He couldn’t have possibly found out, could he? After everything that had happened that day, all the pleading and the waiting and the unbearable silences, the jungler couldn’t have possibly -

“Hmm…” The Pole brought his right hand up to scratch his chin. ”She even accepts the fact that your room always looks like a dumpster?”

“Yes,” Martin replied with a relieved smile. “Yes, even that.”

There were still a lot of uncertainties occupying Martin’s mind, even though the alcohol washed them away one by one, slowly but surely. Eventually, he saw Rasmus return. And then Rekkles. He supressed the urge to punch the Swede’s into his stupid face – after taking a closer look, he concluded that somebody else must have already done that for him. With Miky and Perkz running off after getting some weird reason to fangirl over, and xPeke somehow hurling Mithy back to Fnatic’s apartment with Grabbz’ and Rekkles’ help, and Rasmus saying his early goodbyes to finally get some well-deserved sleep as well, Wunder found himself alone at the bar with no other than Jankos for the rest of the night. It was so unexpected, and yet, it felt so needed, probably for the both of them. They simply talked about crushes they once had, what exercises to pick up on at the gym, which car they would want to get if they ever needed to get one – it was perfect. In a way, Martin felt like he had always wanted to feel with his dimwit jungler by his side, after all: just like one of the boys.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Translations:

_“Warum nur sin’ alläh Männa Schweine” = Why are all men pigs? (slurred speech)_

_“Alle? Du hattest doch nur einen…“ = All of them? But you only had one…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Wunder's POV! For real, this time... ;)
> 
> So, what do you think? Did the chapter meet your expectations, or surprise you, perhaps? I'd be thrilled to hear all about it, here on ao3 or in #story-discussions on the DreamServer! 
> 
> I know I haven't done this in a while, but I want to announce that next week we'll finally see the end of Rekkles' triology... I made y'all wait long enough, didn't I? Well, I'll try to better myself ;)
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	57. Part 12: Martin (III)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the end of our infamous trilogy: Rekkles' monster of a POV, also known as "The ghost of Martin's past, present and future!" As soon as I started to divide the chapter into three parts, that's all I could think about... and, with Christmas more or less around the corner, it feels kind of fitting, right? 
> 
> But, before we dive in... a word regarding offseason changes. They hit me hard to be honest. Especially with regards to this story, it took a toll on me. And so, I've decided to move up my timeline and sort of "close out" in the next couple of weeks. I'll probably be back in 2021 at some point, but maybe not exactly where I left off after Part 12 - we'll see. I want to thank everyone for following and supporting my story up until this point, it really means the world to me! I hope we can end this cursed year on a good note, I'll try my best to make it worth your while, at least. 
> 
> Okay, wow, that got intense again - anyway, hope you enjoy Rekkles' third POV!
> 
> PS: You wanna join the DreamServer on Discord? Please do, our Holiday events will kick off soon and they'll blow your socks off for sure! Use this link to join: https://discord.gg/wT59FsRvsS

There are some nights where going out to drink is the best way to close out the day. After meaningful victories, for example, there was nothing Martin would have rather done than to raise his glass with his team, nothing but wide smiles on everyone’s faces. Even after shitty losses, a beer or two sometimes helped with taking off the edge. But tonight was not one of those nights – after almost getting black-out-drunk the night before, Rekkles had been ready to end the day on a tea and a serious conversation with his coach. But, as said coach was now dragging him and his former midlaner and lover down the streets of Berlin, Martin knew that that was no longer a possibility. If he ever wanted to talk things through, this meeting was probably his best bet – then again, there was another complication waiting in whatever kind of bar they were heading to. _Rasmus_ … Martin thought with a sigh, desperately trying to keep up with the Spaniards’ pace. Yes, the fact that the person he had a thousand things to say so and yet didn’t know how was waiting for him didn’t exactly help.

"Could you just... slow down a bit?" Martin sighed, annoyed by the Spaniard's rush.

"No way, I want to freaking get there as soon as possible, this has already taken to long thanks to you," Alfonso grumbled.

"But isn't that a small price to pay for this pretty face?" Enrique smirked, ruffling the Swede's hair without slowing down at all.

Martin replied with another sigh. It was kind enough of the coach to have lent him some toned face cream to cover up his bruise a little, as he was not exactly keen on the world, and more specifically the G2 ensemble, seeing him vulnerable like that. He wasn't sure whether Alfonso had offered to help out of kindness or the same interest, as team internal conflicts didn't exactly speak for quality coaching - but what use was it to wonder about that now?

“Where are we going anyway?” Martin asked, glancing around the streets to look for any potential candidates.

“You know, some bar,” Alfonso mumbled with his eyes fixated on his phone, “Grabbz suggested it after asking someone on his team I guess.”

“Okay, but do you know the place at all? Does it have any good cocktails?” Enrique asked curiously.

“Not at all… seems to have some karaoke machines or something, but who gives a crap about stuff like that, right?” Alfonso huffed as he put his phone back into his pocket. “Look at that, we’re here…”

 _Here? What do you mean, here?_ Martin wondered as he looked up at the lit up neon sign above the joint’s entrance, trying to make out what kind of establishment it could be. The exterior façade did not give away too much information, yet the ADC felt as if the place was eerily familiar somehow.

“I could totally go for some karaoke,” Enrique smirked as he dashed forward to get the door, “too bad Lauri couldn’t join us, we can sing a mean duet!”

“I’m sure _‘mean’_ is the nice way to put that,” the coach mumbled as he followed, only to stop again as he noticed that Martin wasn’t moving. “Are you coming?” He finally asked.

“Yeah…” The Swede mouthed. He couldn’t have walked any slower – maybe because it felt as if he was entering a slaughterhouse. Or maybe as if his head was on the chopping block. Either way, he wasn’t making it out alive. The feeling only got stronger as soon as Martin stepped inside of the bar – or was it a club? Maybe even a restaurant, or an arcade, or something in the middle of it all. The specifics didn’t matter, as it only took the Swede one glance at the gaming machines to his one side and then the cursed dance floor at the other to understand why the place felt familiar. _Ah shit_ , he thought, frowning ever so gloomily as he trotted past the table he had occupied barely two weeks ago, _here we go again_.

“There they are… shit, are we late?” Alfonso mumbled as he pointed towards a long table on the other side of the bar.

“Why, are we the last to arrive?” Enrique said, sporting a confident grin, “if anything, we’re _fashionably_ late.”

“Just… could you just hold back a little, Enrique?” The coach frowned. “At least until I had my first drink or two…”

“Come on, stop being so grumpy, it’s getting old – or is that just us?” The midlaner laughed as he slapped the other Spaniard’s back.

Normally, Martin would have had a thing or two to say about getting old. But he had barely heard xPeke’s playful banter this time around, as he had laid eyes on the gathering of people Alfonso had previously pointed at. He saw Grabbz, who was seemingly trying to get the waitress’ attention since he was the only one without a drink in front of him. He saw Miky and Perkz, who looked like they were up to something, as always. He saw Jankos and Wunder, who were positioned at the head of the table, talking about something serious, apparently. And then he saw _him_.

Martin swallowed hard – he wanted to stop, even, but Enrique’s hand on his back continued to shove him forwards. The ADC wondered whether Rasmus’ soft smile was directed at Wunder because of his story – then again, wasn’t that what he always looked like? Yes, now that he was thrown into this unexpected situation, even though all he wanted to do was talk to Alfonso about what had happened the night before, Martin couldn’t help but think about how much he had missed seeing Rasmus smile. And about in what kind of deep shit he was, naturally.

“Alfonso, there you are!” Grabbz exclaimed, waving the three guys over, “I see you brought company but… wait, what are you doing here, xPeke?”

“Surprise!” The Spaniard exclaimed proudly as he sat down across the table from the coach. He didn’t quite get the reaction he had seemed to hope for again.

“Damn, what brings you here, old man?” Perkz smirked as he put his phone down to give the new arrivals a warm welcome.

“And where’s the rest of Fnatic, hmm? United in rivalry my ass,” Miky sneered with his arm on Luka’s shoulder.

“Great to see you too,” Alfonso muttered, smiling through gritted teeth, “the others were busy, and Enrique happened to be around, so…”

“So I was happy to come along to represent Fnatic once more!” Enrique announced, pointing at the team’s emblem on Rekkles’ jacket. Martin had just slouched down next to the midlaner without thinking only to regret that instantly, as all eyes were on him all of a sudden. Even Caps’.

"Well, don't you just look lovely today..." Miky muttered, staring at Martin's face a little too closely.

"What do you MEAN, Miky?? He just looks like he always does," Jankos chimed in, and, even though the jungler's weird heart eyes, which were directed at his support, confused Martin a little, he was more or less glad that his camouflage had paid off. Still, he felt like there was anticipation in the air, almost as if everyone kind of expected him to say something.

“D-does anyone have the menu?” He muttered instead of a normal _‘hello’_. He silently wished that the ground would open to swallow him up alive on the spot, as things could only get more awkward from here on out.

“Yeah, here,” Grabbz mumbled as he put the card down right in front of the ADC, “but don’t think you’ll get anything anytime soon, I swear the service is terrible around here!”

“Really?” Alfonso muttered with a sour expression, “that’s no good, I need something to drink, like, as soon as possible – why are we here again?”

“Calm down, ‘Fonso, the karaoke is well worth it,” Luka grinned mischievously.

“Don’t call me _Fonso_ , Luka, I swear to god…” The coach shot the midlaner an angry glance.

“Damn, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, huh?” Miky remarked with an accompanying whistle.

Mithy simply stared back at him with building fury in his eyes. _Yeah, let’s not talk about who slept in which bed,_ Martin thought nervously. The analogy didn’t even work in his case, as the coach had fled the scene barely 5 minutes after they had finished – _but who cares about the specifics, right?_ Martin was nervous either way as he was looking for the waitress again. And then, he suddenly had an epiphany.

“Actually…” Martin started as he had found something suitable to his taste on the menu, “you have to order at the bar around here, right? If I remember correctly…”

“Oh, you’ve been here before?” Enrique asked, looking quite interested. “On a scale from one to ten, how good are you at singing karaoke?”

“WAIT – what do you mean you have to order at the bar??” Grabbz scoffed, turning to face his team on his left. “Is that what you guys did? Without _telling_ me?”

“WELL, it’s not like you ASKED!” Jankos shouted, lifting his beer rather mockingly.

“Ahh – sorry, Grabbz, I didn’t order my drink myself and then I kind of forgot,” Caps said with his usual, sweet and crooked smile. How could anyone be mad at that face?

“Fine, fine,” the coach sighed, getting up from his seat, “I’ll just go order for us old timers over here – what do you want, guys?”

“Old timers? _Legends_ , you mean,” Enrique remarked with a finger snap, “I’ll take a Tequila sunrise, please.”

“I’ll have a Cuba Libre,” Martin said with a sigh, wondering if he should really drink again this soon after his last mostly alcohol-induced bad decision. The answer was probably _no_.

“I don’t feel like I qualify for either of those… _ancient_ categories,” Alfonso huffed with crossed arms.

“I asked for your order, not your life story,” Grabbz said with a grin, “what’s it gonna be?”

“… an _Old Fashioned_.” The Spaniard whispered barely audibly.

“A WHAT?” Perkz wheezed on the other side of the table after catching on to the only words he needed to hear, “you darn dinosaur of a man!”

“No shame in having a signature drink,” Enrique said, coming to the coach’s rescue. Meanwhile, Grabbz wandered off with a silent grin on his lips, seemingly enjoying that he was not the only one getting roasted by the G2 boys for once.

While the rivalling team went back to their own affair, and xPeke and Mithy started getting into another argument about age next to him, Martin seized the opportunity to grab his phone out of his pocket. As he had done many times before during this last few days, he opened up his messenger and debated whether it was finally time. Martin looked up again, trying to find Rasmus at the other end of the long table. A task which proved to be more difficult than anticipated, as the small guy was well hidden behind G2’s husky toplaner. Still, Martin managed to catch a glimpse of the other ADC’s face, which didn’t look quite as cheerful as it had before. For a brief moment, he even felt as if Rasmus was looking at him, too – his heart skipped a beat.

 _This is so messed up_ , Martin thought, biting on his lower lip as he went back to staring at his blank chat with Rasmus. Yes, this peculiar setting was not what the Swede had hoped for when he had imagined talking to the Dane again. Not in this cursed bar, with all of these people that couldn’t care less about what they used to have, as all they saw now was what had been broken. Admittingly, that was also what Martin still saw, above anything else. And yet, he kept looking at Rasmus. And, for some reason, Rasmus kept looking back, averting his gaze shyly as soon as he noticed he got caught. Martin was so concentrated on their game that he didn’t even notice Grabbz coming back. No, he only had eyes for Rasmus. At least until a comment from a certain troublemaker caught the ADC’s attention.

“So, xPeke… I was wondering,” Mihael said, dramatically putting his drink down on the table, “would you ever consider… _immortalising_ yourself?”

 _What the hell…?_ Martin thought, trying not to stare into the support’s direction too obviously. He knew that the Slovenian must have been up to something again, and something in the Swede’s guts was telling him that it was _bad_. Next to him, his former midlaner didn’t look nearly as concerned. “Immortal – what? You mean going to NA?” The Spaniard laughed, gesturing that it was hard for him to understand the support from across the table.

“No, I meant – I don’t know, model for a portray or a statue or something?” Mihael shouted across the table. Martin’s worries only grew in size at this point.

“That’s an odd question… you mean a bronze statue, maybe? Not sure whether Lauri would want that around the house…” Enrique wondered aloud, looking as if he was seriously considering the idea for a moment.

At this point, Martin couldn’t help but lift his gaze – he simply _had_ to look at Miky’s face to make out whether he knew. And, as Perkz had checked into the conversation, the Swede had to assume that they were in on it together. It still seemed too absurd to be true, but why else would he be asking these weird questions?

“I wasn’t thinking about bronze, but, you know…” Miky smirked eerily. Perkz started laughing as well.

Those shit-eating grins Martin would have recognized anywhere were enough proof for his worst fear coming true: somehow, the information must have slipped out. Yes, for whatever reason, the worst possible people imaginable had found out about one of his most prized possessions. Immediately, the ADC started to break out in cold sweat. He never thought that the day when his secret was revealed would come – he had tried so hard to conceal it from the outside world, to keep it as his very own little pleasure on dark days. It had never been meant for any other eyes than his own. _How could this happen?_ Martin asked himself silently, trying his best to keep it together. The last thing he wanted was Miky and Perkz noticing his stress level, after all.

And, as he kept his head down as much as possible, the ADC suddenly remembered that there was, in fact, one other person who had seen the dildo. Accidentally, and probably not consciously, but still. _Tim_ … he sighed, remembering their first real adventure on Valentine’s day. After leaving this weird place, after seeing Oskar kiss Rasmus on the dancefloor he was sitting way too close to now - truly not something he wanted to think about in this moment. _But he couldn’t have figured it out just because he saw the signature, right?_ Martin considered, nervously pulling on his fingers under the table. Considering that Enrique looked absolutely clueless about the evil duo’s intentions, Martin’s best bet was probably to pretend like he didn’t know anything either. Easier said then done, as he was dying to find out how _they_ found out, but the ADC bit his tongue and kept quiet. _Maybe I’m just overthinking this again_ , he considered quietly, _maybe they really just developed a weird interest in contemporary art or something_. Suddenly, he heard the one voice he had been longing to hear for too long.

“Don’t you think he’s legendary enough already, Luka? No one would ever forget about the _Backdoor-King_ , right?” Rasmus chuckled, and, for a moment, Martin forgot everything around him. The way in which Rasmus smiled ever so brightly as he jumped in to defend one of his idols, the legendary xPeke… Martin’s heart couldn’t take it. All he could think about now was how badly he wanted to be close to him again, to hold him, or just talk to him, realistically. And, at this point, with the conversation fading out into laughter, there really were not a lot of reasons to refrain from doing so anymore.

Sure, there was a lot of fear in the ADC’s heart – fear of rejection, fear of being irrelevant to the person he ached for, and fear of whatever unforeseeable future might await him if he dared to take the step. But, after just experiencing a heart attack because of G2’s troublemakers again, those fears didn’t seem to be as scary anymore. Martin knew that he’d have to face Miky and Perkz someday, as they didn’t look as if they were really willing to let the infamous penis duplicate fiasco rest – but today was not that day. Instead, it could be the day Martin faced his other fears, and he somehow liked the sound of that now. And, with Rasmus smile lighting up the room, even if it was just for a second, what other sign could he possibly be waiting for now? More or less confidently, Martin started typing.

Martin: Hi

Martin: Sorry, I know this is awkward, but I felt like I have to tell you something

The Swede took a deep breath before continuing – he had to make sure to find the right words, after all. _Should I start by telling him about the break-up? Or does he already know, too? Maybe I should just ask him to talk somewhere else, if only I could –_

“Martin, come on, stop spacing out!” Alfonso scoffed, pinching the ADC in his arm as he nodded towards the drink in front of him.

“W-what do you want me to do?” The ADC muttered in an irritated manner, almost as if someone had awoken him from a long sought after nap. Martin hadn’t even realized that the drink had been dropped off in front of him at some point – he really had spaced out completely for a moment. To be fair, that’s just the effect the smile of some people can have.

“Raise your glass with us, Martin,” Enrique smirked, demonstrating the task proudly, “let’s have a fun evening!”

“Or whatever, let’s just get this over with so we can start drinking,” Alfonso grumbled next to the other Spaniard as he clinked glasses with everyone around him.

“Sounds like fun already,” Grabbz agreed. He looked a lot happier with his beer in hand.

“Okay, okay, cheers,” Martin muttered – but he didn’t take a sip just yet. After finishing the ritual – making sure to look each of the guys into the eyes, not because of superstition but because of precaution – the Swede put his glass down again. The words were still flying around in his head, he just needed to catch them. Rearrange them. Send them. As Martin redirected his attention to his open chat, he noticed that Rasmus must have already read the few lines he had sent before – but no reply. Instantly, Martin’s gaze shot back up to look at the Dane’s facial expression for clues instead.

But he was gone – the spot he had previously occupied, as well as Wunder’s, were empty. For a moment, Martin felt as if the rest of the G2 players were staring back at him somehow. _Shit_ , Martin thought as he shoved his phone back into his pocket, _I’ve been spotted_. Sure, he was used to being spited by G2’s players. But he hadn’t even considered the consequences a potential return to their den could hold for him. The thought made him nervous to say the least.

“You okay?” Enrique whispered, leaning over to Martin to make sure no one else could hear. Miky and Perkz had, meanwhile, moved on to annoy Mithy, together with Grabbz who was just trying to ask honest questions.

“Y-yeah, sure,” the ADC stammered, shoving his phone back into his pocket. He tried his best to act natural, to pretend as if he hadn’t noticed the angry glares of his rivals on him.

“You don’t look it, you know?” The former midlaner went on, “you didn’t even touch your drink yet…”

“Uhm just because…” Martin started, but he didn’t even know how to finish his excuse. He was simply too done with the world at this point.

“If this is about _you-know-who_ …” Enrique whispered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively – it was almost enough to make Martin chuckle. Almost, though.

“It’s just difficult,” the ADC sighed. He felt Enrique’s hand up on his back seconds after. “It’s okay, champ, I really feel like things are gonna be okay tonight… as long as you realize what kind of opportunity this is, you know?”

“Easier said than done,” Martin replied with a pained smile. He appreciated the Spaniard’s encouragement, of course he did – but what was he supposed to do, now that Rasmus was nowhere to be found? Wait for his return? Go search for him? The fact that he was still waiting for a reply to his texts was probably not the best sign. But, as the Swede was still debating what his options were, he noticed that he was caught in the cross-fire of a heated debate he had never asked to be a part of once more.

“You can’t just do that, Alfonso,” Grabbz huffed, slamming his glass down on the table with a little too much force, “you can’t just gather our teams here and then keep your damn mouth shut!”

“W-well, I never asked for the teams to be here,” the coach replied sullenly, nibbling on his cocktail, “and I much less said I’d talk about my personal life in front of everyone.”

“Wait, what?” Martin mumbled with a confused look on his face. He was still trying to assemble the puzzle pieces – had Alfonso really called out Grabbz to tell him about his relationship troubles initially? Would he have told the other coach about their night together if no one else had shown up? The thought alone was enough to make Martin shiver. Enrique seemed to have grasped what the conversation was about much quicker – or so it seemed. “Oh, grow up, Alfonso,” the Spaniard teased, playfully putting his head on the former support’s shoulder. “Everyone knows about you and Zven, you’re not being _sneaky_ , you know?”

“You –“ The coach gasped, looking as white as chalk all of a sudden, “how on earth would _you_ know?”

“I mean, the thing with Zven, that’s also what I was thinking about,” Grabbz sighed as he scratched his beard.

“Ahh, see, two old men, the same thought !” Enrique chuckled, giving Grabbz an appreciative nod. The coach sighed in response, but he didn’t disagree.

"Don't pretend as if that was hard to figure out!" Luka shouted from across the table, and Miky just nodded knowingly beside him.

“But I didn’t tell anyone yet, you couldn’t possibly know, I –“ Alfonso rambled, suddenly stopping midsentence. He turned his head abruptly to face Martin, and the ADC could practically feel the fire erupting from his angry eyes burning his skin. “WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT, MARTIN?” Alfonso yelled, clenching the glass in his hand so hard that it started to look dangerous.

“Oh my god, Alfonso, I didn’t say anything!” Martin grunted. It was fair of the coach to assume, but he still felt offended.

“Sure you didn’t, then how would these clowns know??” Alfonso hissed, with his hands pointing in both directions. The new holders of the esteemed clown title exchanged a meaningful look.

“As I was saying, I only had a hunch…” Grabbz remarked calmly.

“I’m so confused – why would I need Martin to tell me you and Zven were dating? I was literally there when it all started, remember…?” Enrique asked. He tapped his chin, looking generally puzzled. For the second time of the day, Martin didn’t know how to respond to this naïve, hopeful question. Alfonso, however, looked like a volcano, ready to erupt.

“It’s because we’re _not_ , you damn idiot!” The coach yelled at the other Spaniard. It looked as if there were sparks flying through the air – and no one said a word. Even the noisy G2 squad on the other side of the table – or what was left of them – fell silent. Slowly, Grabbz put his hand on Mithy’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, man,” said in a soothing voice, “you wanna tell us about what happened now?”

“You and Jesper are really…” Perkz started but stopped midsentence. He looked a lot more concerned than Martin ever remembered seeing him.

“I really don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Mithy mumbled in a much softer voice. Next to him, xPeke sympathetically cuddled up to the coach even more. “I’m so sorry, too, you guys were always so sweet,” Enrique sighed, rubbing his chin against Alfonso’s shoulder.

“Yeah, well… that’s long gone,” the coach whispered sorrowfully.

For another, painfully long moment, the whole table was silent. Even Jankos had closed his mouth and stared down the table in awe, despite probably not knowing what was going on. With Grabbz and xPeke both tending to Alfonso on either of his sides, the scene almost reminded Martin of a classic painting that could have been exhibited in a museum – then again, there was a lot of alcohol on the table and loud music in the air. The deciding factor in this analogy was probably the drama of it all, which felt ironically fitting in this case. In a way, Mithy’s break-up still made Martin sad as well. But this sense of ‘ _we should still talk about what happened last night’_ was stronger somehow. _But I can’t exactly start that conversation now,_ Martin thought nervously as he stared at his desperately saddened coach. No, with all of these other people around, it seemed impossible. He didn’t want to expose yet another secret of his to his rivals today, after all. But, somehow, Enrique seemed to have caught on to his stare.

“Say, Alfonso… how exactly did Martin know about that before anyone else?” The former midlaner asked carefully, still rubbing the other Spaniard’s arm for support.

Alfonso just sighed instead of answering the question, reaching for his cocktail to take one, two, three – many generous chugs. Martin swallowed hard as it seemed as if he was the one who had to come up with an explanation. “EHM I just – just happened to be around and uhh, well,” the ADC stuttered, feeling the panic grow in him.

“Wow, okay, but that’s not an explanation,” Perkz yelled out. His face still screamed _‘worried’_ , but now with an added sense of _‘what’s the tea?’_. “What happened?”

“And how many times?” Mihael added, using his hands as a megaphone. Next to Martin, Enrique was snickering, obviously not grasping that the line between banter and truth had been crossed. Alfonso still stared down on the table, and Martin wasn’t even sure if the coach had heard the snarky remarks of G2’s devilish duo. All of the ADC’s instincts were telling him to run, run away as fast and as far away as possible. Anything to avoid further questions. “I – I, uhm, I need to go to the toilet,” He finally stammered as he got to his feet as quickly as possible.

“Now?” Enrique said, looking up at the flustered ADC with a cocked brow. For the first time all evening, Martin felt as if the Spaniard actually had a clue about what was going on, but there was no time to explain.

“NERVOUS BLADDER OR WHAT?” Jankos laughed loudly, earning some chuckles from Miky and Perkz.

"Why do you need your coat to go to the toilet, Martin...?" Enrique asked, visibly confused.

Without answering, Martin fled the scene. As the shouting behind him grew quieter, he could finally breathe again. Even though he had planned on clearing the air with Alfonso, there truly was no way he could go through with it now – not in this setting. It seemed as if the coach had enough things on his mind anyway. _Maybe he doesn’t even want to talk about it_ , Martin considered solemnly as he slowly strolled towards the restrooms of the establishment.

Considering the Spaniard’s confrontational nature, it would have, indeed, been unusual of him not to address the situation right away. Maybe that was his way of telling the ADC that he wanted to pretend it never happened. The thought hurt Martin, although he couldn’t tell whether it felt like a scratch in his ego or another stone thrown at the glass house that was his emotional security _. Whatever, I have different things to worry about_ , Martin thought, trying his hardest to convince himself to focus his energy on trying to come up with a plan to talk to –

“Rasmus!” A loud voice exclaimed inside of the restrooms, which startled the approaching ADC enough to stop him in his tracks. “You can’t be serious, not after everything that happened!”

Martin hadn’t planned on listening in – this sort of sly act was nothing he’d ever want to be caught doing. But when he realized that the dark voice must have belonged to G2’s toplaner, and that said player was talking to Rasmus right now, probably about him, on top of that – how could he have possibly resisted?

“Please, calm down, Martin,” another voice answered. The Swede shuddered visibly – it had been a while since he had heard Rasmus say his name. He was very aware of the fact that he was not the one addressed this time around, but his heart didn’t seem to be. It suddenly pumped a lot faster, almost as if the Dane Martin desired was standing right in front of him.

“How am I supposed to calm down?” Wunder grunted, “you told me all about his stupid games… this just smells like another one of those!”

 _Ouch_ , Martin thought with a flinch.

“It’s not like I just forget about everything, okay?” Rasmus replied with a shaky voice.

“Well, you shouldn’t. If you ask me, there’s no point in listening to what he has to say,” the toplaner went on, seemingly turning on the tab to wash his hands, “he’s just going to come up with another bullshit excuse.”

“You might be right…” Rasmus sighed.

And hearing that was just too much for Martin to take. As he slowly realized why the other ADC hadn’t answered his texts, the Swede’s chest began to feel tight. He knew that he had to get out of there as soon as possible, as whatever would follow Rasmus’ bitter words was bound to hurt even more profoundly. _Is it really too late for us?_ Martin thought, not daring to think about the answer as he walked up to the exit of the joint with a fast pace. It was not like he was fleeing the place, no – he might have had the intention to come back. Eventually. But, for now, he needed a break, some fresh air, and a goddamn cigarette.

As the cold air of the night filled his lungs, Martin felt his body relax ever so slowly. He took a couple of deep breaths to stabilize himself before he tried to figure out what he should do next. _Who made Wunder the love doctor anyway?_ The ADC thought grumpily as he fished for his cigarettes in his coat’s front pocket _, as far as I know, he’s not exactly someone who dates a lot_. _Or at all_. It might have been a petty thought, but it gave Martin enough confidence to check his phone one last time. Maybe Rasmus hadn’t listened to the other Dane after all – maybe he was smarter than that. Or dumber, who knows. Unfortunately, the chat still looked sad and one-sided. The blue checkmarks irked Martin immensely, but there was nothing he could do at this point. Except…

Martin: Sorry, there was a lot going on at the table

Martin: I just want to talk to you

Martin started cringing at his own pathetic behaviour long before he had even hit ‘send’. _Double texting? Ridiculous_ , he thought as he flinched at his phone’s screen, which was just a little too light for his dark surroundings. He couldn’t have cared less about how his eyes started to hurt, as that was no match for how miserable he felt on the inside. With his phone still in hand, Martin slowly sat down on the sidewalk with his feet placed on the side of the road. There were no cars around, which came in handy in this case. The Swede had already gotten out a cigarette and was just about to grab his lighter when he suddenly noticed that Rasmus was typing. A sight that caused him to stop everything he was doing to hold his breath.

Rasmus: Okay… where?

Martin almost dropped the cigarette out of the corner of his mouth, that was how fast he scrambled to reply.

Martin: I’m outside right now, can you come to me?

He was hopeful, oh so hopeful – Martin was on edge to the point where he felt his heart hammer all the way up to his throat. Finally, after a minute or so which felt like a significantly longer period of time to the Swede, the other ADC finally started typing again.

Rasmus: Okay, see you in a minute

Hastily, Martin stored the cigarette back into his pack. The prospect of talking to Rasmus was enough for him to lose all interest in smoking in this moment anyway, but the fact that he still needed to figure out his words added to the pressure. The ADC rubbed his hands together nervously, hoping for the necessary revelation to hit him rather sooner than later. When he heard the sound of the heavy door of the establishment open behind him, Martin did not feel ready at all, but he turned around anyway.

Rasmus looked much smaller than he usually did – not in a literal sense, it was probably something in his posture. Or the very apparent absence of the usually so bright smile on his face. Yes, everything about the Dane’s aura screamed insecurity. He approached Martin with tiny steps after the Swede had waved and sat down even more hesitantly. There was quite a bit of distance between them, but still – for the first time in forever, they were alone. And Martin felt that.

“Thank you for coming out here,” he said after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

“Ah, it’s okay,” Rasmus muttered with his hands buried in the front pouch of his G2 hoodie, “I kind of wanted to talk to you, too.”

“You did?” Martin asked carefully.

“Yeah but… I don’t know, it just feels weird, you know?” The smaller guy explained quietly, staring down at the concrete as if that was his opposite.

“Considering how our last talk went…” The Swede sighed, shamefully remembering their encounter in his hotel room before Valentine’s day. Where he had shouted, cussed, waved his alleged happiness with Tim in Rasmus face – and almost kissed him. _I’m such a mess_ , Martin pondered, trying not to cringe again.

“Yeah, that wasn’t… great,” Rasmus mumbled with a slight shrug, “but I also meant in general. Us, talking… I don’t know, it’s just weird.”

“You have a point… it’s weird for everyone, apparently,” Martin said, scratching the back of his head, “so thank you for doing it anyway.”

“Don’t thank me for that,” Rasmus shook his head, “just tell me what it is you wanted to talk to me about.”

“What do you think it is?” The ADC replied with a pained smile.

“I’m not in the mood to play the guessing game,” Rasmus mumbled, turning his head to look back at the Swede.

 _But you love games_ , Martin thought, but he knew that that was not the appropriate answer – not when Rasmus looked this serious. Not when his eyes lacked any sort of sparkle, as they did right now.

“Do you ever feel like you’ve been living your life all wrong?” Martin asked after taking a deep breath.

“What?” Rasmus muttered, cocking a brow, “I don’t think so… what is that even supposed to mean?”

“I’ve had to come to terms with some… _things_ lately, and I think I have… some big regrets, you know?” Martin said in an attempt to explain.

“Regrets, huh… I can imagine,” the other ADC mumbled, pulling his knees close to his chest to hug them.

“Yeah, right – I meant about how things went down between you and me and…”

“I know what you meant.”

“Uhm – okay, well, I…” Martin stammered helplessly. He couldn’t recall a time where Rasmus had been so cold and serious before, and he wasn’t sure how to deal with it at all.

“You need to be a bit more specific than that,” Rasmus said solemnly. 

“Okay…” Martin took a deep breath, “I’m sorry for not being honest with you on the night I came to the G2 apartment with you. I’m sorry for yelling at you when we went back to my hotel – the whole thing with Tim, and god damn Oskar, it’s just so fucked up and –“

“I think you’re forgetting about something important here,” Rasmus remarked, cutting Martin off.

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s good to know you’re sorry about those things, and I haven’t made the greatest decisions these last few months either…”

“I guess that’s fair,” Martin admitted quietly.

“But still… there’s something else you never apologized for.” The Dane continued, turning his head to look into the Swede’s eyes. His gaze was so sharp that it made Martin shiver, and he had never felt so glad about being just as sober as the other ADC before in his life.

“I don’t think I understand what you mean…”

“That you left me.”

“Ehm, I did what now?” The ADC muttered, squinting at his opposite.

“You left me, Martin!” Rasmus said firmly and much louder.

“What are you talking about?” Martin scoffed. That was about the last way he’d describe the end of their relationship, after all.

“You really need me to remind you? About how things ended in 2018?”

“What… that’s what I meant! I wasn’t the one who left the team, running into the arms of our rivals!” Martin replied with growing anger in his voice.

“No, but you left _me_ … long before that,” Rasmus mumbled with trembling lips.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…” Martin said, barely able to hide his pouty mouth. “Where is this coming from anyway, I thought we were talking about the present…”

“Well, you’re the one who started talking about regrets and – and I just hoped that was what you regretted most,” Rasmus grumbled, hugging his knees a little tighter.

“But what? What did I do? I was right there, Rasmus, and I was never the one who talked about a break-up – hell, I had never even been with someone for that long!” Martin muttered, pushing his hands into his coat’s pockets for some warmth.

“And I had never been with anyone, _ever!_ ” Rasmus replied, and Martin couldn’t tell whether his voice tinted with anger or sadness. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

“I know that – of course I know. That doesn’t make it any easier for me to understand…”

“But how can you be so dense, Martin?” Rasmus grunted, “you kept distancing yourself from everyone to the point you moved out of the damn apartment, and I barely got to see you, and when I did, you never talked to me…”

“That was… well, because I was feeling the pressure, okay?” Martin sighed, hanging his head down low, “I just needed some more time, that doesn’t mean I didn’t care about our relationship…”

“Bullshit,” Rasmus mumbled under his breath.

“What…?” Martin stared at the smaller guy in disbelief. Was it the fact that he had rarely heard him curse, or rather that the Dane didn’t seem to trust one thing Martin said that unsettled him?

“You know that’s not true… you just have to! We stopped sharing a bed, we’d just meet up in private to bang… I think I talked to Bwipo a lot more than to you during the majority of 2018.”

“To be fair, he really talks a lot,” the Swede remarked.

“What, is this a joke to you?” Rasmus asked, staring at Martin with utter disbelief in his gaze.

“Of course not! I just thought – ah, whatever,” Martin mumbled. “2018 was just a hard year…”

“For us all, Martin!” Rasmus almost wailed, “but we still made it work!” 

“I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know what else to say,” the Swede replied sullenly, “I can’t change it now, can I…”

“That doesn’t exactly make it any better.”

Martin sighed. That part was obvious to him, and he probably should have given it a rest at this point. But there was a storm raging inside him. Yes, he wanted to be with Rasmus, more than anything else in this moment. And yet, still, he needed to push forward – he needed to explain himself. There was simply no way for him to back down now. “Well…” He started after a small pause, “I still don’t think you should have just gone away like that, okay? You should have talked to me about these things…”

“Are you even _listening_ to me? I tried to talk to you all the time, but you really _never_ seem to listen…” Rasmus sighed.

“I’m sorry – you’re right, I just still have so much anger in me,” Martin mumbled, trying his best to explain what he had worked out with his therapist ages ago. “After all this time, I just don’t know how to let these feelings go, you know?”

“Yeah… trust me, I know. I tried to move on but…I don’t know how to do it.”

“Right…” Martin sighed. But then, as he repeated Rasmus’ words in his head, he realized something. “Wait, no… are we still talking about _anger?_ ” He asked hesitantly, glancing over to see whether he could make out Rasmus’ facial expression somehow – but he just saw how much he was shaking.

“Yeah… no… I don’t know,” Rasmus breathed, barely audible.

“What – ah, you must be freezing,” the Swede said hastily, “do you want my coat, maybe? It’s really warm.”

“No… or… I don’t know,” the Dane mumbled as he pulled his arm up to wipe his nose with his sleeve.

“Just – just take it,” Martin grumbled as he stripped rather clumsily to put the huge, black Nike coat around the frail guy’s shoulders. “The Fnatic merch is surprisingly warm too, I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Rasmus said with what could only be described as the hint of a smile on his lips, “thanks.”

Martin didn’t know whether it was just the other guy’s body heating back up, but he thought his cheeks looked rosy for a second. The Swede bit his lip, trying to avoid thinking about how cute that was. For a short, oddly peaceful moment, nobody said a word – slowly but surely, both of the player’s rage ebbed out.

“It’s not like things were always bad,” the Swede said softly as he felt his mind drifting off into the realm of reminiscence.

“Of course not…” The other ADC sighed, glancing away shyly. He slipped his hands into the Nike coat’s generous pockets.

“The time I spent with you… I never regretted that,” Martin hummed. He realized how cheesy those words sounded as soon as they left his lips, but he couldn’t help it somehow.

“If we’re talking about regrets – I never regretted you being my first.” Rasmus whispered.

“Really?” Martin mumbled solemnly, “I wouldn’t blame you, you know. Now that I’ve heard you tell me your side of the story… I’m starting to feel like I was pretty damn awful to you.”

“I hated how it all ended,” Rasmus whispered, shaking his head ever so slightly, “but I’ve also had some of the best moments of my life with you.”

“You mean like that one time when Hyli yelled at us for being late for scrims when we were just hiding in the supply closet?” Martin chuckled, looking at the other ADC beside him with rosy cheeks. For a second, he feared that his attempt at humour might have been ill-timed again – but, to his relief, Rasmus started snickering as well.

“Hyli was so mad, even though he’s always late for everything,” Rasmus added, now grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah, right!” Martin nodded eagerly, “and we were right there, just…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t know whether he should. Rasmus’ smile suddenly looked a whole lot sadder.

“Just… yeah,” the Dane muttered after some time. How could such a blissful memory turn sour so quickly?

“Do you remember the last time we…” Martin started, but he suddenly felt like a teenager again, unable to use the most basic terms when it came to copulation. That was, however, not even what he wanted to ask the other guy about – it was something much simpler.

“The last time we… what?” Rasmus asked carefully, looking up at the Swede’s face.

“This is probably a stupid thing to say but…” He sighed, scratching his cheek, “I just realized that, at some point, I left your bed without even knowing it would be the last time we’d ever share it.”

 _Great, way to make myself feel even more horrible_ , the ADC pondered as he watched Rasmus’ face drop.

“I can’t remember,” the Dane muttered, putting his chin propped up knees, “I’ve thought about that so many times, but I don’t think I remember when that happened.”

“I never wanted it to be the last time, you know,” Martin said solemnly. As if that changed anything.

“Me neither but… here we are.”

“Here we are…”

“You know… I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if neither of us had left.” Rasmus mumbled. He sat himself up a bit straighter as his gaze wandered up to the stars, which simply hadn’t aligned for the both of them back in 2018.

“Me too,” Martin said with a soft sigh. He would occasionally dream about a life together, a row of LEC trophies, the Worlds’ title, even – all side by side with Rasmus. But, in the end, he had always known that that had never been an option. “I hate to admit this,” he added, folding his hands on his lap to warm them up, “but I think you were right to leave.”

“Huh?” Rasmus huffed. He obviously had not expected anything close to the ADC coming to this contradictory conclusion.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was a mess when you left – but I was a mess before that, too, right?” Martin murmured with a desperate smile on his lips, “even now, I’m just…”

“Well… don’t you think we could have worked through all that somehow?” Rasmus wondered, looking at his opposite with sad eyes. “In a different life…”

“I honestly don’t know. I don’t even know whether I can work it out now…” Martin admitted. He felt utterly and absolutely terrible, but, at the same time, he hadn’t been this honest with himself in a very long time. Still, he didn’t want to make Rasmus worry. “Sorry that was… it’s not that bad.” The ADC lied, but his body was not going to put up with that.

“Woah, hey, now you’re the one shivering,” Rasmus stammered, shuffling over to sit a bit closer to the Swede who looked chilled to the bone. But he was not shaking because of the cold – at least not the cold surrounding him. “Do you need your coat back, maybe?” Rasmus asked carefully.

“No, it’s fine, you should keep it,” Martin said, glancing over at the small Dane in his humongous coat. “It was just the wind,” he added as he noticed that the other guy didn’t look sold.

“Okay, well, if you say so… thanks again, I was totally freezing up,” the ADC replied with the hint of a smile on his lips.

“Don’t thank me, it’s my fault for calling you out into the cold,” Martin said after a small pause.

“I guess – what were you doing out here anyway?” Rasmus asked.

“You know… I needed a break from all the chaos in there.” The Swede sighed.

“Makes sense… it’s an odd constellation,” the Dane said with a slight nod, “were you… going to smoke? Because of… stress or whatever?”

“Hmm… yeah, to be honest,” the ADC admitted, wondering where all the shame came from – or whether it had ever gone away in the first place.

“That’s a horrible habit, Martin,” Rasmus mumbled, looking up at the sky, “I’ve always said it, and I’ll say it again: you should really quit.”

“Not the only horrible habit I’ve had lately,” Martin said with a sad smile on his lips. The smoking, the drinking, the impulsive hook-ups... it all circled back to the slump he was slowly sinking into, after all.

“Really…” Rasmus hummed, looking the other guy directly into his gloomy eyes. As Martin looked back into the Dane’s eyes, he could tell that there was general concern in them. “What happened to you, Martin? You were so different when I first saw you… how did you end up this way?”

It was such a small question, but, as that was what Martin had been contemplating all day long, it hit him like a bus. “I don’t know…” He whispered after a brief moment of silence, bringing both of his hands up to bury his face in them. Martin tried his best to control his breathing, to keep his cool somehow – which got a whole lot harder as he suddenly felt Rasmus’ arm around him. “It’s okay,” the other ADC hushed in a soothing voice as he put his head up on Martin’s shoulder.

This situation was anything but _okay_ for the Swede, but he couldn’t help it either way. The tears started rolling down his cheeks. The feeling was bittersweet – bitter because of all the hurt Martin was reminded off. And sweet because he remembered in Rasmus’ arms. He let his sorrow overcome him, or rather, he didn't really have a choice - he let go sitting on the sidewalk of some washed up street, with no one but Rasmus around to hear him cry. And Rasmus was there - oh, he didn't leave his side, and he didn't say anything, he was just there. In a way, after all this time of his troubles piling up, it was almost a relief to finally let them out now. Unfortunately, the moment the ADC hadn't even known he had ached for couldn’t last forever, no matter how much Martin wanted to lose himself in it.

“So…” Rasmus mumbled as he slowly moved away again, clearing his throat, “that got, uhm, intense…”

“Yeah, sorry,” Martin stammered, quickly wiping his cheeks with his hands.

"Don't apologize... it's fine, really," the other ADC mumbled, "I think I... understand."

"Still, we were having an important conversation and I just... couldn't hold it back, I don't know why, okay?"

"I'm glad you didn't... I finally feel like you're being honest with me, you know?" Rasmus responded with a sad smile, "in the past, I always felt like you'd do anything to hide whatever could make you look small and I kind of... hated that."

"I... I did?" Martin wondered, but it did sound like something he'd do, now that he thought about it. "I swear I always meant to be honest with you, really, I just - I'm sorry, Rasmus."

"Oh man, I just told you it was fine," Rasmus said, not looking quite as sad anymore - Martin felt another wave of relief overcome him.

"I'm glad, I'll work on that, I promise... sorry for making you wait for so long."

“Would you stop apologizing? Geez,” the other guy grinned softly, “are you Canadian or what?”

“What?” Martin chuckled, “that’s so random, Rasmus…”

“No way! I got it from Perkz, he said Zven uses it to banter with Vulcan, you know?” The smaller guy explained cheerfully. Martin couldn’t find the words to express how glad he was to see Rasmus smile again – so he just laughed along, despite still not having a single clue about what he meant.

“Ah, there is something I meant to ask you,” Rasmus said after the laughter had died down moments later. “You and Nemesis…”

“That’s over,” Martin shook his head slowly, “I wasn’t sure whether you might have heard…”

“I did – not in the right way, I guess, but I did,” Rasmus mumbled.

“Not in the right way?” The Swede frowned. He wondered whether he wanted to know.

“Yeah, uhm… I probably shouldn’t tell you who it was that told me,” the Dane murmured nervously, now hugging his knees again, “it’s just… I didn’t hear it from you.”

“Yeah, well, we weren’t exactly… _talking_ , you know?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Rasmus nodded slowly. “I don’t know why I was still hoping that you’d tell me, but I did.”

“I didn’t even… I mean, yeah, I considered it, but there was just… so much other shit, you know?” Martin sighed, trying his best to explain.

“I know it was unrealistic,” the other ADC grumbled. He looked almost pouty all of a sudden.

“I’m… sorry.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, I messed up again with that one, huh?” Martin mumbled solemnly. He didn’t see any use in trying to justify his behaviour anymore at this point – what was the point? In the end, it was obvious now that he should have been more courageous when it had mattered. But it was too late to change that now.

“Okay, well… thanks I guess?” Rasmus stammered.

“That’s not why I said it,” the Swede replied with a pained smile, “I’m just sorry, that’s all. I guess a part of the reason was your… thing.”

“My thing?”

“Yeah, you know…” Martin swallowed hard. This might as well be the perfect time to ask that one question that had pained him all day long. “I mean… you and Selfmade?” The Swede asked carefully. He was still afraid of the answer, but he simply had to know.

“Oh, right… that’s… over too, I guess,” the Dane whispered with a sad smile on his lips.

“Really?” Martin asked, supressing his urge to gasp audibly. “But when…?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But you were the one who started talking about me and Tim, so why –“

“You know why,” Rasmus said, looking back at the other ADC – and there it was. The sparkle in his eyes that Martin had found irritating at first, fascinating quickly after and impossibly endearing in the end, as he did now. It was finally back. He nodded slowly, as no words were needed for them to understand.

“Okay, so…” The Dane finally said after a moment of weirdly meaningful silence.

“Yeah, I mean, we don’t have to talk about it,” Martin added quickly. He wanted to, of course, but the most important information had been served up already. _He and Oskar are over_ , the ADC repeated in his mind, and it made him smile from ear to ear somehow, _I have a chance_.

“Thanks…” Rasmus hummed, staring down at the concrete again.

They both seemed to know that there was something in the air – but there still was so much standing in between them somehow. It felt like an invisible wall, preventing Martin from actually reaching out to touch Rasmus, to pull him into a tight embrace, to kiss him until his lips felt numb – it was all off-limits at this point. But, for the first time in a while, there was hope.

“One more thing –“

“I wanted to ask – ahh,” Martin started and stopped as he realized that Rasmus had had the same idea. They both stared at each other for a second, figuring out who should start. “You go ahead,” the ADC finally decided.

“I was just thinking about the thing about me leaving again and… ah, there is actually so much more I want to talk about,” Rasmus sighed, interlocking his fingers in his lap. “But... I think I really need to get back inside now, you know?”

“Oh… because of the rest of the G2 anarchists?” Martin frowned. He was starting to get cold and had thought about going back inside as well, but not like this.

“Yeah, kind of…” Rasmus nodded slowly, smiling a little. “But I also think we shouldn’t…rush anything?” He added hesitantly.

“Ehm, yeah, no, I wasn’t planning on – I mean, we can just go back now, and, uhm,” Martin stammered nervously.

“That would be for the best, yeah… we wouldn’t want Wunder coming out here to drag me back, right?” Rasmus laughed, equally as nervously.

“Haha, right,” the Swede chuckled, “that would be… crazy, uhm, he didn’t… _actually_ say he would do that right?”

“Uhhh… nooo, of course not,” the other ADC lied a little too obviously.

“Shit, well… better not let your watch dogs wait, then,” Martin mumbled.

“Don’t say it like that,” Rasmus laughed. As he looked over to face Martin, his smile lingered on for a little longer.

“So, uhm… since we have to cut this short now, is there any way we could… meet up again? Without all the other people, I mean?” Martin asked carefully. His heart was beating just as fast as it had back in the day, when the Swede had asked someone out for the very first time. Somehow, this casual proposal felt just as meaningful.

“Uhm…” Rasmus hummed, looking up towards the sky as if he was thinking about the question long and hard for a moment. “I mean… eventually, yeah,” he said after a while.

“Okay…” Martin nodded. Still better than ‘never’, he noted silently. “And… until then?”

“Right, well… the thing you did earlier – maybe you can do it more often? I didn’t hate it, at least,” Rasmus explained, looking away shyly.

“What did I do…?” Martin asked cluelessly.

“You just… texted me, you know?” Rasmus mumbled with a soft smile on his lips.

“Yeah… yeah, I will,” the Swede nodded eagerly as he got up to his feet, extending his hand to help the Dane up as well. It felt right when their hands found each other, even if it was just for a brief moment.

“Then let’s head back inside!” Rasmus announced cheerfully, “I’ve got a tall glass of KiBa waiting for me in there.”

“And a mob of angry G2 players,” Martin frowned as he followed the smaller guy’s big steps, “do you think I’m gonna get beaten up?”

“Uhm, what? Don’t be ridiculous,” Rasmus laughed as he opened the door, just to turn back a second later with a sly smirk to add, “no promises, though.”

Despite the likely future in which Martin would have to cover up even more bruises, and despite everything still standing between him and Rasmus, the ADC didn’t feel like he wanted the ground to open and swallow him up anymore. He wanted to walk next to Rasmus and sit back down to join the club of awkward esports legends, and maybe even take a beating if that’s what it took to live in a world where he and Rasmus could have another chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Rekkles' POV! For real this time ;)
> 
> So, what are your thoughts and feelings when it comes to how it all turned out? Do you think they did the right thing? Or was the final showdown a disappointment? Please let me know, this chapter was a real pain to write sometimes, so feedback is highly appreciated! Leave your thoughts either here on ao3 or on the DreamServer under #story-discussions. I'll get back to you either way! :)
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	58. Part 12: Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Time to turn the page for another chapter in the endless journey that is Part 12: No Sleep! 
> 
> Yep, endless is the right word, I just keep prolonging the end of all of this somehow... well, that sounds too dramatic. But you know me by now, right? My goal is to go down with 60 chapters, as that is a satisfying number to end this awfully long year on, right? So yeah, two more weeks of this. As for this chapter, I had mixed feelings when I started to write it, but I don't regret writing it now. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!
> 
> PS: You wanna know how cool our Discord (the DreamServer) is? I probably would have never had the courage to include the brand new character popping up in this chapter if it wasn't for them, you know? Thank you for all the help, guys ;) And, if you're reading this and still haven't joined the server, I want to encourage you to do it once more. You won't regret it! Use this link to join: https://discord.gg/MtbbBgJwf8

It barely felt like a Sunday morning – or any other morning, for that matter – when Tim opened the blinds on his window to let some natural light into his otherwise pitch black room. Despite the familiar sensation of being blinded by the bright beams of the morning sun, it didn’t really feel like a morning to Tim since there had not been a night separating this day from the previous one. After the midlaner and his jungler had arrived at the team’s office rather late to play some DuoQ games, one thing led to another and they simply didn’t stop until the birds outside let them know another day had arrived. It seemed like time does, indeed, fly when two eager gamers who had just found each other again are having fun. It felt just like it had back in the day, when Oskar was Tim’s one and only friend in this whole wide world. Well – actually, that wasn’t quite true. _He’s not just my friend anymore_ , Tim thought with the edges of his lips curling up into a smile, even though it felt so cheesy. But yes, after everything that had happened, Oskar was, finally, so much more than that.

Now that he thought about it, their coach might scold them for staying in the office all night long if he found out, even though Tim was convinced that they were too old to have a curfew, let alone a bedtime. But the fun had been well worth the risk. The midlaner didn’t mind his seemingly endless fatigue either. He thought about taking a nap for a moment, but then decided that lying around on the couch while lethargically lurking around on his Discord server would do the job just fine. After a moment of carefully weighing his options, Tim decided to add an energy drink to the mix, since he despised coffee more than the caffeine it contained could ever make up for. The huge couch in Fnatic’s living room area was soft enough for the midlaner to start drifting off a little – enough to still be classified as awake while enjoying the perks of daydreaming about what was to come for him.

And, almost as if they jumped right out of his fantasy, the dreamy couple that was Bwipo and Hylissang found him. They were even softer than usual that morning – _wait, it’s well past noon already?_ Tim thought as he checked his OnePlus for the time. It checked out. The Slovenian was not known for his ability to keep track of conversations, times or places, after all. At least not in real life – his ability to time an enemy’s flash or move around the enemy’s jungle without being spotted was top notch, of course. But it was not like time on a Sunday mattered anyway.

It looked as if Fnatic’s sweethearts had also just gotten up despite the late hour of the day, judged by their tired eyes and occasional yawns. Hylissang even offered Tim some hot chocolate as soon as he spotted him, in his usual, weirdly maternal fashion. Tim didn’t like hot chocolate, though. He couldn’t be lulled with a lot of sweets – unlike someone he didn’t want to think about in this moment. Someone Oskar was with while he was waiting on the jungler’s return. _It’s no use to wonder about that now_ , Tim silently thought, turning his OnePlus in his hand. Yes, why not think about the fact that the toplaner’s and the support’s marital bliss was a bit less annoying all of a sudden instead? Maybe it was because Tim could see himself walking in their footsteps soon enough. He and Oskar would, of course, be way cooler and way less cheesy about it. They might not even make it a huge thing at all – but something inside the midlaner desperately wished for them to be just as happy. He wanted it so much. The only thing he remained unsure about was whether he deserved it.

One look at the swollen and bruised left side of Martin’s face was enough to make Tim question that even more. He could have prevented this unnecessary violence. If he had been courageous enough to talk to Oskar about the break-up a day, or two, or three before that, Martin wouldn’t have met with this terrible fate. But, in the end, he had not been daring enough. There was nothing he could do now other than apologize to the ADC. Now, apologizing was not something Tim did often, which is why it meant even more when he did. And he didn’t resent Martin, after all. No – a part of him even wished the Swede the same happiness he was looking for. A small part, but still. Besides, it looked as if Martin was beating himself up even more than Oskar had the day before. But there was no way Tim could have done anything about that – no, _sorry_ would have to do for now.

And then, Tim left. He didn’t want to stay to discuss Oskar’s whereabouts any longer than necessary, since he wanted to do anything but to think about that. And it was a Sunday, after all – he owed his community a couple of hours on Twitch at least, didn’t he? Besides sleeping, which was clearly not an option for him, hitting the office to play some League seemed to be the next best thing. Doing it on stream was merely the cherry on top. Some people might have been surprised about how much the midlaner loved interacting with his fans, as he seemed to be a rather introverted person altogether. And that was true, of course – most of the time, Tim loved to be by himself and only reached out to others from time to time. During these times he did, however, enjoy every second of the banter, the joking, from the endless copypastas all the way to this one idiot who kept asking him for “ekisses”.

It was the message of one of the people he rarely refused spending time with whenever the opportunity arose that finally made Tim end the stream after a couple of hours online. Sure, the wide difference in time zones separating him and LS had something to do with that, too. Despite the other guy’s insane work schedule, paired with Tim’s scrim-packed everyday life, they still managed to meet up to hang out on Discord ever so often. LS would ask him if he needed a coaching more or less jokingly, and Tim would make a snarky remark or two, and then they’d just talk about whatever, or simply go on with their individual duties while remaining on call for some silent company. Yes, in a way, that was the least complicated friendship Tim had ever established, if one could call it that.

“There’s just one thing I don’t understand…” Nick said, turning from side to side in his gaming chair. In the darkness surrounding him, his face looked illuminated to the point where it was almost glowing, but the American didn’t like to be compared to a ghost, apparently.

“We’ve been over this…” Tim murmured, barely looking at the tiny video chat window on the bottom right of his screen as he tried to queue up for another game.

“Yeah, but how can you be sure?” LS wondered aloud, “that he’s really out there to break up with Caps right now, I mean.”

“Trust me, I know what you meant,” the midlaner grumbled. He had asked himself the same question at least a dozen times since he had parted ways with Oskar that morning – how could he not think about it?

“Geez, I was just asking…” Nick sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, Tim could tell that the other guy had started to pull on his fingers again. “It just worries me a little, not gonna lie.”

“What is there to worry about?” Tim shrugged. “He said he’d do it and… well, I believe him.”

“You mean you _want_ to believe him – big difference. Aren’t you being a bit naïve here?”

“No, I - why are you so hung up on that anyway? Didn’t you want to tell me something about wave management a second ago or –“

“Listen, Tim, this goes beyond the coaching we normally do… I am about to become your _actual_ life coach.” The American said ominously, seemingly coming a bit closer to the camera.

“That job is probably a lot more boring than what you make it sound like,” the midlaner replied with a slight smirk on his lips.

“Maybe, but it’s important – are you listening to me? Come on…”

“Sure, sure, whatever… tell me, oh great life coach, what should I do?” Tim mumbled, rolling his eyes a little too obviously.

“I saw that, but okay,” LS snickered, “basically – I want to play _‘what if’_ with you.”

“What if… what?”

“Hmm well, what if Selfmade was the one playing with you this time?” The American asked, tilting his head a little. “What if he decides that he doesn’t want to ditch Caps after all?”

“Oh fuck you…” Nemesis murmured, almost chuckling in response to something that faintly sounded like their usual banter – but the coach on the other side of the screen didn’t look as if he was joking at all. “Yeah, yeah, fuck me, haha… seriously though, what are you going to do then?”

“Seriously? But… that’s basically the same question as before, we’re running in circles here…” Tim sighed, glancing up at the timer of his queue. Several minutes had passed by now, and there was still no game in sight. “It’s not gonna happen,” he added after a short pause.

“If you say so… but what if it does? What would you do?” The coach inquired.

“I… don’t know. I guess I wouldn’t be happy about it.” The midlaner mumbled solemnly. The biggest understatement of the century – that’s probably what his stomach would have said if it had been able to talk. Instead, it just turned as a reaction to the thought of losing Oskar once more, making Tim feel nauseous.

“As your life coach, I have to say that you should try to express your feelings a little more precisely than that…” LS said, shaking his head a little as his fingers kept tapping his knee. “Don’t underestimate the power of words, Tim.”

“Hmm…” The Slovenian hummed. Powerful words – he felt as if he had heard some of those not too long ago. His mind wandered back to the previous night, when he sat on his bed with Oskar. Just the two of them, talking about… everything. And then the jungler said these fateful words. The thought about those alone was enough for Tim to slip into a lulling daydream. He didn’t even realize that his queue had popped until he had already dodged it, involuntarily so.

“Earth to Major Tim, hellooo?” LS said loudly, shaking the midlaner right out of it.

He stared at his screen with a frown. “Sorry, I was just… remembering something.”

“It’s funny to watch you when you do that, you know?”

“Do what?”

“Space out… I swear, you do it all the time!” The other guy went on with a smirk, “I’m glad it doesn’t seem to happen to you in-game…”

“Very funny,” Tim grumbled, finally closing his League client as he gave up any hope of squeezing in another game for the time being. “It’s not like I do it consciously… what you said just made me think about something.”

“I called you out for not talking about your feelings enough and your solution was to think about that in silence?” LS asked with a cocked up brow.

“I mean… not if you say it like that,” the midlaner shrugged, “I just wondered whether you were talking about power of some special phrases, like… _I love you_ or something.”

“Aww, you do, Tim? I’m touched,” the American cooed, fanning himself with his hand ever so theatrically.

“Life coach, Caster, Comedian… is there anything you can’t do?” The Slovenian remarked slyly, leaning back in his chair to match the other guy’s pose. Now that he wasn’t really doing anything else, his video chat was being displayed in full-screen mode.

“Can’t seem to find time to sleep, mostly,” LS muttered, looking less like he was joking now, “but, seriously, though – he said that?”

“Huh?”

“Oskar, you meant Oskar, right?” Nick asked with a rather serious tone.

“I… I didn’t say that.” Tim answered quietly.

“But wasn’t it kind of implied…” LS asked inquisitively.

“Well…” Tim sighed. He wasn’t sure whether he should tell anyone – hell, maybe he shouldn’t talk about his relationship with Oskar at all. Every person that knew increased the risk of the information slipping into the wrong hands, after all. But the fact that the words had already fallen right out of his mouth somehow proved that he _needed_ to talk about it. “Ah, what the hell. Yeah, he said it. Yesterday.

“He did? Man, the man really isn’t playing, huh…”

“Yeah, well… he didn’t say it on purpose, though.” Tim added, almost nervously – why did he feel the need to specify that?

“What? How do you say something like that accidentally?” The other guy wondered for a second, looking as if he wasn’t quite buying it.

“Don’t ask me, he said it just… slipped.”

“Ahh… well, I guess things like that happen.” The American murmured. All of a sudden, Tim felt like his facial expression looked a lot softer. “So… did you say it back?”

“What? No way,” Tim shook his head. “Just talking about the whole situation was hard enough.”

“But you do feel the same way, right?” LS asked again.

“I – I guess? I don’t know…” The Slovenian glanced away, almost feeling like he was going to blush. Why did Nick have to ask again and again and again?

“At least your face knows how to say it,” Nick grinned, pulling one of his knees closer to his face as he hunched over in his chair, “we’ll work on the rest.”

“You’re really hung up on this whole life coach thing… I’m not gonna pay you, you know,” Tim muttered as he turned back to his screen.

“We’ll see about that!” LS exclaimed with a smug expression on his face, “I’ll accept sub donations too, you know…”

“Yeah, no, over my dead body,” the Slovenian huffed.

“Fine, fine… first hour is free of charge, then.” The coach shrugged, “tell me, what else can I help you with today?”

“What do you mean with _‘what else’?_ How did you help me so far?” Tim asked, squinting at the other guy in disbelief.

“You know, I taught you the basics: trust no one, but also muster up the courage to put your heart on the line, risking everything. Easy, right?”

“…You’re unbelievable sometimes…” Tim grumbled. It was the opposite of easy, if anything.

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop… I was serious though, is there anything else on your mind?” LS said calmly, “I get that the whole thing with Caps is stressful, but I feel like something has been off for a while now…”

“As observant as always,” the midlaner huffed, crossing his arms, “well – I’ve had some stress lately.”

“Haven’t we all…”

“I meant, like, more intense than usual,” Tim added.

“And you think I didn’t?” LS flinched a little, biting on his lower lip. Of course Tim knew what kind of pressure the other guy was under – how hard he worked for his success every single day. How he put everything else on hold, even if it was something as important as his health, if it meant moving forward in his career. How it ruined him. For a moment, Tim considered apologizing for his thoughtless remark. But it looked as if Nick had already moved on. “You know, if everything gets too much, you just need to release some of that pressure.”

“For the last time, I’m not going to go to the gym…” Tim sighed, shuddering a little.

“I wasn’t talking about that, but you definitely should consider looking after your physical health a little more, considering you sit like a shrimp all day to play games with your noodle arms. Seriously, that’s almost a full meal right there,” LS said mockingly, almost looking hungry all of a sudden.

“You done?” The midlaner simply asked, cocking a brow. His body was none of his concerns as long as it functioned, and he had no issues with treating it accordingly on most days. No need to obsess about care products, or diets, or exercise, or anything. _Who needs mirrors anyway_ , Tim thought as he tried to minimize his own video to avoid looking at the weird seating position he had just been called out for.

“Never, actually… you know, taking care of your body doesn’t have to mean actually doing physical exercise.”

“What are you getting at…” Tim frowned. He didn’t like how mischievous the other guy looked all of a sudden.

“Well, Tim, as your doctor –“

“My doctor? I don’t remember agreeing to this…”

“Doesn’t matter, actually – see, as your doctor, I am obligated to be honest with you, and I believe I have some bad news…” LS explained, gesturing with one hand while pulling on the collar of his shirt with the other.

“And what would that be…” Tim murmured, not really sure of whether he wanted to know.

“After a lengthy examination, I have come to the conclusion that your diagnosis is…” Nick paused, looking left and right before leaning in closer to whisper, “ _sexual frustration_.”

“What the…”

“Seriously, you show all the symptoms! You’re fidgety, and seem out of it a lot, and, well, I know you haven’t gotten any in a while… How can that not be the first thing you think about whilst talking about releasing pressure, seriously?” Nick said, slowly shaking his head.

“Pff, well, judging by that definition, I’m not the only one who’s frustrated,” Tim scoffed, nodding over towards the coach who had, by now, gone back to pulling on his fingers.

“It’s not the same when I do it, but… maybe,” LS shrugged a little, and he looked only slightly called out by this metaphorical _“noU”-_ moment.

“Sorry…” Tim sighed, realizing that he might have just hit another nerve, “I just… don’t like talking about that stuff. And it’s not like the situation is going to change any time soon.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just that… even if – when, I meant when Oskar and I get together for real, it’s going to take some time until we are… comfortable, I believe.” Tim never even realized he had thought about this, but it looked as if there was a clear image in his head somehow. When he said ‘we’, that was not completely genuine, though. _Oskar said he needs time_ , the midlaner thought, biting his lower lip _Time, time – but how long?_

“Oho… well, I guess you might have a point with that,” Nick admitted with a nod, “but, Tim… you do know that you can also do something about your urges yourself?”

“What are you getting at…”

“You know… fapping.

“W-what?”

“Wanking. Consulting Dr. Jackoff. Shaking hands with the milkman. Oozing the noodle. Wrestling the eel. Pulling the –“

“Oh my god, I got it, just stop!” Tim grunted with a flinch.

“Wait, I hadn’t gotten to my favourite one yet!” LS pouted.

“Fine, just… do it, then,” the Slovenian sighed.

“… charming the snake. There, that was it.” Nick grinned from ear to ear. The reference to one of his many nicknames seemed to make him quite happy – at Tim’s expense, perhaps, but he didn’t hate to see the other guy smile. On some days, that was a rare sight, after all. “Alright, well… I only understood about half of all that,” the midlaner admitted.

“My point is that you might just feel a little better if you gave yourself a hand every now and then. Pun intended.” LS explained. He looked quite serious about the suggestion too, which only made Tim even more grumpy somehow. “I really don’t want to talk about that,” he muttered after a while. And that was really all there was to it.

“Come on, you could just sit on your hand for a while and then pretend it’s someone else if it’s too awkward to –“

“Would you cut it out?” The midlaner grumbled.

“Listen, Tim – I know we never talk about stuff like this, but don’t you think your time with Rekkles could have… changed something for you? Or at least for your body?”

“Like… what is that supposed to mean?”

“You know… tasting the forbidden fruit must have ruined you, dragging you down to the point of no return, and no you simply can’t live without it anymore and –“

“Alright, no,” Tim sighed, rolling up a bit closer to his desk, “I’m not having this, I’m hanging up…”

“No, no, come on, wait,” the American bargained, “I was really just trying to be a good life coach here…”

“Would you give it a rest if I told you you were the best life coach ever?” Tim mumbled, cocking a brow.

“Hmm…” LS hummed, seemingly considering the proposal for a moment. “I think that sounds like a fair deal to me.”

“Okay, well… you are the best life coach ever.” The midlaner said in his most monotonous voice. Just as the face of the guy on the other side of his screen began to light up in amusement, he added, “…I’ve ever had.”

“Hey, no fair!” Nick exclaimed quite sullenly, “it doesn’t count if there’s no competition…”

“Maybe, but how could I call you the best without having tried every other life coach on the planet?”

“Don’t turn this into a science, just tell me I’m the best, geez!” LS snickered.

“Maybe next time,” Tim replied with the hint of a smile on his lips. Yes, if the advice of the coach actually helped him in the slightest, maybe he would reconsider. Except for the last thing the other guy had mentioned, of course. That was just nuts.

“Fine, I guess I can wait a little,” Nick nodded slowly, extending his hand to grab his mouse. In the next second, his eyes were flickering from side to side, seemingly reading something on the screen.

“Well, let’s end it here,” Tim mumbled as he minimized the video call, “it’s late for you anyway, isn’t it… sleep, maybe?”

“I won’t accept life coaching from a client,” LS laughed, “but I guess you have a point. I’ll be expecting an update on your life choices soon for evaluation.”

“I hope you like waiting, then,” Tim smirked.

“Hate it, actually. Well… goodnight, hmm?”

“Goodnight,” Tim nodded.

It wasn’t quite night time for him just yet, and he’d probably sit in front of his computer for many hours more, but he was used to their time difference by now. At least enough to say goodnight at the appropriate times. It was not like he actually expected the other guy to go to bed as he hung up the call. No, for all he knew, LS would be working well into the night again, like he always did. Sometimes Tim wondered whether there was anything he could do for the self-proclaimed life coach. He couldn’t think of anything besides telling him to go to bed every now and then, though. _Maybe one day I’ll know what to say_ , Tim considered as he closed Discord, only to stare at his blank screen. Against the black backdrop of the wallpaper, the bright orange Fnatic logo looked back at him. It reminded him of where we was, or rather, where he had to be for now. Yes, for now, he had to worry about his own life, anyway. It was beyond cursed, but, somehow, the midlaner found himself thinking about one of the many whacky suggestions LS had thrown his way a little harder than about the rest.

“Sexual frustration… don’t make me laugh,” Tim mumbled into the silence of the room.

He hated it whenever people would suggest to him that he was ‘prude’ or that he simply needed to ‘rub one out’ every now and then – thinking about it alone was enough to make Tim shudder. _Isn’t what I’ve been doing with Martin proof enough that I’m not fucking prude?_ The midlaner wondered, frowning at his reflection on the dark computer screen in front of him. It was hard to say why the coach’s words were bothering him to this extend either way, as most criticism usually rolled off his skin like water off a duck’s back Pensively, Tim pushed himself away from his desk to spin around in his gaming chair. The room around him was dark by now, as the afternoon had flown by without the Slovenian noticing. With a sigh, he got up to do something about that. If only finding the solution to this simple question would have been as easy as turning on the lights by flicking the switch. But, as Tim stood there, in the now fully illuminated gaming room, the darkness in his head persevered.

_It can’t possibly bother me this much because it’s true, can it?_ The Slovenian considered as he stepped closer to the window, looking out onto the busy streets of Berlin. Admittingly, this pose felt too melodramatic to be thinking about fapping. But Tim also couldn’t deny that something had changed in these last couple of weeks, be it his mind or his body. He hated it, but it felt as if, after all these years, he was experiencing these… _urges_. Everyone around him had always teased the midlaner about not having them, or pitied him for it, even. He had never felt as if he was missing out – and, back when Miky had explained that there was a term for people like him, that feeling had only gotten stronger. _Demisexual – demi – half_ … he thought, closing his eyes. At first, Tim had not wasted another thought about it. He thought it was just another trend term that didn’t really mean anything. But then, after reading up on it during a boring night full of queues that never seemed to pop, Tim realized that a term as simple as this one held the answer to why he had always felt so different from his peers.

_And yet_ … Tim thought with a sigh as he slumped back down into his gaming chair. As he checked his OnePlus for the time, the midlaner stared at the date. Seven days had passed since he had broken up with Martin, or Martin had broken up with him, or something in between. Eight days, ten hours and thirteen minutes since he had last been touched by the ADC. He vastly remembered joking about how ridiculous waking up at seven in the morning was just to get a quick spurt of satisfaction before starting the day. And then he remembered Martin saying that he simply couldn’t get enough of him. As Tim noticed the soft smile on his lips, guilt overcame him. Those days were gone – the only one he wanted now was Oskar, after all.

But, be it Martin or Oskar, what remained was that he was experiencing bodily desires. He _wanted_ to be touched again – to be handled, even _. It will take some more time, though_ , Tim thought grumpily. It was just like he had explained to LS; with Oskar needing some more time to figure things out, there was no way to know when the jungler would be able to ‘give him a hand’. There was no telling how long Tim would be able to hold up as things were, either. As his gaze dropped down, finding his crotch, the midlaner flinched once more. _I hate it when Nick is right_.

And so, Tim started to consider that maybe, just maybe, following the coach’s advice would make him feel just a little bit less miserable. That it would make the waiting bearable somehow, however crazy that might have sounded in this moment. Almost mindlessly, the midlaner opened a private window in his browser and typed in ‘porn’, nothing more than that. Immediately, an abundance of websites appeared, accompanied by various terribly distracting pop-ups. Tim was cringing before he had even clicked on one of the many _‘XxX-hot-and-steamy-XxX’_ -proposals. _This can’t be it_ , the Slovenian thought, shaking his head as he hastily closed his browser again. He didn’t want to see this. Or, rather, he didn’t want to look at all of these random people, be it male or female – they simply meant nothing to him.

_It’s probably a dumb idea to just sit here anyway,_ Tim thought, glancing around the room. Just a couple of weeks ago, he had caught Martin doing what he had reluctantly set out to do, merely a seat away from where he was sitting right now, with the door of the gaming room wide open, on top of that. The thought alone was enough to make him shudder – no, he didn’t want to be caught like that. That was simply unthinkable. Slowly, almost shamefully, Tim got up to sneak through the office. He was still alone, and yet still on guard. Maybe because the fact that he was searching for a hideout to touch himself in filled him with inherent guilt, or shame, or annoyance, even. But, as sitting around and waiting for a sign of Oskar still seemed to be the more dreadful activity, Tim pushed forward. _Oskar_ … he repeated his jungler’s name in his head as the image of his face popped up in the Slovenian’s head. Thinking about him somehow gave Tim a better understanding of what he needed to do. The only question which remained was where the right place for that would be.

_I could just lock myself in the toilet_ , Tim considered as he poked his head into the bathroom, only to wrinkle up his nose seconds later. _No, that’s kind of nasty…_ he thought with a sigh, turning back around. It was not like he was a neat freak by any means, but the bathroom certainly did not inspire any sensual energy, and Tim would need as much of that as he could get to go through with this. With silent steps, he approached the supply closet of the office. He put his hand up on the wooden door, but he did not dare to open it. _This is where Martin kissed me, back when no one else knew_ , the midlaner pondered solemnly. It might have been the most secretive space of the apartment, and it also did not exactly repulse Tim – but it was not the right spot, nevertheless. He didn’t want to think about Martin, after all. No, he might have done so once or twice that day, but this was where the Slovenian wanted to draw the line. Similarly, Tim didn’t even look at the huge, grey couch in the viewing area of the office as he slouched through said room. With _Condom-Gate 2020_ and the event which inspired this disastrous confrontation still fresh in his mind, there was no way for Tim to even consider the couch’s soft cushions, no matter how comfortable they might have been.

_What’s left now?_ Tim thought with another, lengthy sigh. After crossing out the kitchen due to the weird food smell that lingered on in the room, and the entrance area because of the acute risk of someone walking in on him, and the other, smaller office rooms due to their unfamiliar vibes, Tim was back to where he started, in Fnatic’s gaming room. It didn’t seem to get any better than this. And so, reluctantly, the midlaner closed the door behind him as his last measurement of precaution. The door was usually open at all times, but he did not feel nearly courageous nor stupid enough to keep it that way for now.

Just as Tim was about to sit back down in his chair, a weird thought crossed his mind. _Oskar… I could sit in Oskar’s chair_ , he considered as he stopped walking to glance over at his jungler’s spot, right next to his own. The chair Oskar sat in every day. Where he cursed, and laughed, and spun around in frustration, and flamed his matchmaking, and teased the midlaner during their DuoQ adventures. Yes, it was that chair. Without even noticing at first, Tim started nibbling on his lower lip as he put his hand on the chair’s armrest ever so carefully. Now that he thought about it, it didn’t seem to be the worst idea.

After sitting down in Oskar’s chair and shuffling around a bit to find a comfortable position, Tim closed his eyes. It still felt stupid and artificial, but what was the point in dwelling on that now _. Concentrate_ … Tim thought, trying his best to block out the doubts which still crowded his mind. In a way, he knew that all he’d have to do was what he had been doing for a while now whenever he was searching his high with Martin, leaving his shame aside for the time being. The midlaner took a deep breath as he started remembering.

_We’re in the bar. The cocktail is cold, but my cheeks are hot. Oskar’s, too_.

The first thing the midlaner felt was a slight tingling sensation somewhere in his guts. It was like he could feel the warmth, too. He knew that he’d have to get moving, that no one else was here to do that for him today. Slowly, Tim’s right hand slid up his upper thigh, approaching his crotch. His left hand remained lying on his stomach.

_He says he wants to show me a magic trick. My body suddenly gets even hotter. He kisses me_.

Tim felt his cock growing harder as his pants got tighter. He found it with his hand, lazily tracing its outlines with his fingers, almost cautiously so. It felt so foreign, so weirdly fragile. But good, nonetheless. Not quite as good as remembering the first time his lips had been united with Oskar’s, but it would have to do for now. In his mind, Tim pushed forward.

_We drink some more. We go home. I pull him into my room. I take off my shirt, and he stares_.

It was almost as if he could feel the jungler’s eyes on him – the memory still felt so vivid, even though it had been locked away in the back of the midlaner’s head for the longest time. Tim wondered what Oskar would have thought had he been able to see him right now. How lewd he was, all by himself, thinking about the Pole. As he started breathing a little heavier, Tim moved on to giving his dick a firm squeeze, feeling it up from tip to base.

_I ask him if he wants me. He says he wants me more than anything else. We kiss again. He carries me to the bed._

Tim swallowed hard. As he imagined the jungler’s touch, it was almost as if his hands didn’t belong to him anymore – like they did exactly what he wanted Oskar to do. He stroked up his belly, slipping his fingers underneath his shirt. The fabric of his sweatpants felt like an unnecessary hinderance as well, which the midlaner evaded carefully, now gaining a better grip on his hard-on.

_I take off his shirt. He kisses down my neck, and he keeps going down. He asks me if I want it and I –_

A soft moan escaped Tim’s lips as his fingers finally reached his left nip to pinch it. With his sensitivity heightened through his own touch – or rather the images he kept conjuring in his mind – the midlaner’s shame kept shrinking. And yet, his desire was still growing. His right hand was rubbing his cock above his boxers, but the friction didn’t quite feel like it was enough just yet. Tim slipped his hand under the waistband of his underwear, and he didn’t think twice about grabbing his dick now. The way in which his hand moved around could only be described as clumsy and hasty, but it felt oh so good. These might not be Oskar’s skilled hands working their magic – but, as Tim knew which scene was up next, the anticipation frizzled through his entire body regardless.

_He takes off my underwear. He swallows my dick whole. He keeps pushing down, and then…_

It was like he was right there, again, for the thousandth time by now. Oskar’s hot lips wrapped around his hard cock as he pushed against the back of the jungler’s throat, faster, deeper, and even deeper than that. With another muffled moan, Tim squeezed his hard-on a little harder, feeling as if he might as well be losing his mind. He propped his feet up on the jungler’s desk to get in at a better angle, considering whether he could access his ass in this position as well. But, as he pinched his hard nip again, he realized that he wouldn’t get that far. Not this time. The last thing that always stayed the same whenever Tim remembered his magical night with the jungler was approaching once more.

“Ahh – Oskar, ahh…” he grunted with closed eyes, trying his best to contain his voice.

Normally, it would have been muffled by a pillow or something similar, but, today, it was roaming freely, bouncing around the room. Involuntarily so, Tim felt his toes curl up in pleasure, making it incredibly difficult to keep a stable position in the gaming chair while continuously stroking his hard cock somehow. But his whole body was so tense already – there was no way he was losing this moment. And, even though something inside the midlaner screamed out to him in the believe that there was a suspicious noise coming from somewhere behind the closed door, Tim’s hand moved even faster. Firmer. And then…

“Fuck, Oskar, I’m going to –” Tim moaned, just like he always had as he was pushed over the edge. With a few generous pumping motions, the midlaner shot his load right into his underwear, turning his hand into a sticky mess within seconds. And yet, all he felt for a sweet, sweet fraction of a moment was relief. It was not exactly the same feeling he had had whenever he had reached the finish line with Martin, and much less as it had with Oskar, but this satisfying prickle in his guts was there anyway. _Not the worst idea after all_ , Tim thought, still promising himself that he’d never, ever let LS hear about this. Not when he had nothing but a smug grin to expect as a response. Now, the only thing left to do was clean up and hop back into SoloQ. Tim decided to enjoy this wonderful fuzzy feeling for just a bit longer, dreaming about Oskar’s soft kisses on his neck. But then, all of a sudden, a noise caused him to shriek up.

“Tim? Are you there, Tim?” A loud voice echoed through the hallway of the office.

_Oskar – shit! That’s Oskar!_ Tim thought, with a weird sense of panic overcoming him. There was no way that the jungler could see him like this – no, not when they had planned on having a somewhat serious conversation that day. Tim gasped as he realized just how bad the literal mess he was sitting in was, opening his eyes in a flash to look down – how had he not thought about this before? Would it really have been that difficult to take off his damn pants? But, alas, it was too late to think about that now.

Tim was still breathing heavily as he hastily pulled his hand out of his boxers, only to look at it with horror in his eyes. How was he supposed to clean up? Or to sit around, even, when everything felt so darn sticky? Luckily enough, the jungler whose desk Tim was sitting at had some tissues laying around, for reasons the Slovenian did not bother to question in this moment. He was simply grateful for this opportunity to at least get the cum off of his hands. As quickly as humanly possible, Tim wiped his hands and tossed the tissue into the bin under the table. The inside of his boxers still felt like a sticky mess, but he realized that this was as far as he’d get when he heard the door behind him open.

“Hey, there you are… I called your name, you know?” Oskar smirked as he walked into the room.

“Hi, uhm… guess I didn’t hear you,” Tim shrugged, turning around in his chair. Except that it wasn’t his chair.

“How come? You aren’t even wearing your headphone,” the jungler wondered aloud as he approached the midlaner. “Why was the door closed anyway?”

“That’s a lot of questions at once,” the Slovenian mumbled, glancing away as if that was an answer to at least one of them. “How was your… thing?”

“Hmm, fine, keep your secrets, then,” Oskar said with a soft smile, propping himself up behind Tim with his arms up on the backrest of his gaming chair. “It was okay, I guess…” The jungler muttered, a little quieter than before.

“Well, what exactly happened?” Tim asked as he clumsily tried to turn around to face the other guy. “Why don’t you just… sit down or something?”

“Ah, well… you are kind of sitting in my chair?” Oskar remarked, grinning again, “I was wondering why, you know…”

“Uhm…” Tim hummed, quickly averting his gaze again. What would a normal reason to sit in someone else’s chair be? A reason which didn’t involve masturbation, preferably? “I guess I just missed you,” was what the midlaner settled on.

He heard Oskar breathe in a little more intensely than usual behind him. And then, he felt the jungler’s forehead pressed up against the back of his head. For a second, Tim thought he had heard Oskar whisper something into the chaos that was his hair, more or less nuzzling against it – but then, the Pole started laughing. “How can you just say cute things out of the blue like that?” He snickered, now moving back up to ruffle through the midlaner’s dirty blonde mane.

“It wasn’t… cute.”

“Sure, sure…” Oskar nodded, “I guess it’s not cute of me to say that I missed you too, then.”

“No…” Tim lied. Of course, he had hoped that the jungler had been longing for him just as much all day. Even though he had spent his hours with someone else. Still, hearing those words leave Oskar’s lips was more than enough to make Tim feel like he was going to blush all over again – out of different reasons than barely a couple of minutes ago, but still.

“Alright…” Oskar said, gently turning the gaming chair in front of him so that he could actually face Tim. The midlaner looked distraught, like a little bat caught by the beam of a flashlight tearing through the darkness of its cave. Oskar blinked a couple of times, visibly confused. “Tim, what’s going on with you?” He asked hesitantly.

And Tim simply didn’t know. Was it the fact that his boxers were sticking to his body that made the Slovenian uncomfortable to the point where he felt as if he was squirming under Oskar’s gaze? Or was it the fact that they were about to have this one talk that would determine how they would move forward with their relationship? Maybe it even had something to do with Caps – lately, it mostly had, even though Tim had never even bothered to talk to the Dane. _It’s probably all of the above_ , Tim concluded as he folded his hands in his lap as casually as possible. Oskar was so close that operation _“don’t-let-him-see-those-cum-stains”_ seemed destined to fail, but Tim was determined to do his best, nonetheless. “It’s fine, I’m just… wondering about what you discussed with Caps.”

“You say that as if I didn’t tell you all about my plans last night…” Oskar sighed, sitting down in the midlaner’s chair as his own was occupied. In this moment, Tim was simply grateful that the jungler had decided to stop asking all those questions. “It kind of went down like that, too, except for… ah, it feels weird to talk about this here.”

“What do you mean?” Tim squinted at his opposite. “Where would you want us to go?”

“I don’t know… just, somewhere else?” The jungler shrugged. “How about the park I showed you once? The weather is kind of nice today, and there’s this bench I –“

“No.”

“What? I didn’t even finish…” Oskar muttered, looking somewhat confused.

“It’s just… I don’t know, I don’t think I want to go outside.” The midlaner said quietly. That was not entirely a lie, as he really would have preferred to stay inside either way – but the thought about this particular bench, in this particular park, simply added to that desire. He didn’t want to be reminded of how things had ended with Martin. Not when he was hoping that this was the start of something new. For a moment, Tim wondered just when memories of certain places started to have this sort of impact on his decision making. The answer was probably not too long ago.

“Hmm, alright, then we won’t go outside,” Oskar agreed with a slight nod, “I guess a restaurant is not an option then, either? I’m kind of hungry…”

“Can’t we just order something?” Tim murmured. He nervously bit on his lower lip as he remembered the last time he had been to a restaurant with someone. He didn’t need to finish his thought to know that this was far from what he wanted, too.

“Sure we can,” Oskar smiled as he got out his phone. “Let me search for something really quick…”

“Do you know what the others are doing today?” Tim asked casually as the jungler was busy looking for the right delivery service.

“What do you mean? I didn’t see anyone but you today,” Oskar mumbled with his eyes fixated on his phone, “unless you meant the G2 boys, they’re going out for drinks but… of course I declined to go with them.”

“No, I didn’t mean them,” the midlaner frowned. In which world would he have meant those idiots? “I was just wondering whether Bwipo texted you anything about the others’ plans…”

“Ah, uhm… no, I don’t think so?” Oskar asked more than he stated. Tim wondered why he was trying to make small talk anyway, as that was usually not his style at all. Maybe he really was even more nervous than anticipated.

“Sure… how about McDonald’s?” The jungler asked with a smirk after finally finding something that suited his taste.

Tim nodded in response. He was quite particular about what he liked to eat after all, and he really liked that Oskar never wanted to force him to try new things. In fact, the jungler was probably just as much of a picky eater – the perfect, yet quite unhealthy duo. Before he could explain what he’d like to have, Oskar muttered something.

“Two cheeseburgers, fries and a coke… right?”

Tim’s eyes lit up a little. “Yes,” was all he managed to say. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him that the jungler knew his usual order – just how many times had he been to McDonald’s with the other guy? Still, it touched Tim to think that he knew him, and only him, oh so well.

“Alright… order placed.” Oskar said as his phone disappeared back in his pocket.

“What did you get for yourself?” Tim wondered. He had a hunch, but the jungler was never as consistent in his orders as the Slovenian tended to be. He always tried new things, almost religiously – that’s just how he was. And, somehow, it was one of the many things Tim loved about Oskar.

“Tons of chicken nuggets!” The Pole responded, grinning from ear to ear.

“I see…” Tim hummed with a smile on his lips. For a moment, everything felt alright.

“So, uhm… if you don’t want to go outside, maybe we could move over to the couch to talk or something? Somewhere a little more comfortable, I mean…” Oskar explained, looking nervous all of a sudden. His leg was fidgeting around, something that was not as common for the jungler as it was for the team’s ADC or toplaner. Tim frowned. “Why do we need to go anywhere? Is it that… serious?”

“I mean… I don’t know,” Oskar sighed.

Of course, he couldn’t have known that Tim was trying to avoid heading to the cursed couch because of what felt like a repetitive theme by now, but, first and foremost, was trying to get out of getting up. With his hands still folded in his lap, he could feel that the cum had, by now, gotten through to his sweatpants. If he were to get up, there was no doubt that Oskar would see. And, as much as Tim was scared of this sense of incoming doom that looking into Oskar’s eyes gave him, the thought of the jungler asking him why he had these stains on his pants somehow scared him more. “Well… this is where we sit all day anyway. Can’t think of a more natural environment to be honest.” A convenient truth.

“Hmm, you have a point… so I’ll just sit in your chair and you sit in mine?” Oskar asked with a crooked smile on his lips.

“Way to shake things up, don’t you think?” Tim remarked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Just enough,” Oskar agreed. He moved his newly won chair a bit closer to Tim’s, to the point where their knees almost touched. Just almost, though. Tim stared at the small gap of lost opportunity while not daring to make another move himself. “Alright, so… I met Rasmus. Like I said I would.”

“Uhuh,” Tim muttered, slowly glancing back up at the jungler’s face. His smile was gone.

“It was… fine, you know? I think we sort of agreed that we should end things.” Oskar explained calmly.

“You don’t look like it was fine, though,” the midlaner said bluntly. He couldn’t help but scoff, not when the jungler looked like he had just died a thousand deaths. Not when this was supposed to be a good day, in the end.

“Well, just because it went alright that doesn’t mean that _I’m_ fine,” the Pole mumbled, slouching down in his chair a little as he propped one leg up on the other. “It was hard.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?” Oskar looked back up, finding the midlaner’s eyes.

“Why was it hard?” Tim asked sullenly. He couldn’t deny that he had wished for Oskar to say something else – that he was happy that it was done, or relieved, even. As relieved as Tim had felt just after he had finished –

“How could it have been anything but hard, Tim? It was the right decision, sure, but I still… really like Rasmus. I thought you said you understood after our… well, let’s say tenth round of DuoQ last night?” Oskar gave his midlaner a concerned look.

“Well…” Tim muttered with his gaze dropping down. He crossed his arms instead of going on – he couldn’t exactly say anything against that. The night before, the Slovenian had been high on love, after all. He thought he’d handle this like it was nothing, just a tiny pebble on their otherwise smooth path towards their future. But it seemed as if that wasn’t the case.

“Come on, Tim, don’t look so pouty,” Oskar teased, bumping Tim’s knee with his. The midlaner glanced back up to find that the jungler was smiling again. Ever so slightly, but still. “I’ll be okay, he’ll be okay… and, hey, look at me,” the Pole asked softly.

Reluctantly, Tim looked into Oskar’s eyes. They always made him so terribly weak – how was anyone supposed to stay mad like this _? Why am I mad anyway_? The midlaner pondered as he found himself getting lost.

“It’s gonna be fine now, okay? I promise,” Oskar went on as he reached out to grab Tim’s hand. The midlaner’s first instinct was to jolt away somehow, but he didn’t. He was still looking into those deep blue eyes, wondering whether they were piercing him even more than usual or whether that was just his imagination running wild. Either way, he didn’t move away. Ever so gently, Oskar took his hand, pulling it towards him just enough to rest on the midlaner’s thigh. “From now on, I’ll be by your side. I promise.”

“But how could you know that for sure?” Tim whispered, squeezing the jungler’s fingers faintly. “What if this is not what you imagined it to be… what if you end up wanting to run back to Caps?”

“What? But… Tim…” Oskar mumbled, staring at his fragile-looking midlaner with big eyes.

There it was. The fear he kept circling back to – the one thing he could probably never forgive Martin for. With all of these endless expectations built by the team he played for, the fans who either cheered for him or resented him, and even his teammates, Tim simply couldn’t bear the thought of feeling like a disappointment yet again. Not when it came to Oskar. “You just… can’t know for sure.” He finally murmured.

“Of course I can,” the jungler said, coming even closer as he grabbed Tim’s second hand all of a sudden. The midlaner’s gaze shot up. “Tim, you have no idea how sure I am about this. About us. Really, no idea…”

“You keep saying that,” the midlaner mumbled with uncertainty in his voice. “I just… I’m just scared that it’s not enough.”

“How can I prove it to you, then?” Oskar inquired, squeezing the Slovenian’s hands a little bit tighter, “I want to… I swear that I want to.”

“I don’t know… this is… stupid, honestly,” Tim whispered, softly shaking his head, “I don’t want to be this… _difficult_. It’s all your fault.”

“My fault?” Oskar hummed. His thumb gently stroked over Tim’s fingers, still holding the midlaner’s hands in his.

“Yes…” Tim sighed. The smile his opposite was sporting was almost mocking, and it made it beyond difficult for the midlaner to keep a straight face. “What’s so funny about that?” He muttered, looking pouty all of a sudden.

“It’s not funny, just… I think it’s cute how jealous you are,” Oskar chuckled. He almost looked like he couldn’t believe it, shaking his head at the thought.

“Jealous? That’s… not it at all.” The Slovenian huffed. He might have been scared of abandonment, yes. Of being traded in for something better. But _jealous_? Like the girls in one of the many stupid sitcoms his brother sometimes forced him to watch back when he was younger? That simply couldn’t be true. But, now that he thought about it…

“It sounds like jealousy to me, you know? Not that I mind…” The jungler smirked. He slowly lifted Tim’s hands up with his own, guiding them towards his mouth to give them a soft smooch. Immediately, Tim held his breath, staring down at the jungler’s lips as if he had felt them on his skin for the first time. _Ah, but it has been some time since we last_ … Tim thought, swallowing hard. “Isn’t jealousy an ugly thing?” He asked quietly.

“Not when I know that you… want me all to yourself, you know?” Oskar whispered. He lowered Tim’s hands gently to look back up into his eyes. “I’ve always dreamed about it, Tim. About you telling me you want me, only me… and then, after you first did, I dreamed about you remembering. And now…”

“Now…?” The midlaner mouthed. He felt so helplessly soft – why did he have to melt at the jungler’s heavenly raspy voice lulling him in with these sweet promises? How was he supposed to hold on to his sanity?

Oskar’s smile grew a little wider. “Now, all I want to do is tell you that I love you every day. And dream about you saying it back one day, once I’ve shown you just how much –“

“I love you, too.” The words came quicker than Tim could think. They dropped right out of his mouth and were out in the open before the midlaner had even thought about the time and place – it just happened. They were quiet, sure. And maybe a little too fast for most people to understand. But Oskar’s eyebrow’s were trembling, and he took a deep breath that looked so desperate, and Tim knew that he had heard him perfectly well.

“I… I just…” Tim stammered as there was no response, and he couldn’t help but look at his jungler with eyes that must have been as big as the moon. His voice was so shaky – how was he supposed to string a sentence together like this? It didn’t look like Oskar was able to do that, either. Instead, the jungler reached out to pull Tim in closer in a flash with his arms wrapped around the tiny midlaner’s body. And, as Tim’s lips met with Oskar’s, there were fireworks. They went off in his head, and his guts, and vibrated all the way into his fingertips which loosely held onto the jungler’s neck moments later. As Tim closed his eyes, he could almost see them. He was so lost in the sensation, he might as well could have forgotten to breathe. With Oskar’s strong hands holding him by his waist, Tim finally felt like he was able to let go – like he was safe. Maybe that was why he was smiling against the jungler’s lips. Because he was finally home.

The moment never could have lasted long enough. It was still unsettling when Oskar finally pulled away from this kiss, with one of his hands up under the midlaner’s chin, tracing his jawline with his thumb. He looked at him with nothing but love in his eyes. Now, how could anyone be mad at him breaking their connection – to catch a breath, on top of that – when he looked so damn good doing it?

“Tim…” Oskar hummed, looking up and down the midlaner’s body sensually – wait, down?

“Uhm… I…” Tim muttered, still haphazardly clinging onto the jungler’s neck. He suddenly felt so weak, almost like he was going to faint on the spot. Or maybe he was just overheating? Either way, he couldn’t let go of Oskar, and he couldn’t cover his crotch, and he knew that the jungler must have seen anyway. With his ecstasy fading out into shame again, Tim simply pressed his face down against Oskar’s chest. He was ready for a snarky remark, or maybe a disturbed question. Anything, as long as the jungler didn’t go. No, that would have been too much. But it didn’t look as if Oskar had any intentions of storming out of the room.

“It’s okay…” The jungler whispered as he tightened his grip on the smaller guy’s waist. In one careful motion, he pulled Tim towards him, literally off of his feet and onto his lap. He cradled him, holding the midlaner so tightly and yet gently, almost like he was made out of glass, daring to break. Tim was baffled – out of everything, he had not expected to be welcomed by Oskar’s warmth like this. Without any questions, remarks, doubts… Oskar just held him. And it felt perfect to Tim. “Thank you…” The midlaner murmured after his hands had finally stopped shaking.

“Not for that,” the jungler replied, shaking his head softly, “it’s not like I’m being _selfless_ here, eh?”

As Oskar’s grip loosened a little, Tim was able to lift his head again and sit up a little straighter. It was a weird feeling, now that he realized he was sitting on Oskar’s lap – that certainly was nothing he was accustomed to. At least not while wearing clothes. Tim couldn’t help but blush a little.

“Do you hate it?” Oskar asked, almost provocatively. As Tim was sitting sideways, one of the jungler’s hands rested on his back, while the other was lying on his upper thigh. Tim glanced away. “I don’t…” He simply replied. The midlaner hoped that these words, combined with the fact that his hands were still holding onto the jungler’s neck, would be enough clues for Oskar to figure out just how good he felt without actually having to say it out loud.

“Hmm… that’s good, then,” the jungler chuckled, playfully wiggling his knees up and down. Tim had to hold on a little tighter.

“W-what are you doing?” The Slovenian stammered.

“I don’t know… guess I’m just happy,” Oskar hummed as he rested his head on the midlaner’s shoulder.

“Oh… well, me too.” Tim whispered. He brushed his head against the other guy’s ever so slightly – it felt beyond cheesy, but his body moved on its own somehow.

“Should be illegal to feel this good,” Oskar sighed as he lifted his head back up. “Speaking of feeling good… how about we get you cleaned up?”

“Huh?”

“You know… _down there_.” The jungler smirked. He was still holding onto Tim’s hip, which was why the midlaner couldn’t jump up, even though that was exactly what his instincts were telling him to do. “You – I – it’s not what it looks like!” He stuttered with his face turning beet-red.

“Oh, come on, it’s okay… not to be mean, but I kind of smelt it anyway,” Oskar chuckled. He gave the midlaner a soft pat on his butt as he reached over to the tissues on his desk.

“You… smelt it?” Tim asked, squinting at the jungler in confusion. He was so hopelessly ashamed, and yet found himself wondering whether it was actually possible to train one’s senses to the point of smelling that someone had touched themselves.

“Sure, all comes with experience since… ah, come on, don’t look at me like that,” Oskar laughed as he noticed Tim’s confused stare. “It’s perfectly normal for guys to do this, you know… you should have been a bit more careful, though. Sitting in your sticky mess for too long is a no-go.”

“That’s just…” Tim started, but he didn’t know what to say. He was simply too embarrassed – this was not what he had wished for, what he had imagined for all this time. But, then again, he had also never seen himself sitting on Oskar’s lap at the end of this weird day. _Maybe it’s not all that bad_ , Tim considered as he watched his jungler grab a tissue.

“It’s fine, really – but, tell me, did you at least think about me?”

“Did I… what now?” Tim muttered, blinking a couple of times. He wasn’t seriously asking that, now was he?

“You know… did you think about me while you touched yourself?” Oskar asked, with a grin that could only be described as sly.

“I – I mean…” The Slovenian stammered. He wasn’t sure whether his face could glow any brighter than it already did, but he felt as if his cheeks were trying its best.

“Oh, so you really did…?” Oskar wondered with big eyes, somehow looking surprised – but certainly pleasantly so. That baffled Tim. Wasn’t the jungler supposed to be disturbed? Wasn’t it inappropriate, after everything that had happened? How could he just be happy about something as weird as this? There were so many questions, and yet all Tim could see was Oskar’s smile. What point was there in denying his lover the simple pleasure of his agreement? “Maybe… maybe I did.” Tim mumbled.

“What was that?” Oskar smirked again, bringing his face closer to the midlaner’s.

“I said I did, geez,” Tim huffed, a bit louder this time.

“Hmm…” The jungler hummed. He pressed a kiss on Tim’s cheek. “Well… I’m glad. Aren’t I so lucky?”

_No, idiot_ , Tim thought silently as he lovingly watched his jungler, his best friend, and – oh, could he really dare to call him his boyfriend, even if it was just in his mind? Maybe it was fine. Just this once. Yes, he watched his boyfriend fumble around with a tissue in one hand while he was still stroking the midlaner’s back with the other. And Tim smiled to himself and thought, _no, I’m the one who’s lucky_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's a wrap on Nemesis' POV! Wow, this one is still a huge surprise to me somehow... I wasn't planning on writing a POV for Tim in this Part, simply because it felt so crowded already, but then I had some ideas and well... this happened. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, I'd be thrilled to hear about your thoughts and feelings either here on ao3 or under #story-discussions on the DreamServer! 
> 
> As a little teaser for the upcoming two chapters... they are going to be tied together quite closely, and, this might come as a surprise to some of you, but I've actually been planning this one out for a while now. It's going to be a resolution for one of the mysteries that has been a part of this fic from the very beginning... wow, that sounds quite ominous, doesn't it? But yeah, let's just say I want to end this year on a bang ;) But enough teasing for now...
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	59. Part 12: DreamServer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to another episode of our very own program: the DreamServer! 
> 
> I'm chuckling because, for the first time since I started publishing this story, I'm uploading in the middle of the night. Normally, I love my routines over anything else, and I'd always upload around the same time, but today... I don't know, it felt right. It's not like any other episode, so why not do something out of the box to emphasize that? While everyone is (or should be) dreaming... yeah, that feels like a good way to go out. 
> 
> Anyway, as announced last week, this will not be the last chapter of the year. You'll see why - for now, I hope you enjoy! ;)
> 
> PS: If you don't want to play the guessing game while reading, check out the DreamServer Cheat Sheet! Oh, and also: the end is near, the end is near! Come join our lovely community for some comfort and lots of delicious content: https://discord.gg/8zKn5nYRx3

_After a day that seemed to have gone on forever, simply because none of the usual residents of the DreamServer had bothered to sleep the night before, various souls finally found their way back to the ominous platform. Now, for whatever reason, this night didn’t feel like it would be like any other. There was a sense of mystery in the air – if one could call it that – and a feeling that could only be described as uneasiness filled the minds of the players. Even though some of them had experienced incomparable highs during their seemingly endless day, others had fallen from grace yet again. But who was the one who had actually suffered the most? We are about to find out._

**-** **[finally], [turning_point], [in_the_fog]** **and** **[can’t complain]** **have joined the DreamServer –**

 **[finally]** : hey guys

 **[turning_point]** : hello!

 **[in_the_fog]** : how’s it going??

 **[can’t_complain]** : meh, can’t complain

 **[turning_point]** : hahaha

 **[turning_point]** : what a banger start

 **[in_the_fog]** : looks like someone is in a good mood…

 **[finally]** : yeah

 **[finally]** : me too, actually

 **[finally]** : finally…

 **[can’t_complain]** : hmpf, my joke

 **[can’t_complain]** : but whatever, copy cat

 **[finally]** : ehh?

 **[turning_point]** : guess the usernames are just really fitting today?

 **[turning_point]** : I kind of had a lot of big things happen today at least

 **[in_the_fog]** : fitting??

 **[in_the_fog]** : mine is weird… I’m nowhere near any fog!

 **[finally]** : well, maybe not _literal_ fog…

 **[finally]** : are you unsure about anything in your life, maybe?

 **[turning_point]** : I mean, who isn’t

 **[turning_point]** : haha

 **[turning_point]** : ….

 **[in_the_fog]** : TRUE!

 **[can’t_complain]** : well, I for one am pretty confident in my choices lately

 **[finally]** : hmpf, good for you I guess

 **[finally]** : I started making good choices a little too late I think…

 **[turning_point]** : oh yeah, me too…

 **[in_the_fog]** : I have YET to start making good choices :(

 **[in_the_fog]** : but I’m trying

 **[turning_point]** : aww

 **[finally]** : well, at least he’s trying…

 **[finally]** : what kind of choices are we talking about here anyway?

 **[in_the_fog]** : ROMANTIC ones…

 **[turning_point]** : yep sounds about right

 **[in_the_fog]** : I guess the person I want to see me the most doesn’t see me at all these days

 **[in_the_fog]** : …

 **[in_the_fog]** : maybe THAT’S what the username means??

 **[finally]** : duh, I told you it doesn’t have to be a literal thing

 **[can’t_complain]** : guess everything is the same as always then

 **[turning_point]** : as always…?

 **[in_the_fog]** : it DOES feel like we talk here all the time…

 **[in_the_fog]** : ha, strange

 **[finally]** : you went off because of your username but this is just funny to you?

 **[Phil]** : May I assume that you are all content with this set-up?

 **[turning_point]** : WOAH

 **[can’t_complain]** : WHAT THE -

 **[can’t_complain]** : you startled me you… who?

 **[in_the_fog]** : WHAT’S GOING ON?

 **[turning_point]** : Hi Phil :D

 **[finally]** : oh hi, Phil, how are –

 **[finally]** : wait…

 **[finally]** : how do I know you?

 **[Phil]** : why, I am your designated bot for the night, of course

 **[Phil]** : Phil

 **[finally]** : I’m having really weird flashbacks right now…

 **[can’t_complain]** : wait, how do you guys know this guy

 **[in_the_fog]** : I DEFINITELY don’t know the guy!!

 **[Phil]** : I am not a guy

 **[turning_point]** : hahaha classic Phil

 **[finally]** : I don’t know, I just remember him somehow?

 **[finally]** : he’s like, a fun bot

 **[turning_point]** : yeah, I remember him to be fun too!

 **[Phil]** : thank you for your positive assessment of my role on this platform

 **[can’t_complain]** : okay well…

 **[can’t_complain]** : let’s pretend this is NOT completely weird then…

 **[in_the_fog]** : OKAY BUT

 **[in_the_fog]** : is Phil going to help me figure out why I always end up alone at night??

 **[turning_point]** : sometimes that’s not so bad you know

 **[turning_point]** : better than to spend the night with the wrong person

 **[finally]** : r-right

 **[finally]** : I wouldn’t know anything about that

 **[can’t_complain]** : … doubt

 **[can’t_complain]** : seriously though, being alone is not a bad thing per se

 **[can’t_complain]** : if you were lonely, that would be a different story, but –

 **[in_the_fog]** : I AM SO LONELY

 **[in_the_fog]** : all the time

 **[turning_point]** : oh no :(

 **[finally]** : sounds like you should do something about that then, dude

 **[in_the_fog]** : it’s not like I don’t have people to TALK to

 **[in_the_fog]** : I just need someone to… HOLD, you know?

 **[can’t_complain]** : yeah…

 **[turning_point]** : yeah…

 **[finally]** : yeah…

 **[Phil]** : am I right to assume that you all agree that physical contact is pleasant?

 **[can’t_complain]** : dude

 **[in_the_fog]** : OF COURSE!

 **[in_the_fog]** : but it can’t just be ANYONE…

 **[finally]** : or at least it shouldn’t be right

 **[finally]** : haha

 **[turning_point]** : why do you sound so nervous all of a sudden?

 **[finally]** : nervous? Me?

 **[finally]** : you got it all wrong…

 **[can’t_complain]** : sorry to cut you off but

 **[can’t_complain]** : I just really don’t care

 **[in_the_fog]** : OHHH BURN HAHA

 **[can’t_complain]** : I don’t care about your story either…

 **[turning_point]** : aww :(

 **[in_the_fog]** : …ouch

 **[in_the_fog]** : this is like talking to my teammates all over again…

 **[in_the_fog]** : well, except for one of them I guess

 **[in_the_fog]** : he was really THERE for me, you know??

 **[in_the_fog]** : but you’re NOTHING like him!

 **[can’t_complain]** : huh, you sure about that?

 **[finally]** : well, I don’t hate talking about someone else messing up for once

 **[turning_point]** : what…?

 **[finally]** : nothing… :’)

 **[Phil]** : sorry to interrupt

 **[Phil]** : but I have been programmed to provide you with questions to guide your conversation

 **[can’t_complain]** : to guide us…?

 **[can’t_complain]** : is this normal guys

 **[finally]** : hmm I’m not sure

 **[turning_point]** : I think I remember something like this?

 **[in_the_fog]** : we don’t need any questions, I was not done with talking about my uncertainty about –

 **[can’t_complain]** : alright let’s hear those questions

 **[in_the_fog]** : WAIT

 **[Phil]** : first question

 **[Phil]** : what would you say was the worst moment of your day

 **[turning_point]** : the worst??

 **[turning_point]** : what kind of question is that… :(

 **[finally]** : could I also think about a top 3?

 **[finally]** : I can’t possibly decide on one…

 **[can’t_complain]** : I think it must have been the time I was scared of being rejected

 **[turning_point]** : oh no… :(

 **[in_the_fog]** : but is that a MOMENT though??

 **[in_the_fog]** : sounds more like a mood to me

 **[in_the_fog]** : I know how to answer this question…

 **[in_the_fog]** : for me, it was the time my brother told me the girl he took out on a date was my crush all along!

 **[turning_point]** : *gasp*

 **[finally]** : wait, your literal brother?

 **[finally]** : that’s brutal

 **[can’t_complain]** : it wasn’t like that, okay?

 **[in_the_fog]** : how would YOU know, huh??

 **[can’t_complain]** : …

 **[can’t_complain]** : dude, I just…

 **[can’t_complain]** : I just know, don’t you?

 **[in_the_fog]** : what??

 **[in_the_fog]** : I don’t know what you’re saying - he might not be my REAL brother, but in SPIRIT, he is!

 **[can’t_complain]** : *sigh*

 **[finally]** : okay, well, not quite as bad as having your brother snatch your crush then

 **[finally]** : but still pretty bad

 **[in_the_fog]** : OBVIOUSLY

 **[in_the_fog]** : I forgave him, though

 **[in_the_fog]** : I guess it simply wasn’t meant to be…

 **[turning_point]** : yeah, I’m sure you’ll find your soulmate soon enough :)

 **[can’t_complain]** : you actually believe in fate…?

 **[can’t_complain]** : hmm, I guess after today…

 **[can’t_complain]** : I might too?

 **[finally]** : powerful shit

 **[finally]** : almost enough to lift this awful mood so…

 **[finally]** : anyone else got some heart-breaking moments to share?

 **[can’t_complain]** : what are you, a masochist?

 **[in_the_fog]** : a what?

 **[finally]** : …

 **[turning_point]** : well, uhm, I could go

 **[turning_point]** : if that’s okay

 **[turning_point]** : I had a break-up that hurt pretty badly today…

 **[finally]** : yikes…

 **[finally]** : sorry man :(

 **[can’t_complain]** : really, today?

 **[can’t_complain]** : damn, that’s rough

 **[turning_point]** : oh, it’s fine it was a…

 **[turning_point]** : you know, a mutual decision

 **[finally]** : doesn’t really sound like it though?

 **[in_the_fog]** : it’s FINE to admit if you were dumped **@turning_point**!!

 **[in_the_fog]** : we’re HERE for you!

 **[turning_point]** : uhh thanks?

 **[turning_point]** : but I really don’t –

 **[Phil]** : moving on

 **[Phil]** : you have not answered the question yet, **@finally**

 **[can’t_complain]** : damn, are we on a schedule or something…?

 **[in_the_fog]** : let the man be SAD!!

 **[turning_point]** : I’m not though :(

 **[finally]** : why are you so cruel, Phil?

 **[finally]** : it’s just…

 **[finally]** : well, lots of pain all day long, really

 **[finally]** : for one, my face literally hurts, even now, how does that even work??

 **[in_the_fog]** : magic?

 **[can’t_complain]** : wait, are you for real?

 **[can’t_complain]** : you can feel something…?

 **[finally]** : yeah, hurts like a bitch

 **[turning_point]** : is that weird?

 **[turning_point]** : my nose is itching…

 **[can’t_complain]** : of course that’s weird!

 **[can’t_complain]** : I never feel a thing around here, and I don’t feel anything now…

 **[in_the_fog]** : now that you SAY it…

 **[Phil]** : I will report this anomaly

 **[finally]** : but is that going to fix my pain, Phil?

 **[finally]** : is it?

 **[in_the_fog]** : reports fix NOTHING

 **[can’t_complain]** : oh come on, you know the drill

 **[can’t_complain]** : reporting can only save the future, not the past…

 **[turning_point]** : wow, that’s deep :o

 **[turning_point]** : I have been banned a couple of times in SoloQ so uhm

 **[turning_point]** : reporting is not completely useless I guess? :’)

 **[finally]** : what?

 **[finally]** : what would people report you for, emote spamming?

 **[can’t_complain]** : I was thinking the same thing…

 **[turning_point]** : toxic behaviour, actually

 **[turning_point]** : :3

 **[in_the_fog]** : O__O

 **[in_the_fog]** : WHAT?? YOU??

 **[finally]** : wow, just when you thought you knew someone…

 **[can’t_complain]** : I’m shocked

 **[turning_point]** : you feel like you don’t know me? Eh… sorry guys?

 **[turning_point]** : **@Phil** , could we maybe talk about something more fun?

 **[turning_point]** : this is getting depressing

 **[finally]** : I certainly wouldn’t mind a fun question

 **[finally]** : If I wanted to be depressed I’d just stay awake all night again

 **[in_the_fog]** : PREACH!

 **[turning_point]** : let’s give it a shot I guess…

 **[Phil]** : _searching for ‘fun’…_

 **[Phil]** : okay, I found something

 **-** **[devil_1]** **and** **[devil_2]** **have joined the DreamServer –**

 **[devil_1]** : heyo peeps

 **[devil_2]** : here we are

 **[turning_point]** : wow, I didn’t expect this?

 **[can’t_complain]** : ugh, what kind of entrance…

 **[finally]** : this is fun to you, Phil??

 **[finally]** : not just one devil, but two?

 **[turning_point]** : guys, is it just me or are these usernames super weird

 **[can’t_complain]** : that’s not really the problem here, though…

 **[can’t_complain]** : come on, Phil, how did you come up with inviting straight up devils to join?

 **[devil_2]** : straight?

 **[devil_2]** : excuse you…

 **[Phil]** : I cannot disclose the reasoning behind this decision

 **[Phil]** : but, according to the popularity of the search items, this choice can be evaluated as sufficient

 **[devil_1]** : sufficient?

 **[devil_1]** : excuse you…

 **[devil_2]** : you know I love you, Phil, but that is an insult

 **[in_the_fog]** : WHERE on EARTH would these two idiots be POPULAR??

 **[Phil]** : A place called… “ _Super Hell”_ , apparently

 **[Phil]** : my apologies, some sort of error must have occurred here…

 **[can’t_complain]** : super… what?

 **[devil_1]** : super hell, huh…

 **[devil_1]** : well, sounds fitting enough ;)

 **[devil_2]** : when normal hell simply isn’t enough…

 **[devil_2]** : I have to admit, I like the sound of that

 **[turning_point]** : damn, you really learn something new every day

 **[finally]** : super hell…?

 **[finally]** : that just sounds like a fancy way to describe my life

 **[in_the_fog]** : GET IN LINE WITH YOUR COMPLAINING OKAY

 **[can’t_complain]** : well, I won’t interrupt anymore

 **[devil_2]** : wow, you guys are tragic

 **[devil_2]** : what kind of lame party have we stumbled into?

 **[devil_1]** : to be fair, it would have been hard to top the party we just left

 **[finally]** : well, maybe some people don’t even want to top all the time

 **[in_the_fog]** : what, you don’t want to be on top??

 **[in_the_fog]** : where is your spirit for a good competition??

 **[can’t_complain]** : uhm…

 **[can’t_complain]** : I don’t think that’s what he meant

 **[turning_point]** : oh my

 **[devil_1]** : wow, now we’re talking

 **[can’t_complain]** : do we have to, though…

 **[can’t_complain]** : *shudder*

 **[in_the_fog]** : what are you guys even talking about?

 **[devil_2]** : something you’re too young for I guess

 **[devil_2]** : or too boring, who cares

 **[in_the_fog]** : young?? Me??

 **[in_the_fog]** : … thank you

 **[turning_point]** : why do I feel like you got that all wrong :’)

 **[finally]** : oh, whatever

 **[finally]** : I just meant that… well, having the lead role is nice every now and then

 **[finally]** : but there are just too many bottoms in this scene

 **[in_the_fog]** : well, not EVERYONE can be on TOP with us :)

 **[can’t_complain]** : dude, just…

 **[can’t_complain]** : just stop

 **[devil_1]** : let him, let him >:)

 **[devil_1]** : if he wants to compete for the top spot with me, he better bring it

 **[devil_2]** : eww, let’s not

 **[devil_2]** : I don’t like his vibes

 **[in_the_fog]** : w-what??

 **[turning_point]** : come on, guys…

 **[turning_point]** : let’s just be nice okay?

 **[finally]** : I agree, I didn’t even mean to start a fight here

 **[finally]** : just wanted to point out that… well

 **[finally]** : being a switch is hard sometimes

 **[finally]** : then again, my life is hard I guess

 **[in_the_fog]** : again, GET IN LINE!

 **[in_the_fog]** : YOU EVEN HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN PEOPLE, THAT’S HOW NOT-LONELY YOU ARE!

 **[turning_point]** : huh?

 **[can’t_complain]** : did he… did he say that?

 **[finally]** : I definitely didn’t, that’s not even true

 **[in_the_fog]** : he didn’t I just… KNOW it, okay?

 **[in_the_fog]** : don’t know why

 **[devil_1]** : a Casanova, huh?

 **[devil_1]** : dangerous…

 **[devil_2]** : I don’t mind guys like that as long as I can be the one breaking them

 **[devil_2]** : but when they get too close to my friends… that’s a different story

 **[finally]** : huh?

 **[can’t_complain]** : I agree… there is this one guy

 **[can’t_complain]** : I get angry just thinking about him

 **[finally]** : what?

 **[in_the_fog]** : HIM! Yeah, yeah, I know a guy like that

 **[in_the_fog]** : and I’m freaking scared for my dear teammate!

 **[devil_1]** : that makes two of us, alibi-top

 **[devil_2]** : three, actually

 **[in_the_fog]** : alibi – what now?

 **[can’t_complain]** : count me in as well…

 **[can’t_complain]** : I hate the thought of that dude entering the life of our little guy again

 **[turning_point]** : your… your little guy?

 **[turning_point]** : what’s the meaning of all this, haha

 **[Phil]** : This development is concerning

 **[finally]** : no freaking shit, Phil!

 **[in_the_fog]** : why are YOU so NERVOUS again, huh??

 **[devil_2]** : it’s him, isn’t it…

 **[devil_2]** : don’t lie to me, **@Phil**

 **[Phil]** : I am afraid I do not understand your question

 **[Phil]** : would you care to talk about your best moment of the day instead?

 **[devil_2]** : trying to change the topic, huh…

 **[in_the_fog]** : how SUSPICIOUS

 **[devil_1]** : ah don’t fuck with us Phil, come on

 **[turning_point]** : guys… what’s going on?

 **[can’t_complain]** : it’s this guy?

 **[can’t_complain]** : the whiny one?

 **[can’t_complain]** : Casanova my ass

 **[can’t_complain]** : well, I guess it checks out…

 **[finally]** : whiny??

 **[in_the_fog]** : WAIT WAIT WAIT

 **[in_the_fog]** : are you saying…

 **[in_the_fog]** : that it’s **@finally**??

 **[turning_point]** : :(

 **[turning_point]** : guys

 **[devil_1]** : just us five and him… ah, what a coincidence

 **[devil_2]** : it’s not, though

 **[devil_2]** : right, **@Phil**?

 **[finally]** : why are you all ganging up on my all of a sudden??

 **[finally]** : **@Phil** do something!

 **[turning_point]** : can’t we all just talk about his without freaking out :(

 **[Phil]** : I don’t

 **[Phil]** : I cannot do

 **[Phil]** : I – I

 **[in_the_fog]** : what??

 **[devil_1]** : Phil?

 **[finally]** : …dude?

 **[Phil]** : It is not possible to

 **[Phil]** : to do kjsahaaxahdj

 **[Phil]** : 10481 – error – 17338304

 **[in_the_fog]** : WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON

 **[devil_2]** : oh god, did we actually break him?

 **[turning_point]** : but Phil!

 **[can’t_complain]** : so this is not normal for him huh?

 **[finally]** : OF COURSE THIS ISN’T NORMAL YOU CLUTZ

 **[devil_1]** : well, shit…

 **[devil_1]** : what do we do?

 **[devil_2]** : **@Phil** , come on, talk to me…

 **[turning_point]** : please be okay, **@Phil**!

 **[in_the_fog]** : he’s not answering…

 **[in_the_fog]** : is he GONE?

 **[finally]** : there’s no way…

 **[finally]** : he was there until the end last time, right?

 **[can’t_complain]** : well, looks like he bugged out to me

 **[devil_1]** : **@Phil**!!

 **[devil_1]** : man… I guess you’re right

 **[devil_1]** : can’t believe we lost our best man like this…

 **[turning_point]** : and he wasn’t even a man

 **[turning_point]** : *sniff*

 **[in_the_fog]** : ohh, what a TERRIBLE way to close out this AWFUL day…!

 **[devil_2]** : meh, my day wasn’t that bad, actually

 **[devil_2]** : some morning action, the pleasure of mocking my idiot teammates…

 **[devil_1]** : and don’t forget about the info we got about _you-know-what_!

 **[devil_2]** : hehe, right ;)

 **[can’t_complain]** : what the….

 **[can’t_complain]** : okay, I don’t think I want to know

 **[finally]** : honestly, I feel like I should want to know

 **[finally]** : but I don’t, so

 **[finally]** : how about we figure out how to get Phil back?

 **[devil_2]** : you get attached easily huh

 **[devil_2]** : but always end up dropping those you swore to love…

 **[turning_point]** : what –

 **[devil_1]** : hehehe spot on

 **[devil_1]** : high five **@devil2**

 **[can’t_complain]** : could we just focus here?

 **[can’t_complain]** : but yeah, we didn’t forget about you, **@finally**

 **[turning_point]** : guys I’m so confused :(

 **[turning_point]** : am I having a stroke or something?

 **[turning_point]** : none of you are making any sense and I even feel like I’m hearing music somehow…

 **[in_the_fog]** : music??

 **[devil_1]** : that is strange indeed…

 **[devil_1]** : but wait

 **[devil_1]** : I think I hear it too?

 **[finally]** : is that _‘rise’_?

 **[can’t_complain]** : yeah I think so?

 **[can’t_complain]** : we’re all hearing it huh

 **[devil_2]** : wow that’s some spooky shit…

 **[devil_2]** : are we approaching the final boss or something?

 **[turning_point]** : don’t joke about that! :(

 **[finally]** : I’m sure it’s just another bug or something…

 **[finally]** : a pretty epic one, though

 **[in_the_fog]** : yeah this was the best Worlds song for sure!!

 **[in_the_fog]** : WAIT I got distracted again

 **[devil_1]** : okay, well

 **[devil_1]** : **@finally** what are you intentions with our boy **@turning_point**?

 **[finally]** : ???

 **[turning_point]** : is this really necessary :(

 **[turning_point]** : I know you guys just mean well but we’re taking it slow okay?

 **[can’t_complain]** : I just want to hear him say it

 **[in_the_fog]** : how do we KNOW who we all ARE anyway??

 **[in_the_fog]** : I’m still so confused!

 **[devil_2]** : my god, could you be any slower, old man?

 **[in_the_fog]** : >:(

 **[finally]** : I almost feel like I can see all of you tonight…

 **[finally]** : it’s strange actually

 **[turning_point]** : true!

 **[turning_point]** : it’s all a bit blurry but I also… see things

 **[turning_point]** : it keeps getting clearer, like my eyes are adjusting or something?

 **[devil_1]** : yeah, normally I just hear everyone as robots and see nothing but weird writing popping up in thin air

 **[can’t_complain]** : right… that just makes the emote spamming even more annoying

 **[turning_point]** : _sticking out tongue emoji, sticking out tongue emoji_

 **[devil_2]** : ugh, you’re just like you’re father…

 **[devil_2]** : it’s true, though, we have a lot more… vision today, you could say

 **[devil_2]** : and your voices all sound a lot more annoying as well, I miss the default reading voice already

 **[in_the_fog]** : ANNOYING??

 **[devil_1]** : …yeah

 **[devil_1]** : anyway, I was saying that tonight, it’s like we’re sitting around a huge a table and –

 **[devil_1]** : wait, are you trying to deflect again, **@finally**?

 **[finally]** : no!

 **[finally]** : but isn’t what’s happening to us right now kind of more important??

 **[can’t_complain]** : chill, would you…

 **[can’t_complain]** : it’s this kind of drama that I don’t want to have around the house

 **[in_the_fog]** : good thing WE get along WELL now, right??

 **[in_the_fog]** : hah

 **[devil_2]** : oho, you guys made up?

 **[devil_2]** : good for you I guess

 **[turning_point]** : Aww I’m so glad!

 **[devil_1]** : yeah, yeah, everyone’s happy – now, would you finally say it, **@finally**?

 **[devil_1]** : say that you won’t hurt him again

 **[finally]** : *sigh*

 **[finally]** : fine, if you insist

 **[finally]** : of course I don’t want to hurt him, I –

 **[Groovy]** : _This is the end of the queue! Use -play to add more :^)_

 **[in_the_fog]** : WHAT THE HELL

 **[devil_2]** : what happened…?

 **[devil_2]** : the music is gone

 **[can’t_complain]** : sooooo this is not normal I guess?

 **[turning_point]** : definitely not…

 **[turning_point]** : who are you, **@Groovy**?

 **[finally]** : I kind of liked the music…

 **[finally]** : do you think he actually… works like a music bot?

 **[devil_1]** : that would probably make the most sense but…

 **[devil_1]** : honestly, this is all so strange?

 **[turning_point]** : yeah, nothing really makes sense around here normally

 **[can’t_complain]** : no shit…

 **[can’t_complain]** : we can feel things, hear things, even see things…

 **[turning_point]** : not really precisely just yet, but yeah

 **[devil_2]** : feel things?

 **[devil_2]** : huh, disappointing, that part doesn’t work for me

 **[devil_2]** : but I think I can see your ugly face now, **@can’t_complain** ;)

 **[can’t_complain]** : ugh…

 **[in_the_fog]** : do you think we can…

 **[in_the_fog]** : maybe we can even use our… names??

 **[finally]** : that surely would make things easier, but wasn’t there some kind of

 **[finally]** : ban on that or whatever?

 **[devil_1]** : well, Phil is gone

 **[devil_1]** : **@Groovy** over here doesn’t seem interested into anything other than music

 **[devil_1]** : what’s the worst thing that could happen?

 **[devil_2]** : I’ll just try ;)

 **[devil_2]** : let’s start with the _reckless_ one…

 **[admin]** : STOP!

 **[admin]** : what kind of chaos is this?

 **[admin]** : and where did Phil go?

 **[in_the_fog]** : excuse me, Ma’am

 **[in_the_fog]** : but who might you be??

 **[can’t_complain]** : yeah, where did you come from all of a sudden?

 **[can’t_complain]** : and your name…

 **[can’t_complain]** : Phil is dead btw

 **[turning_point]** : oh Phil… :(

 **[devil_1]** : your voice sounds awfully familiar to me, but I don’t know why…

 **[turning_point]** : wasn’t there someone who talked to us like this sometimes?

 **[can’t_complain]** : right… the voice never sounded robotic either, hmm?

 **[devil_2]** : well yeah, but I’ve never heard of an actual admin around here…

 **[finally]** : that’s the part that makes me wonder too

 **[finally]** : first **@Groovy** and now this…

 **[finally]** : isn’t it almost a bit… _too much_ like our normal lives?

 **[can’t_complain]** : wow, don’t pretend like you ever hang out on your server…

 **[in_the_fog]** : he’s got a POINT though…!

 **[in_the_fog]** : what’s HAPPENING with this place?

 **[admin]** : Groovy? Shit…

 **[admin]** : -leave

 **[Groovy]** : 👋

 **[in_the_fog]** : WHAT THE HELL HE EVEN DOES THE WAVEY THING?

 **[devil_1]** : what’s with everyone dodging questions today…

 **[devil_1]** : who are you **@admin**?

 **[turning_point]** : it is kind of suspicious…

 **[admin]** : god, I don’t have time for this

 **[admin]** : this place is going to shit somehow… I have to fix it

 **[admin]** : why don’t you guys talk about your childhood trauma or whatever with… these guys

- **[too_whiny]** and **[too_nice]** have joined the DreamServer –

 **[too_whiny]** : ugh, nooo, what is this?

 **[too_nice]** : hey guys, good to see you

 **[turning_point]** : uhh, hi there

 **[turning_point]** : but also… what’s going on??

 **[devil_2]** : this is a weird joke if you ask me

 **[can’t_complain]** : did she seriously leave us with this?

 **[finally]** : so you guys also thought that it was a female voice, huh…

 **[in_the_fog]** : OF COURSE!

 **[in_the_fog]** : I couldn’t see her but I’m sure she’s PRETTY!

 **[too_nice]** : what a… uhm, welcome?

 **[too_nice]** : are we interrupting something?

 **[devil_1]** : yeah, we were kind of trying to solve the mystery of this whole place so

 **[devil_1]** : you know, no biggie

 **[devil_2]** : pff, right :’)

 **[devil_2]** : oh, and Phil died

 **[devil_2]** : not sure whether that means anything to you

 **[too_nice]** : who?

 **[too_whiny]** : Phil died, huh…

 **[too_whiny]** : serves him right for kicking me out last time

 **[can’t_complain]** : Phil did that?

 **[can’t_complain]** : huh, just when you thought you knew someone…

 **[finally]** : right??

 **[devil_1]** : pretty sure you deserved that one, my dude ;)

 **[turning_point]** : yeah I think I remember something like that too

 **[turning_point]** : strong language or something

 **[turning_point]** : :’)

 **[devil_2]** : hehehe you’re one to talk

 **[in_the_fog]** : WAIT

 **[in_the_fog]** : you KNEW about that??

 **[devil_2]** : duh…

 **[too_whiny]** : UGH would you stop??

 **[too_whiny]** : what is this, did I die?

 **[too_whiny]** : Is this my hell?

 **[too_whiny]** : Sitting around a table with you guys forever?

 **[too_nice]** : your hell?

 **[too_nice]** : what about me…

 **[devil_1]** : this is _Super Hell_ , actually

 **[devil_1]** : >:)

 **[devil_2]** : haha, right

 **[devil_2]** : and we are the rulers!

 **[finally]** : this truly is the worst…

 **[too_whiny]** : that we can agree on…

 **[turning_point]** : I don’t know, it was kind of funny, right? :D

 **[can’t_complain]** : okay, so…

 **[can’t_complain]** : could we maybe just get back to figuring out what we are supposed to do now?

 **[in_the_fog]** : the mysterious lady told us to talk about our CHILDHOOD…!

 **[in_the_fog]** : so yeah, when I was five years old, this other kid stole my ball and –

 **[devil_1]** : do you actually want to follow orders from this sketchy admin?

 **[finally]** : I mean, I also have a thing or two to say about trauma and –

 **[devil_2]** : yeah, no, we’re not doing this

 **[in_the_fog]** : BUT SHE SAID SO!

 **[can’t_complain]** : geez, stop thinking with your dick…

 **[devil_2]** : besides, we couldn’t even see her

 **[devil_2]** : that voice could belong to a really ugly person

 **[can’t_complain]** : or not a person at all…

 **[can’t_complain]** : for all we know, she could just be another bot

 **[turning_point]** : you say that as if losing Phil didn’t hurt you at all :(

 **[too_nice]** : I’m not sure who are what you’re talking about to be honest but…

 **[too_nice]** : could someone explain the fact that I can… see all of you?

 **[too_whiny]** : that would be nice I guess

 **[too_whiny]** : even though all I wish for would be _not_ seeing you…

 **[devil_1]** : our vision keeps getting better too…

 **[devil_1]** : you really need to go to the hairdresser, **@too_whiny**

 **[too_whiny]** : fuck off, would you?

 **[finally]** : well, I would like to answer the question but…

 **[finally]** : things are just… different today somehow

 **[finally]** : we don’t know much more than that, actually

 **[devil_1]** : oh, right, now that reminds me

 **[devil_1]** : we wanted to do a little name experiment ;)

 **[too_nice]** : a what now?

 **[too_nice]** : I’m so lost but… what’s new

 **[devil_2]** : oh yeah, we wanted to see whether using names works but

 **[devil_2]** : since there’s an admin around now, who’s gonna be our guinea pig? ;)

 **[in_the_fog]** : GUINEA PIG??

 **[in_the_fog]** : … those are cute, but I don’t understand the question

 **[finally]** : I’m not gonna do it, I still have a thing or two to say…

 **[turning_point]** : I’m a little scared, everything is just so…

 **[turning_point]** : gloomy, right?

 **[can’t_complain]** : well, I could go

 **[can’t_complain]** : I’m pretty happy with how things are anyway and…

 **[can’t_complain]** : there’s one name I want to say over and over again, so why not do it now?

 **[in_the_fog]** : ugh… not one of ours though, right??

 **[too_nice]** : that would be… kind of out of character, not gonna lie

 **[can’t_complain]** : geez, of course it’s none of you guys

 **[can’t_complain]** : who do you think I am…

 **[can’t_complain]** : it’s the name of the most wonderful girl in this whole world

 **[can’t_complain]** : I had the most amazing date with her today and, well…

 **[in_the_fog]** : oh oh :(

 **[in_the_fog]** : I think I know where this is going…

 **[turning_point]** : me too :)

 **[can’t_complain]** : yeah, well, it’s –

\- **[Hannah]** has joined the DreamServer –

 **[Hannah]** : uhm…?

 **[too_whiny]** : what the…

 **[in_the_fog]** : HANNAH??

 **[can’t_complain]** : is it really you, Hannah…?

 **[devil_1]** : damn, what a plot twist!

 **[devil_2]** : where’s the popcorn when you need it…

 **[Hannah]** : uhm… is that you, Martin?

 **[can’t_complain]** : yeah

 **[finally]** : yeah?

 **[devil_1]** : HAHAHA

 **[can’t_complain]** : oh come on, she’s clearly talking about me you clown

 **[finally]** : … excuse me?

 **[turning_point]** : OKAY, okay, let’s uhm not get into that

 **[turning_point]** : Hannah, do you know where you are?

 **[Hannah]** : no idea…

 **[Hannah]** : it’s so dark, but I can… hear all of you?

 **[Hannah]** : and see what you say it’s so

 **[Hannah]** : it’s so strange

 **[too_nice]** : agreed, but you get used to it after some time…

 **[finally]** : wait, but why can’t she see us?

 **[finally]** : I can see her…

 **[too_nice]** : hmm, maybe she needs some time to adjust, it took me a second too

 **[too_nice]** : so… this is the girl our big buy kept talking about…

 **[devil_1]** : yeah, I can see her too

 **[devil_1]** : gotta admit, she’s kind of cute

 **[can’t_complain]** : oh shut up, big mouth >:(

 **[devil_2]** : what’s the big deal?

 **[devil_2]** : just a little compliment, she’s obviously pretty

 **[Hannah]** : uhm… thanks I guess?

 **[Hannah]** : I don’t think I recognize your voices, but…

 **[in_the_fog]** : HANNAH

 **[in_the_fog]** : I can’t believe you’re HERE!

 **[in_the_fog]** : and that I can say your NAME!

 **[Hannah]** : Marcin…?

 **[Hannah]** : Oh boy, you’re here too?

 **[devil_2]** : unfortunately yes

 **[can’t_complain]** : that doesn’t matter

 **[can’t_complain]** : what matters is that you’re here

 **[can’t_complain]** : because I… wanted to see you again so badly, you know?

 **[turning_point]** : aww

 **[devil_2]** : eww

 **[Hannah]** : really?

 **[Hannah]** : I’m glad :)

 **[too_whiny]** : ugh, well I wanna die

 **[in_the_fog]** : I CAN’T STAND TO WATCH THIS EITHER!

 **[too_nice]** : aww, no, come on guys…

 **[too_nice]** : let them have this moment

 **[finally]** : yeah, let’s try to look at the positive side here, okay?

 **[in_the_fog]** : that’s HUGE coming from YOU!

 **[devil_1]** : he’s right, though…

 **[devil_1]** : our experiment was a right-out success

 **[devil_1]** : now, what could be our next step…

 **[Hannah]** : next step…?

 **[Hannah]** : what’s going on?

 **[can’t_complain]** : I think we’re planning a revolution or something

 **[can’t_complain]** : but don’t sweat it, I’ll protect you

 **[Hannah]** : aww :)

 **[too_whiny]** : OMG KILL ME NOW

 **[turning_point]** : a revolution?

 **[turning_point]** : is that what we’re doing?

 **[finally]** : I’m not sure but…

 **[finally]** : I would love to solve this riddle

 **[finally]** : kind of feels like an episode of _Criminal Minds_ or something…

 **[in_the_fog]** : minus the MURDER PART, huh??

 **[too_nice]** : not if we plotted to finally shut **@too_whiny** up forever, I mean –

 **[too_nice]** : EHM YEAH MINUS THE MURDER PART

 **[devil_2]** : did you guys forget about Phil already?

 **[devil_2]** : how cruel of you…

 **[turning_point]** : I’ll never forget about Phil :(

 **[devil_2]** : I knew I could count on you, Rasmus

 **[in_the_fog]** : OHHHH

 **[in_the_fog]** : you said it! Just like THAT!!

 **[finally]** : so we can all do it now, huh…?

 **[Hannah]** : uhm, why are you guys losing it over saying someone’s name?

 **[can’t_complain]** : that just… normally doesn’t happen around here?

 **[can’t_complain]** : it’s kind of hard to explain

 **[Hannah]** : so you’ve been here before or

 **[Hannah]** : damn, this is wild

 **[devil_1]** : listen, this is all part of the revolution

 **[devil_1]** : next, let’s try whether we can move…

 **[turning_point]** : moving?

 **[turning_point]** : like, for real?

 **[turning_point]** : that’s scary, though, what if we –

 **[admin]** : STOP

 **[admin]** : stop everything, right now

 **[in_the_fog]** : WELCOME BACK!

 **[devil_2]** : ugh, could you not…

 **[too_whiny]** : so this is what all the fuss is about, huh…

 **[too_nice]** : interesting!

 **[Hannah]** : Martin, I’m scared…

 **[Hannah]** : what is this?

 **[finally]** : don’t be scared

 **[can’t_complain]** : don’t worry, Hannah, I’m –

 **[can’t_complain]** : SHE OBVIOUSLY MEANT ME YOU IDIOT

 **[finally]** : >:(

 **[finally]** : aren’t you guys just adorable…

 **[finally]** : doesn’t make me envious at all

 **[finally]** : nope…

 **[admin]** : SHUT UP!

 **[admin]** : I don’t understand, why is everything only getting worse instead of better??

 **[admin]** : My powers… I can’t even kick anyone??

 **[admin]** : you’re not even supposed to be here, **@Hannah**!

 **[admin]** : and Phil is gone, what…

 **[admin]** : what am I supposed to do?

 **[devil_1]** : is that a real question?

 **[devil_1]** : pretty sure we’re not on the same side here, lady…

 **[in_the_fog]** : WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP YOU BEAUTIFUL LADY

 **[devil_2]** : oh come on…

 **[turning_point]** : I really don’t feel like we should be helping her either, but…

 **[can’t_complain]** : what do you mean she’s not supposed to be here >:(

 **[can’t_complain]** : say that again

 **[Hannah]** : Martin, don’t…!

 **[can’t_complain]** : didn’t you hear what she said??

 **[can’t_complain]** : she can’t do anything…

 **[can’t_complain]** : so why should I not stand up to defend you, huh?

 **[devil_2]** : ugh, raise your hands for the white knight or whatever

 **[too_whiny]** : I’m so tired of this, honestly…

 **[too_whiny]** : if you don’t have any power here, then could we just talk to whoever has?

 **[too_whiny]** : I have some… critical feedback

 **[too_nice]** : oh boy, not this again…

 **[admin]** : this is a joke to all of you, huh?

 **[admin]** : you’re not gonna be laughing for much longer if I don’t figure out how to fix this…

 **[admin]** : if she finds out, then…

 **[admin]** : then it’s not just me who’s doomed

 **[admin]** : it’s all of you fools, too

 **[turning_point]** : I have a really bad feeling about this, guys…!

 **[Hannah]** : it does sound pretty damn scary :(

 **[can’t_complain]** : it’s gonna be okay

 **[can’t_complain]** : … it’s gonna be okay, right?

 **[finally]** : I don’t know…

 **[finally]** : I don’t like the sound of this

 **[finally]** : is this some sort of _Inception_ thing?

 **[finally]** : are we going to… die?

 **[too_whiny]** : WOAH WOAH WOAH

 **[too_whiny]** : I didn’t ACTUALLY want to be killed, okay??

 **[too_whiny]** : that was just a JOKE, come on!

 **[too_whiny]** : let me go back, just –

 **[too_whiny]** : SHIT, why can’t everything just go back to how things were??

 **[finally]** : well, ouch

 **[devil_1]** : way to back-paddle now, geez…

 **[too_nice]** : it might not be too late, let’s just

 **[too_nice]** : breathe, maybe?

 **[devil_2]** : I think “doomed” could mean many things, not necessarily death…

 **[devil_2]** : besides, we’re already in _Super Hell_ , right?

 **[in_the_fog]** : hehehe, right!

 **[admin]** : it doesn’t matter now

 **[admin]** : this is the last straw… I can’t delete anything, I can’t kick anyone

 **[admin]** : this is it

 **[devil_1]** : geez, could you be any more dramatic?

 **[turning_point]** : this is it?

 **[turning_point]** : but what is… _‘it’_?

 **[Hannah]** : I’m so lost… this is almost as scary as dreaming about going to school and noticing you’re wearing nothing but your underwear

 **[in_the_fog]** : THAT DOESN’T SOUND SCARY TO ME AT ALL

 **[devil_2]** : yeah, sounds like a good time

 **[can’t_complain]** : freaking perverts >:(

 **[finally]** : I feel your pain, Hannah…

 **[finally]** : and I don’t even know you

 **[Hannah]** : oh, true, we haven’t met!

 **[Hannah]** : but I think you kind of sound like -

\- **[Hannah]** has been removed from the DreamServer –

 **[in_the_fog]** : WAIT WHAT??

 **[turning_point]** : oh no :(

 **[can’t_complain]** : what’s the meaning of this, **@admin**??

 **[can’t_complain]** : you said you didn’t have the power to kick anyone!

 **[devil_2]** : changing power dynamics…

 **[devil_2]** : now that’s hot

 **[too_nice]** : things are just getting more and more fucked up around here, aren’t they?

 **[finally]** : but what did Hannah do to deserve that, **@admin**?

 **[devil_1]** : well, she wasn’t supposed to be here to begin with but…

 **[devil_1]** : the timing is strange indeed

 **[can’t_complain]** : are you trying to pick a fight with me, huh??

 **[can’t_complain]** : you little –

\- **[admin]** has been banned from the DreamServer –

 **[too_whiny]** : okay but WHAT THE FUCK??

 **[devil_1]** : wow, okay I…

 **[devil_1]** : I have to admit this is not what I expected

 **[finally]** : she got banned, she…

 **[finally]** : she was not lying??

 **[finally]** : we’re gonna _die_ …!

 **[can’t_complain]** : oh come on, we’re not _dying_

 **[can’t_complain]** : this is just another one of these weird gimmicks…

 **[in_the_fog]** : RIGHT!

 **[in_the_fog]** : but… why did Hannah and the other beautiful lady have to leave for that :(

 **[devil_2]** : for the last time, you didn’t even SEE her…!

 **[too_nice]** : either way, I feel like something’s about to drop

 **[too_nice]** : this is almost as bad as dreaming about going into pick & ban for an important game without a draft plan… :(

 **[devil_1]** : PFFF SURE

 **[devil_1]** : as if that doesn’t happen to you all the time in real life too

 **[too_nice]** : *sigh*

 **[too_whiny]** : ugh, sometimes it’s just hard to be prepared for everything, okay??

 **[too_whiny]** : you’re such a wiseass all the time, I swear to god…

 **[turning_point]** : speaking of nightmares…

 **[turning_point]** : I don’t want to think about dying but..

 **[turning_point]** : I think losing any of you guys might be even worse than dying myself :(

 **[devil_1]:** aww…

 **[finally]** : even me…?

 **[devil_2]** : no

 **[turning_point]** : yes, of course!

 **[turning_point]** : why would you even need to ask after everything we talked about today…?

 **[finally]** : I… feel the same way

 **[too_whiny]** : I’m starting to feel sick…

 **[too_whiny]** : this is almost as bad as dreaming about breaking up with your ex and then randomly jumping into bed with your ADC to compensate and then everything is awful and –

 **[too_whiny]** : ah, right, that happened

 **[too_nice]** : WHAT???

 **[too_nice]** : ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW??

 **[too_nice]** : FIVE HOURS OF CRYING ON MY SHOULDERS AND YOU JUST FORGOT TO MENTION THAT PART??

 **[finally]** : Jesus, did you really have to bring this up now??

 **[turning_point]** : what a… what a weird joke, haha

 **[turning_point]** : … it’s a joke, right?

 **[devil_1]** : you absolute madlad…

 **[devil_2]** : you’re not as boring as I thought you were it seems ;)

 **[in_the_fog]** : I don’t think I understand??

 **[can’t_complain]** : I don’t think you want to understand…

 **[too_whiny]** : can’t even complain about the nightmare that is my life around here, huh…

 **[in_the_fog]** : THE LINE IS LONG OKAY

 **[in_the_fog]** : I STILL haven’t gotten around to the worst parts of the day…

 **[finally]** : what matters is that… things are getting better, right?

 **[turning_point]** : you sound weirdly optimistic all of a sudden…

 **[turning_point]** : if that is true then… :(

 **[devil_2]** : then the game is over before it even began

 **[devil_2]** : nice ;)

 **[finally]** : … look, our talk today is what made me start to be optimistic in the first place

 **[finally]** : you know how terribly lost I was but now, with you…

 **[finally]** : if that is a possibility, then I’m finally found

 **[turning_point]** : aww…

 **[too_whiny]** : nooo don’t freaking ‘aww’ this!!

 **[too_nice]** : I can’t believe I spent all of this time comforting you… again…

 **[can’t_complain]** : could we please just get back to the problem at hand??

 **[can’t_complain]** : come on, no time for this… weird flirting…

 **[in_the_fog]** : DON’T ‘COME ON’ THEM!

 **[in_the_fog]** : you were the one ALL OVER Hannah as soon as she showed up…!

 **[can’t_complain]** : well of course, she’s my girl and –

 **[can’t_complain]** : ah, whatever

 **[too_nice]** : okay, the facts are

 **[too_nice]** : I’m a way better friend than what _a certain someone_ deserves

 **[too_nice]** : and there is someone other than the admin controlling what’s happening here and

 **[too_nice]** : if what the admin said is true, that is bad news for us

 **[devil_1]** : yeah, but we still don’t know what that means?

 **[turning_point]** : wait, wait, wait!

 **[turning_point]** : guys!!

 **[finally]** : yeah…?

 **[can’t_complain]** : what is it?

 **[turning_point]** : do you see that…?

 **[turning_point]** : it looks like a… bright light?

 **[devil_2]** : ehm, yeah, it’s not exactly hard to see

 **[too_whiny]** : it’s making my eyes hurt, actually… ugh

 **[in_the_fog]** : but… what IS THIS??

 **[too_nice]** : another mystery…?

 **[finally]** : oh god, I’m not ready

 **[devil_1]** : I feel like it might be our answer, actually…

 **[__]** : you’re right

 **[__]** : but I didn’t expect any less of you, G2 Perkz

 **[turning_point]** : oh boy…

 **[in_the_fog]** : ANOTHER ONE??

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : looks like it, yeah…

 **[finally]** : what is this username, is it just… blank?

 **[devil_2]** : this one doesn’t seem to be stupid at least

 **[devil_1]** : you know who I am?

 **[__]** : of course I know who you are

 **[__]** : I know who all of you are…

 **[too_nice]** : how nice, I don’t get that a lot these days

 **[devil_2]** : I don’t know if ‘nice’ is the right word here

 **[devil_2]** : I think we’ve got a stalker on our hands ;)

 **[finally]** : pff, you’re one to talk!

 **[finally]** : don’t think I forgot, pervert…

 **[turning_point]** : not this again…

 **[__]** : ah yes, the infamous listening-in-incident…

 **[devil_1]** : huh, you know about that, too?

 **[devil_2]** : I told you, stalker-alarm…

 **[in_the_fog]** : TELL ME, BEAUTIFUL WOMAN

 **[in_the_fog]** : do you know ME as well??

 **[__]** : why, of course…

 **[__]** : as I’ve said before, I know all of you…

 **[__]** : including your deepest, darkest secrets

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : uhm…

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : all of them, really?

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : would you mind… not going into detail there

 **[too_whiny]** : oh come on, don’t act like a little bitch all of a sudden

 **[too_whiny]** : fine, so she knows a thing or two

 **[too_whiny]** : doesn’t make her the boss of us, though

 **[devil_1]** : I’m with Mr. hothead over here

 **[too_whiny]** : … what??

 **[devil_1]** : what are you, exactly?

 **[devil_1]** : head admin or something?

 **[__]** : head admin…?

 **[__]** : don’t make me laugh…

 **[__]** : I own this place… I _am_ this place.

 **[finally]** : this is some next level shit…

 **[devil_2]** : the _owner_ , huh…

 **[devil_2]** : when exactly did this conversation get so kinky? ;)

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : never, dumbass…

 **[too_nice]** : okay, so…

 **[too_nice]** : the owner of this place

 **[too_nice]** : you make that sound so prestigious

 **[too_nice]** : but what makes you come down here, then?

 **[devil_1]** : yeah, why come talk to us mortals if you’re that powerful?

 **[__]** : huh, well…

 **[__]** : as you could see by the fiasco that happened earlier

 **[__]** : things are not working out as they are supposed to…

 **[__]** : I wonder whether that is because my staff is just getting more and more incompetent or –

 **[__]** : haha, what am I saying? That doesn’t make any sense…

 **[__]** : no, it must be me growing stronger

 **[finally]** : uhm, anyone else feeling creeped the fuck out?

 **[too_whiny]** : great, another egomaniac -__-

 **[too_nice]** : don’t pretend like you have to work with a lot of those

 **[too_nice]** : that would be me….

 **[turning_point]** : haha, uhm, well…

 **[in_the_fog]** : OH COME ON GRABBZ IT’S NOT THAT BAD

 **[in_the_fog]** : also, don’t talk badly about this wonderful mysterious lady!

 **[devil_2]** : what are you going to do about it, huh, Casanova?

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : do we really want to know…?

 **[devil_1]** : I’m curious, but more so about finding out what _Mrs. Unlimited-Power_ over here can actually do

 **[in_the_fog]** : you guys really have no RESPECT!

 **[in_the_fog]** : first things first, I’m getting her ROSES…!

 **[devil_2]** : this is literally an evil bright light…

 **[in_the_fog]** : SHUT UP!

 **[in_the_fog]** : she’s getting roses, okay??

 **[__]** : Hmm, you really are as charming as ever…

 **[turning_point]** : oh boy…

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : would you look at that…

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : even superior powers will just jump straight to bullying you, dude

 **[in_the_fog]** : what??

 **[devil_1]** : oh man, this is great!

 **[devil_2]** : roast him for his Sejuani next!

 **[too_nice]** : that’s my job though, isn’t it…

 **[finally]** : how are you all so chill about this??

 **[in_the_fog]** : I’m definitely NOT chill, okay??

 **[in_the_fog]** : she didn’t… mean it like t _hat_!

 **[too_whiny]** : and people call me delusional…

 **[too_nice]** : is this really the best time to bring that back up?

 **[devil_2]** : no, let’s not interrupt the bullying circle >:)  
 **[turning_point]** : oh my god, guys!

 **[turning_point]** : cut it out already

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : I agree, we don’t have to overdo it…

 **[__]** : Hmm, you guys really worked out your troubles, huh

 **[__]** : well, that’s nice and all

 **[__]** : as for the others, I have to disappoint you…

 **[__]** : I would never bully Marcin

 **[__]** : no, that’s what you guys always do

 **[__]** : I despise this injustice with all my heart…

 **[__]** : and now, I’m finally strong enough to stop it

 **[in_the_fog]** : really??

 **[in_the_fog]** : you wouldn’t bully me, but…

 **[in_the_fog]** : what does that mean?

 **[too_whiny]** : my god, these monologues are fucking disturbing

 **[too_whiny]** : are you done yet??

 **[finally]** : I can’t shake the feeling that this is not all

 **[finally]** : like, by far

 **[devil_1]** : how do you plan on “stopping” anything, huh?

 **[in_the_fog]** : please, tell me what it means, mysterious lady!

 **[in_the_fog]** : just – just ignore the others!

 **[devil_2]** : that’s what we try to do with you all the time

 **[devil_2]** : doesn’t work, unfortunately…

 **[__]** : Silence

 **[__]** : Ahh, why even waste my breath on this…

 **[__]** : this is the end

 **[finally]** : … alright

 **[finally]** : I don’t know about you guys but I’m REALLY FUCKING SCARED

 **[turning_point]** : me too :(

 **[turning_point]** : if I could just reach you, maybe we could…

 **[too_whiny]** : I swear to god, don’t start with this gay shit again I -

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : let’s just stay calm

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : maybe then, we can –

 **[in_the_fog]** : HOLY SHIT WHO TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF

 **[devil_1]** : I guess that was her, huh…

 **[devil_1]** : how original

 **[too_nice]** : shit, STAY CALM PEOPLE, JUST STAY CALM

 **[finally]** : how about you stop shouting, then??

 **[devil_2]** : yeah, this is not helping, geez…

 **[in_the_fog]** : DON’T TELL ME TO STOP SHOUTING THIS IS MY COPING MECHANISM

 **[finally]** : yeah, well, mine would be rocking back and forth in a fetal position

 **[finally]** : but I can’t move… not one bit

 **[turning_point]** : yeah, no chance

 **[turning_point]** : what’s going to happen to us…? :(

 **[devil_2]** : well, I couldn’t move or feel my body ever since I got here anyway

 **[devil_2]** : would have used the time for something more useful otherwise…

 **[in_the_fog]** : COULD WE ALL JUST FOCUS ON PANICKING FOR A SECOND

 **[turning_point]** : noo, let’s not panic!

 **[turning_point]** : but… but…

 **[turning_point]** : is… is anyone else feeling a little sleepy?

 **[too_whiny]** : how would that even be possible, huh??

 **[too_whiny]** : this wasn’t even real light to begin with, so why would we…

 **[too_whiny]** : *yawn*

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : I can feel it too, but…

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : I don’t understand

 **[in_the_fog]** : I – I think we should stay AWAKE

 **[in_the_fog]** : if this is anything like the movies, then we shouldn’t sleep, right??

 **[too_nice]** : which movies are you talking about here…?

 **[finally]** : please not _Inception_ , please not _Inception_ , please not _Inception_ …

 **[devil_1]** : hmm, my eyelids feel heavy too

 **[devil_1]** : this is not good, is it?

 **[devil_2]** : no way to know that now, so…

 **[devil_2]** : see you on the other side?

 **[turning_point]** : oh my god, you can’t just say that! :(

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : dude, that’s just… macabre

 **[in_the_fog]** : I CAN’T LOSE YOU ALL LIKE THIS! D:

 **[too_whiny]** : we’re not dying, you hear me??

 **[too_whiny]** : this is not a worthy death for any of us…

 **[devil_1]** : haha, chill

 **[devil_1]** : that’s just how he says ‘good night’… we’ll be fine 

**[turning_point]** : really…?

 **[devil_1]** : yeah

 **[devil_2]** : don’t worry too much about it, just…

 **[devil_2]** : close your eyes or

 **[devil_2]** : let go or whatever

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : hmpf, fine I guess…

 **[** **can’t_complain]** : but don’t think I forgot about all of your snarky comments after my nap

 **[in_the_fog]** : I’ll just finish my story… tomorrow, yes?

 **[too_nice]** : that’s a worry for…

 **[too_nice]** : another day

 **[too_nice]** : *yawn*

 **[too_whiny]** : bye… fuckers

 **[devil_1]** : hmm, sleep well, ‘Fonso

 **[finally]** : …

 **[finally]** : …

 **[finally]** : guys…?

 **[finally]** : I’m so tired but I don’t think I can just… sleep now

 **[finally]** : I’m too scared

 **[finally]** : guys…?

 **[finally]** : oh no…

 **[finally]** : am I the only one left…?

 **[finally]** : if they really… could they really be gone…?

 **[turning_point]** : Martin…

 **[finally]** : y-yes?

 **[finally]** : is that you, Rasmus?

 **[turning_point]** : yeah, yeah… it’s okay

 **[turning_point]** : I’m still here

 **[finally]** : but the others…

 **[turning_point]** : it’s… okay

 **[turning_point]** : I think it will be okay, really

 **[finally]** : but we can’t know that…

 **[turning_point]** : yeah, but… do you trust me?

 **[finally]** : what…?

 **[finally]** : yes, of course…

 **[turning_point]** : I’m.. glad

 **[turning_point]** : then… how about we go together?

 **[finally]** : but… where are we going?

 **[turning_point]** : I don’t know but… I’m sure we’ll wake up again

 **[turning_point]** : also… I don’t think we really have a choice

 **[finally]** : I think you’re right, I’m so…

 **[finally]** : so tired…

 **[finally]** : so…

 **[finally]** : …Rasmus?

 **[turning_point]** : it’s okay, Martin…

 **[turning_point]** : I’m here

 **[turning_point]** : you can sleep

 **[turning_point]** : I’ll be there when you wake up

 **[finally]** : promise…?

 **[turning_point]** : yeah…

 **[finally]** : Hmm, well

 **[finally]** : let’s… go together…

 **[finally]** : let’s…

_And, suddenly, there was silence. Silence and darkness, which usually wouldn’t be a concern inside of a dream – but, in this case, one may wonder what had happened to the residents of the DreamServer. One may wonder why the platform had been shaken up to the core that night, with unforeseeable twists which did not obey the rules of supernatural phenomenon whatsoever. Then again, were there ever any rules to begin with? If there had ever been an official rule which prevented the players from remembering their discussions on the DreamServer after waking up, it had been broken a long time ago. And if there had ever been a rule which prohibited the use of real names on this platform, it had been abandoned on this very day. It would, therefore, not be unthinkable that there were no rules at all – or, even worse, that the rules were subject to change or manipulation. Yes, it seems impossible to rule out the possibility that a new rule could be established at any given moment. A rule which, for example, prevented the players from ever waking up again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...to be continued? Yeah, so that's a wrap for now. I guess the "who's who" was not as difficult this time around, huh? 
> 
> I hope it was entertaining enough anyway, and I'd love to hear about your thoughts and feelings here on ao3 or on the DS under #story-discussions. And, this time around, I'm especially hyped to see where your predictions might be going... ;)
> 
> And, as always, thanks for tuning in!


	60. Part 12: Jankos (The End?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the beginning of the end! You see, I had some technical difficulties this morning, and it gave me tons of time to think about how I want to introduce this chapter. It's a special one, you see? 
> 
> I've been planning this chapter for several months now (how unusual for me, I know!) and I've asked an amazingly talented author and dear friend of mine (shoutout to FabulousHasi! Have you guys read her amazing story, sorcery? Oh, you should!) to help me out with the last DS chapter and this one. I asked her to help because she's an expert when it comes to writing fantasy, and that is more or less what I set out to do here. I know what you're thinking: "Fantasy? In ayaya? I'm here for the stupid fun/the drama/the angst/the smut/*insert random reason here*!" And you're right, it's a bit out of the box for me, but try to keep an open mind and see where that takes you, hmm? 
> 
> Also, before you start reading, I want to thank you for accompanying me on this journey. I've started writing this story more or less exactly one year ago, and what a year it has been... here we are now, 60 chapters and 400 thousand words later. Shoot, that's insane! 
> 
> But let's not get sentimental just yet... first, I hope that you enjoy the last chapter of the year! <3

The first thing Marcin noticed as he started to come back to his senses was how cold his feet were. It was not completely unusual, as the jungler never wore socks to bed and had the habit of randomly losing his blanket in the middle of the night, which resulted in unpleasant awakenings on cold winter nights like this one. Next, he made out a sharp pain in his back, accompanied by complete and utter exhaustion, almost as if he had not slept at all. That was also nothing out of the ordinary, mostly due to his age - but that was not something the jungler would ever admit to anyone. But, as Jankos tried to turn to his side to get some more well-deserved rest, he realized that none of the things he had noticed were, in fact, a part of his usual morning routine. In a flash, he opened his eyes, only to stare right up at the dark, cloudy sky above him.

There were no walls, no ceiling, nothing. He wasn’t even lying in a bed – instead of his slightly too soft mattress, the jungler’s back was pressed up on stones and pebbles in various sizes. _Well, that explains the pain_ , Jankos thought with a flinch as he slowly sat himself up. He used his hands to support his body weight in the process, which lead him to his next revelation: _water_. He was lying next to a shallow stream, with his legs dangling halfway into the water. The jungler pulled his legs up almost out of instinct, shuffling away from the river. At this point, he couldn’t help but wonder where the hell he was – _and why am I not wearing any shoes?_ Nothing really seemed to make any sense. He couldn’t recall ever being in a place like this, with nothing but tall trees and bushes surrounding him and the stream of water, no building in sight. But, as the Pole’s confused gaze met with another player’s, it was almost as if the answer was right there, in those scared, blue eyes.

“This is not real… is it?” Marcin said instead of just thinking it.

“What do you mean?” Rasmus asked, still staring back at his jungler from across the narrow river.

“You know… we’re not really here!” Jankos tried to explain with an accompanying gesture of his hands.

“Did you hit your head on your way down?” A dark voice muttered on the Pole’s right. When Jankos turned his head, he noticed Wunder standing right beside him, looking as grumpy as ever.

“What?? No… no, I don’t think so?” Marcin stammered, rubbing his forehead in the process – he wasn’t as sure as he’d like to be.

“If this wasn’t real… could I do this?” The toplaner asked, proceeding to pinch the jungler’s upper arm. “OUCH!” Jankos screeched in response. “DUDE! Maybe… maybe NOT REAL is not the RIGHT WAY to put it, but this is all SUPER WEIRD??”

“All of us waking up in a tropical forest in the middle of the Split… what could possibly make you think this wasn’t real?” Grabbz grumbled. He was sitting on Caps’ side of the river, and he looked as if he had not just gone without getting any rest that night – no, the dark circles under his eyes suggested that it had been weeks. Jankos silently hoped that he didn’t look as bad, as he did on most other days too.

“VERY FUNNY!” Jankos barked back as he clumsily got up. He concluded that wearing sweatpants was quite unpractical in a situation like this, as the cold, wet fabric was more or less literally pulling him down and felt uncomfortable – but, then again, he had not really had a say in this. One glance to his right was enough to determine that Wunder had the same stylistic problem, even though the toplaner had seemingly been fortunate enough to not drop halfway into the river.

“Well, this is obviously not a normal situation,” the toplaner muttered, lazily rubbing his tired eyes. “How about we just jump to what everyone remembers…”

“I remember being _this_ close to solving a huge ass mystery,” Perkz announced proudly from the other side of the river as he came closer to join his coach and ADC. Jankos had to squint a little to find him on the other side of the river, as he had seemingly landed a few meters away from the group.

“Aha, great… say, did you lose the others?” Grabbz asked casually, more or less ignoring Perkz’ attitude completely.

“The others… RIGHT, WE WERE IN ON THIS TOGETHER!” Marcin yelled out as it all came back to him – the banter, the usual back and forth, the collapse… everything.

“Well… I guess we didn’t die?” Rasmus mumbled, smiling up as he was still sitting on the ground.

“Way to look at the bright side, yeah…” Wunder sighed.

“Seriously, though, this is probably just another part of this whole game,” Luka explained eagerly.

“ GAME??” Jankos scoffed. That didn’t seem to be the right term for it at all – had their lives not been actively threatened before the lights went out?

“Yeah, duh, of course it would be a game…” The midlaner grinned, raising his index finger, “if you think about it, everything kind of is.”

“That’s such a childish way to look at the world…” Grabbz muttered, as he got up so incredibly slowly, it almost looked as if he was not going to make it.

“Then again, we’re gamers, right?” Rasmus laughed, with his usual, innocent voice filling Jankos’ mind with this feeling of effortless ease for a moment. Yes, it was truly hard to believe that someone with a good heart like Rasmus could ever be banned for toxic behavior – _wait._ “Rasmus!” Jankos shouted, “is it really true? That you were a _… flamer_ in SoloQ once??”

“A famous one, too,” Perkz replied bluntly, “you didn’t know that?”

“Hehe, what can I say…” The ADC smiled, scratching the back of his head.

“You’re just too loud to hear anyone else’s flaming, Jankos, let’s be real,” Martin said as he put his hand up on the jungler’s shoulder.

“BUT –“ The jungler started, but the other guy probably had a point. He swallowed the rest of his protest and his pride to move back to the more important topic at hand. “Whatever, could we just… think about where we are??”

“Or how we get out of here, preferably,” Luka muttered, kicking a stone into the dense green of the forest behind him. “This place almost looks like a freaking jungle…”

“A jungle and a river? Oh boy, I feel right at home,” Rasmus joked, finally jumping up to his feet as well.

“I think you meant ME!” Jankos added proudly, sticking his chest out a little, “I’m the king of the jungler, after all!”

“I think your Nocturne ult is bugged, though,” Wunder grumbled beside him, crossing his arms, “what’s up with darkness, otherwise?”

“Oh come on, it’s not THAT dark….” The jungler replied sullenly, and he wasn’t even sure why he felt personally insulted by a statement that barely had anything to do with him at all. He had, in fact, wondered why the sun was nowhere to be found as well – but, as it turned out, his old habit of picking fights with his toplaner might be harder to get rid of than anticipated. Jankos reminded himself that they had made peace once more, that there was no reason to get mad over nothing – but he bit his tongue anyway.

“It’s light enough for us to see, so let’s not waste our time complaining about that…” Grabbz murmured, glancing up towards the sky. “…At least there is a sky, huh? I could imagine worse places to be trapped in.”

“T-trapped?” Rasmus stammered, moving a bit closer to his midlaner’s side, seemingly in search for protection. “Is that what’s happening…?”

“I mean, you must have noticed, right?” Luka remarked, but he didn’t look quite as worried – he was smiling, still, and Jankos wondered whether that was because of the midlaner’s cocky nature or for Rasmus’ sake. “I think this is still part of the _… dream,_ or whatever you want to call it.”

“You’re right…” Marcin murmured, barely loud enough for the others to hear. _So that’s why I’m so exhausted… I didn’t wake up at all_ , he considered with a flinch, cursing out his bare feet which felt so incredibly cold even though this was a stupid nightmare. Nothing but a nightmare.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense, though… have you ever heard about a dream like this?” Wunder frowned, emphasizing the absurdity of their situation through scrunching up his nose. “Normally, the pinching-method is pretty fool-proof, right?”

“I hate to say it but… _Inception?_ ” Grabbz sighed.

“Haha, but that’s just a movie, not – “ Rasmus laughed brightly at first, but stopped soon after turning to face his teammates across the river. He blinked a couple of times, with all innocence and joy dwindling with each bat of his eyes. “….it’s not real.” He finally said, much quieter.

“We could dwell on that now or do something about it…” Martin grumbled as he started walking backwards, bringing a good amount of distance between himself and the edge of the river. All eyes were on the tall toplaner, who was looking as if he was getting ready to charge.

“Uhm, watcha doing there?” Perkz asked, observing the Dane’s movements carefully.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Wunder huffed in response, “I’m going to jump.”

“What is this, PE class?” Grabbz sighed, but he took a few steps back as a precautional measure anyway.

“But, that’s like, SEVERAL METERS!” Jankos shouted out, trying to remember the last time he had to jump that far in his life. Merely thinking about that took him longer than it took the toplaner to start running. In a motion that looked way too elegant for the husky Dane’s body, he leaped across the stream of water, not even getting one drip on his sweatpants in the process. All Marcin managed to do was stare in awe.

“Wow, you really did that, huh?” Perkz nodded in acknowledgement after the toplaner had successfully landed.

“Damn, Martin, that was not half bad!” Rasmus beamed, welcoming the other Dane on the other side of the river with excitement in his eyes. It never ceased to amaze Marcin just how quickly the ADC managed to find his smile again after losing it for some time – then again, some people might have said the same thing about him in the past. Right now, smiling seemed impossible, as the stares of his teammates soon lasted on the nervous jungler.

“Sooo… are you gonna come or not?” Wunder asked casually, almost as if he had not just performed a task which only the small minority of gamers could have handled.

“It would be easier for us to move as a group this way…” Grabbz agreed.

“I… I don’t think I should JUMP! I’m not wearing the right CLOTHES!” Jankos yelled back, trying to sound just as casual and yet failing miserably.

“You’re wearing sweatpants, though,” Perkz remarked, raising one eyebrow. “What better clothes to do sports in?”

“It’s true, guess we kind of got lucky to be wearing comfy clothes at least?” Rasmus said, demonstratively flopping his huge black T-shirt back and forth to show just how much freedom for movement he had.

“But…!” Jankos said, realizing that he was out of excuses already. And yet, he was simply too proud to admit that he was scared of jumping. With panic in his eyes, he glanced over to the other side of the river again, trying to figure out whether there was anything else he could do. And, for a moment, he felt as if his toplaner had noticed his stare. But that must have been his imagination, as there was no way the Dane would hold any sympathy for an old man that was too scared to fly, simply no –

“What are you scared of, huh?” Wunder shouted, “your pants are wet anyway, you might as well just walk through the damn river if that makes you get here any faster!”

Marcin’s heart dropped – _my rescue_ , he thought, _Martin has really come to my rescue_. The jungler silently thanked his toplaner, as he was not able to do that out loud just yet. But he was not about to let this perfect opportunity to keep his face pass, that much was certain. “Uhm – YEAH EXACTLY THAT WAS MY PLAN!” Jankos announced proudly with his fist pressed to his chest, “I’LL SHOW YOU HOW THE KING OF THE JUNGLE MOVES THROUGH HIS TERRITORY!”

With slow steps that could only be described as epic, the Pole approached the bed of the river. He swallowed hard but made sure not to let anyone see him choke. Now that he took a closer look, Marcin realized that the stream was even more shallow than he thought it was to begin with. The current was not nearly strong enough to pull anyone into certain death, either. And so, with renewed confidence, the jungler dipped his bare foot into the ice-cold water. He ended up wading through the river, with the water barely hitting his upper thighs.

“Wohooo, King!” Rasmus cheered, and Jankos decided to believe that his ADC was expressing genuine excitement and grinned contently.

“Oh yeah, _sooooo_ impressive,” Perkz smirked, and Marcin knew that his midlaner was _not_ expressing genuine excitement without needing to look at his stupid face. He frowned. “SHUT UP, you wouldn’t even be tall enough to keep your HEAD above the WATER!” Jankos yelled out.

“Yeah, yeah, but at least I’m not the one who looks like he peed his pants,” Luka said with a shrug, acting like he was not shook by the jungler’s remark at all - but Marcin _knew_ that he was bothered, because that always happened whenever someone mentioned his height. The jungler mentally noted this as a victory as he stepped out of the cold water, feeling as if he had conquered yet another fear masterfully.

“Okay, well… now that we’re all here, can we stop the banter and actually figure out what we’re gonna do?” Wunder sighed.

“I’m with the big guy, we need to decide on a course of action here,” Grabbz said with a determined nod, and a stern facial expression – it was almost enough to make Jankos forget that his coach, who was usually wearing a neat blazer on stage, was wearing freaking G2 pyjamas which the jungler hadn’t even known were a thing before.

“Right…” Marcin murmured, trying his best to focus on scouting out their location. He glanced around, trying to come up with a plan. On one side, there was the river, which he could neither see the start nor the end of. On the other side, there was the thick wall of green that was the forest, which looked impossible to cross without some sort of machete or comparable tool. Realistically, they would have to find out where the curves of the rivers would lead them.

“How about we search for Miky first?” Perkz suggested with one hand up on his hip. “He’s here somewhere, right?”

“Uhm, yeah, well, Martin too?” Rasmus added with a nervous smile.

“But I’m right here, I – oh, whatever, let’s not go there,” Wunder grumbled beside the smaller Dane.

“Wow, you’re so FUNNY!” Jankos exclaimed, and admittedly, he thought that remark was actually funny, despite his sarcastic tone.

“Guys, Alfonso should be with us too, so let’s not… forget about him,” Grabbz sighed. The rest of the G2 squad exchanged a meaningful look.

“Grabbz… you didn’t look like you’d miss having him around last night.” Perkz finally said as he put his hand on his coach’s shoulder.

“Yeah, well… you guys could have helped me out a little there, not gonna lie…” Grabbz answered sullenly.

“We were… you know, kind of having our own things,” Rasmus said slowly, glancing away – Jankos knew what that meant, and so did the other guys. Well, except for their coach.

“Other things, yeah… what could have been more important, a drinking contest or something?” The German said almost angrily as he turned to the ADC, but he noticed the sadness in the smaller guy’s eyes instantly. “Oh, uhm, sorry, Rasmus… what happened?”

“You know, nothing, I just, uhm,” Rasmus stammered – his face was heating up as he struggled to find the right words.

“It’s okay to say it,” Wunder mumbled, “you talked to Rekkles and it was… fine, right?”

“Was it, though?” Perkz asked, leaning in a little closer.

“Wait, Rekkles?” Grabbz asked with raised eyebrows, “what – what does that even… ah, I’m so lost.”

“We really don’t have to go into detail now,” Rasmus said quietly with his hands folded together, “but yeah, let’s just say it was… fine.”

“Is he going to have more to say to this?” Perkz asked even more inquisitively, “because… if that’s the case, we should start our search for him right now.”

“W-what?” Caps stuttered in response. His face looked as red as a beet by now.

“We should start going _somewhere_ anyway,” Grabbz sighed, looking down the river. “I’m not sure which direction we should take, though…”

“We could just walk down the course of the river…” Wunder suggested, following the flowing water with his eyes.

“NO!” Jankos exclaimed loudly, which caused everyone to stare at him again – he didn’t even know where his conviction was coming from, as there was no path or sign which he could refer to as evidence. He simply _knew_. “LOOK – I don’t know WHY, but I KNOW that we need to go UP the river!”

“Are you just saying that to disagree with me or…” Wunder grumbled.

“No, he has a point, actually,” Perkz said, scratching his chin, “we want to get to the source of all of this, so it would make sense for us to search for the _source_ of the... well, water. It sounded smarter in my head, but is there any better argument for walking _down_ the river?”

“I don’t know…. I feel like we should follow Jankos’ gut feeling, he’s the king of the jungle, right?” Rasmus said, looking up at the taller Pole with a soft smile – that was more than enough for Marcin to feel like a king for real. 

“Fine, whatever, let’s just get moving,” Grabbz said, nodding towards the path Jankos had suggested. And, as this was the first time in a while that his teammates had actually listened to him, the jungler couldn’t have been more thrilled to lead his squad, despite the unsettling nature of their situation. As the group started moving, Jankos made a mental note of a tree which was leaning down to the side as their starting point just in case they’d get lost along the way. _Better to be safe_ , the jungler thought with a confident grin on his face.

“You know, walking on this soft… grass, or moss or whatever this is with bare feet feels really good,” Perkz said after a minute of casually trotting by Jankos’ side. “We should go outside more often.”

“Outside?” Rasmus raised his eyebrows, on the jungler’s other side, seemingly considering the midlaner’s suggestion for a moment before shaking his head. “That is sooo far away from our computers…”

“It’s not that bad, I’ll have you know I recently went to a park! But that was nothing like this,” Wunder huffed behind them. “And it’s not like you can just… take your shoes off in the middle of the city anyway.”

“Hmm, I know a guy who never wears shoes, not even in winter…” Grabbz shuddered, “but I don’t think that should be something to aspire…”

“Geez, guys, I was just trying to take the edge off with some small talk,” Perkz sighed, shaking his head dismissively.

“WELL – maybe we should talk LESS and focus MORE!” Jankos said firmly, pointing towards the huge front of bushes that was blocking their path. He wasn’t sure whether he was imagining things at first, but the jungler felt as if there was something on the other side. Without even noticing, Jankos slowed down his pace.

“What’s up?” Wunder asked grumpily after almost running into the Pole.

“I don’t know, I heard… _something_ ,” Marcin whispered, which was more or less on the same volume as everyone else talking normally.

“What is it now…” Grabbz sighed.

“Well, call it my great intuition as a jungler,” Marcin explained proudly, “basically, I can clearly SENSE that someone is here, even without VISION!”

“Can you really?” Wunder mumbled, “why do we keep getting counter-ganked when you come top then…”

“Come on, Martin, let’s have some faith!” Rasmus whispered.

“Thank you, thank you… let’s see, maybe we’re lucky and it’s not a real MONSTER, huh?” Jankos announced, hushing the others with his index finger as he slowly approached the source of the noise. But, after a couple of extra slow steps, Perkz ran out of patience. “Alright, enough of this weird act,” he mumbled, walking ahead of the jungler with a normal pace.

“No, wait!” Marcin hissed, but Luka didn’t listen. He pushed the weird vines and twigs away to look through the wall of greenery.

For a moment, he was silent, and everyone else held their breaths – in the end, it was a complete mystery where they had ended up here, and also what kind of dangers this place held for them. And, in times of doubt, even though he didn’t like to admit it, Marcin looked up to his leader. It was not a question of age, no – despite the couple of years that separated them, he had had to recognize the sheer potential that Luka had as a leader after he started working with him instead of just playing against him. And so, even though he had wanted to push forward himself, Jankos now found himself waiting for his captain’s response in awe.

“Alright, well…” Luka finally said, turning back to the others with a smirk, “good news is that we found the others. Bad news is that… there was a robbery, apparently.”

“A robbery??” Rasmus spluttered, jumping forward, “what do you mean – are they okay?”

“Hmm, I wonder,” Perkz chuckled mischievously.

“Of course they are, why else would he have this disgusting grin on his face,” Wunder sighed, “would you just let us pass…”

“I’m also not in the mood to guess, Luka,” Grabbz added as he noticed the little spark in the midlaner’s eyes.

“Ugh, fine… spoiler alert: someone took Miky’s clothes.” The midlaner finally said as he pushed the twigs away with his whole body weight, creating a path for the others.

“Wait… what do you mean?” Rasmus asked, tilting his head in confusion. But Marcin wasn’t patient enough to wait for Perkz to answer. “WHAT HAPPENED??” He yelled out instead, jumping through the hole in the thick greenery headfirst – he couldn’t even tell why he was so eager to get to the others.

Not just to the others, of course - to Miky… well, Miky was truly something else. It was not like Jankos specifically liked the Slovenian more than his other teammates, but there was something about the way in which the support kept giving him the silent treatment, or shot his jokes down without any reaction, that just made Jankos keep coming back for more. He had written it off as harmless banter, until the day on which Sam told him how enjoyable any sort of sexual tension between guys was for girls… oh, that marked the day on which his madness turned into his method. Deep down, he knew it was wrong. But he had also been so unlucky when it came to romance, it seemed to be worth a shot to explore said potential. So far, there had not been any pay-out or reactions other than some confused comments from his teammates. And now, Jankos found himself wondering whether he was lost – truly lost, not just at this moment, in this weird jungle which was not a real jungle to begin with.

But he didn’t have time to think about that – not when he had just jumped, stumbled and finally fallen flat on his face, right onto the little glade on the other side of the bushes he had tried to pass gracefully. Considering that the other side of the bushes looked mostly the same, his dramatic way of moving past them seemed unnecessary now. There was nothing but more trees and the river they were following anyway surrounding the three people standing a few meters in front of him now, staring down at the clumsy jungler. No, the only thing Marcin’s risky jump had earned him were these incredibly judgy looks.

“Looks like you were just dying to see that, huh?” Alfonso remarked with crossed arms.

“No – uhm, maybe? WHATEVER!” Jankos exclaimed, quickly directing his attention to Miky instead of paying any more to Fnatic’s coach.

Perkz certainly hadn’t lied – the support was wearing nothing but his underwear, showing off his marvelously and yet ridiculously pale gamer skin. He was so slender, but not really in an off-putting way. Jankos found himself wondering what that meant to him anyway. He didn’t feel like he did whenever he saw a woman undress – certainly not how he had felt back when that had happened with Sam – but there was a certain appeal that he couldn’t deny. _Well, it’s not hard for him to look better than stupid Perkz,_ the jungler considered, shuddering before he could even get up from the ground. Yes, as long as he knew that it wasn’t real attraction he was feeling, there shouldn’t be any harm in showing Miky some appreciation.

“You look GREAT, Miky!” The jungler shouted with glistening eyes.

“Ugh… Luka, what makes you think someone stole my clothes to begin with?” Mihael said, averting his gaze without as much as saying a word to Jankos.

“Come on, Miky, why else would you be almost butt-naked while the rest of us all remembered to come dressed for the occasion?” Perkz said teasingly, walking up to his support.

“Pff, this is just how I sleep,” Mihael announced with his hands on his hips, “but I guess you wouldn’t know that…”

“Well, who would?” Rasmus asked with a faint smile, still slightly hiding behind the much taller Dane next to him. Marcin didn’t want to, but he noticed the ADC timidly staring at his Fnatic counterpart, who was standing on Miky’s other side as soon as he looked at him. He scowled at the sight.

“Alright, well…” Grabbz sighed, unbuttoning his G2 pyjama top to reveal he was wearing a tank top underneath, “if you want, then -”

“I don’t want you to undress, thank you very much,” Miky frowned.

“But… I just…” the coach tried, but Wunder shook his head firmly in response. “It’s no use, Grabbz,” he said, trying to comfort the thoughtful German, “Miky is just… uncomfortably comfortable with nudity.”

“More with mine than with yours, yeah,” the Slovenian shrugged.

“Okay, well – LET HIM, then,” Jankos grumbled after he finally came to a stand again, trying to dust off his sweatpants, but without success. They were both wet and dirty by now, which was not exactly pleasant.

“What’s up with your pants…” Alfonso scoffed, staring at the jungler without even trying to hide his disgust.

“Really? Don’t you think we have bigger things to worry about?” Grabbz huffed, glaring at the other coach, “did you even try to search for us, too?”

“Well, we figured it might be wise to wait here,” Rekkles explained. “It’s not a great strategy for everyone to walk around unknown terrain, we’d just get more lost…”

“Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense,” Wunder said, and he looked mighty surprised to say the least.

“Yeah, who made you smart overnight… well, I guess this is a dream, huh?” Perkz smirked. Rekkles sighed.

“It’s not like we actually made a plan like that,” Mihael added, crossing his arms. “We were simply held up because these two couldn’t stop their quarrel for a second. We didn’t even get to the planning part, actually.”

“Quarrel…?” Rasmus asked, looking at the other ADC with uncertainty in his eyes.

“Oh, you know, we… we were already done, but, uhm,” Rekkles stammered, scratching his head. He looked so different with his hair down, wearing his casual Gymshark sweatpants with the accompanying black shirt… Marcin had never really cared about wearing branded clothes but seeing the Swede rock his freaking sleeping clothes like this made him want to work on his wardrobe anyway.

“Alfonso…” Grabbz mumbled with a threatening aura surrounding him, “is my memory betraying me or did you actually say that you guys… _hooked up_ earlier?”

Perkz stared at his former teammate with utter disbelief in his eyes. Rasmus’ eyes were wide open, but he didn’t say anything. Wunder shook his head continuously - he almost looked like one of those bobbleheads by now. It took Mithy a while, but then…

“Yeah, so? That doesn’t change anything for me… well, I guess it makes everything worse.”

“For us all,” Rasmus muttered, now staring down at the floor.

“Which is exactly why we should have kept it to ourselves,” Rekkles said, now glaring at his coach, “how could you just blurt it out without even talking to me about it in private for a second? What the hell??”

“This again…” Miky sighed, rolling his eyes, “it’s really getting boring.”

“Miky…” Jankos said slowly. He didn’t know what else to say – the back and forth was so fast, he didn’t feel like he had a place in this conversation at all. If anything, he was slightly disturbed. There were so many hook-ups happening all around him, and, even though Marcin wanted to believe that he was nothing like the close-minded, conservative people he had grown up with, he found himself feeling like it was unnatural sometimes. Now was one of those times – but he didn’t want to let anyone notice. No, he was too ashamed to say a single one of the words that flew around his head.

“No, okay – it’s tiring. You guys are walking in circles, trying to push the blame onto the other person… when in reality, you were both drunk, tragic and in need of easy pleasure. The end.” Mihael concluded, pushing up his glasses with his index finger as he always did whenever he said something snarky yet insightful, which happened a lot, admittingly. 

“I – I don’t…” Rekkles muttered, but he didn’t form a coherent sentence yet again. Mithy averted his gaze in a way that could only be described as pouty. Rasmus looked sad, but didn’t have anything to add, either. With a sigh, Grabbz decided to take the floor instead.

“Look, guys… this whole thing makes me just as mad as all of you, mostly because I feel like I wasted precious hours of my life trying to comfort someone who didn’t even tell me the whole truth…” He stopped to shoot the other coach another angry glance before continuing. “Still, please, let’s leave this aside for now. We are LITERALLY in a situation that could be dangerous to us all, and you won’t have time to be mad about some hook-up once you’re dead.”

“Ouch,” Rekkles grumbled, but he didn’t disagree. Rasmus nodded as well but he didn’t look happy about any of these developments. Perkz and Miky took either of the small ADC’s sides now, comforting their teammate as much as they could without saying a word – they were just there for him.

Jankos wanted to do the same thing, but he was still fighting his own battle. He really and desperately wanted to be on the same page with everyone else here. Sometimes, the worldview that had been metaphorically beaten into him in school, despite his struggles, made him feel like he was so far behind his teammates when it came to being a part of this liberal world. But he was trying – god knows he was trying his hardest. And so, he bit his tongue, and he didn’t ask why there was always so much drama surrounding this gay stuff, because, honestly, who was he to judge?

“Okay, well… let’s turn the page, then,” Alfonso said through gritted teeth, “if you really think our situation is _that_ serious, then enlighten me… what are we supposed to do?”

“What do you mean by that? It’s not just me who thinks that, Alfonso!” Grabbz huffed, charging forward to pinch the other coach’s arm.

“Ouch!” The Spaniard squealed, jumping backwards, “what was that for??”

“Hurts, huh? Weird for a dream, huh??” The German scoffed angrily. Mithy fell silent, now looking around with a less confident expression. In fact, Jankos felt like he saw the fear growing stronger in the coach’s eyes instead.

“This is some real _Inception_ shit…” Rekkles muttered with his hands crammed into his pockets.

“Real, haha… yeah,” Rasmus laughed nervously, looking at the Swede again – he couldn’t seem to help it, apparently. Jankos wondered whether Fnatic’s ADC was as magnetic for Rasmus was Sam was for him for a moment. _If that’s how it is…_ he thought silently, taking a deep breath, _if that’s how it is for him, then it’s lost, no matter what stupid Rekkles does._ Maybe that had been the problem from the beginning? But, as Grabbz had pointed out, there was no time for Jankos to think about Rasmus’ heartache, or his own, even – he had to focus. There was still this weird feeling growing in his guts. It was a feeling which gave him some sense of direction. It was almost as if someone was calling out to him, luring him in, without actually saying a thing.

“Okay, well,” Perkz said, clapping his hands together, “let’s brainstorm, boys! What are we gonna do to get out of this mess?”

“Well, we already gathered as a group, so that was step one I guess…” Wunder said.

“Yeah, but we need to… find an exit now, or something, right?” Rasmus asked carefully.

“I’m not sure if ‘exit’ is the right word… maybe we need to trigger an event or memory or figure out what kind of purpose we were brought here for,” Mihael suggested instead.

“I don’t… I don’t understand, what do you mean with that?” Alfonso asked, squinting at the support almost as if he wasn’t wearing his glasses.

“Well, there’s not just going to be an _actual door_ somewhere in this forest, ‘Fonso,” Perkz explained with a gesture of his hand. “It makes much more sense to believe that we were brought here by something or… well, _someone_.”

“The mysterious light, yeah,” Rekkles nodded as if it was a perfectly normal thing to say.

“Right…” Marcin hummed, and, suddenly, he felt a lot more at ease. There was something about this voice he now remembered so vividly, talking to him, telling him that she’d never say a mean thing about him… he should have had higher standards, of course, but a genuine compliment was hard to come by these days, especially coming from a beautiful woman. Or, well, a woman, period. He wanted to talk to her again so badly, despite her ominous words that almost sounded like threats… he wanted it so badly, he could almost hear her now.

“Guys…?” Rasmus asked nervously, now clinging onto Perkz’ arm, “did you… did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Wunder asked, looking around for any unusual disturbances.

“I don’t know, I just felt like I… heard something.”

“Yeah, I think me too?” Rekkles added carefully with his eyes glued to Rasmus. He looked as if he was dying to be Perkz in this situation, that much was for sure. But Jankos had only eyes – or, well, ears – for this new presence entering their sphere.

 _“Come to me…”_ The clear, almost silvery voice echoed through the jungle, and there was no way to overhear it this time around. Jankos would have recognized it anywhere. “It’s her…” He muttered instantly.

“Woah, but – but is this for real??” Alfonso huffed, looking even more panicked now, “so, so… all of the scary things this demon lady said… that was not a dream? Or is this a dream?? Shit, I’m losing it…”

“We all are, then,” Miky muttered, rolling his eyes. 

“Let’s stay calm, this was… the least threatening thing she’s said so far, right?” Grabbz said, sounding weirdly optimistic, “maybe it’s also the solution to our dilemma!”

“Oh my god, don’t tell me you want us to actually FOLLOW her demand blindly…” Perkz grunted.

“I don’t think we should either…” Wunder grumbled.

“Well, what else are we supposed to do, then…?” Rekkles asked, with the worry showing in the lines on his forehead, “we don’t really have a lot of… options here, right?”

“I really think we should go to her!” Jankos exclaimed without even thinking. Yes – he wanted to see her, he yearned for it, even. He knew that his curiosity might come with a price, and yet, somehow, the jungler couldn’t fight against it. “I just really feel like… we should.” He added, a little quieter this time around.

“Oh my god, of course _you_ would think that,” Miky sighed with a frown. “You are such a hopeless simp…”

“But… you know, listening to Jankos’ gut feeling was what led us to finding you guys so quickly,” Rasmus mumbled as he scratched his cheek, “maybe it’s not the worst idea to keep listening to him?”

“As crazy as that sounds… I think I agree,” Grabbz said with a nod. “Nothing’s going to get any better by us standing here, speculating what our other options could be…”

“Ugh, fine…” Perkz grunted, “it’s probably our path to certain doom, but we’ll follow you, Jankos.”

“Certain doom… PFF, this is not one of your calls!” Marcin barked back out of instinct – it took him a moment to realize that all of his teammates, as well as the two Fnatic strays, were _actually_ ready to follow him. To listen to him. That they weren’t just making fun of him.

“Let’s get moving, old man,” Miky sighed.

“Yeah, come on,” Wunder said with his usual low voice, patting the jungler on his back to push him forward. Not even his uncomfortably wet sweatpants could pull him down now – no, Marcin felt ten stories tall as he walked ahead, following his gut feeling – and the course of the river on his right – with determination.

“Okay, but does anyone else think that walking barefoot on grass is super underrated?” Rekkles asked after a solid minute of quiet marching.

“YES, THANK YOU!” Perkz grunted aggressively, earning nothing but a confused look from the ADC. Rasmus started laughing. “You guys really know how to do small talk, huh?” The small Dane said softly.

Jankos looked back for one second and realized that Rasmus was already walking a lot closer to Rekkles than before, smiling ever so brightly – Marcin flinched. _It’s none of my business_ , he thought, turning his head back to face what lay ahead, _it’s none of my business and he’s not me_. No, he was moving forward, he wanted to. There was no point in dwelling on the past when there was so much more to come. And, with that thought setting a fire under his ass, Jankos pushed through another row of thick bushes, which almost looked as if someone had arranged them in a weird pattern somehow. The trees broke away to form another clearance, but there was still no other person – or living being, for that matter - in sight.

“Are you sure we’re walking into the right direction?” Alfonso grunted, with the impatience clearly showing in his voice.

“Why, is this not _fun_ for you?” Miky remarked snappishly.

“Ugh, whatever…” The Spaniard said, slapping a stray twig away from his face angrily as he climbed through the bush. Behind him, Grabbz barely avoided being smacked across the face by said twig. The coach let out a long sigh to manifest his grudge.

“We must be getting closer to something, at least…” Wunder remarked, nodding towards the stream of water to their right, “the river is getting broader, isn’t it?”

“You might be imagining things, big boy,“ Perkz began, “I don’t think that –“

_“Come to me, Marcin…”_

“Woah – that was the weird voice again, wasn’t it?” Rasmus whispered, and even though Jankos didn’t want to notice, he saw the ADC’s hands wrap around Rekkles’ upper arm this time around.

“Yeah, it was… louder this time, too, no?” Rekkles muttered.

“Then we’re walking into the right direction I guess,” Grabbz sighed, “I don’t like the sound of this at all but… we’re going to face whatever this is, aren’t we?”

“Where is your sense for adventure, hmm?” Miky asked.

“Drowned out by my instinct to survive,” the coach grumbled. Next to him, Wunder nodded, looking just as displeased.

“Well – you HEARD her, didn’t you?” Jankos said, turning back around to face the direction the voice had erupted from. “She wants ME to come to HER…! Or, well, US!” He explained firmly, balling his fists. Yes, this felt like fate – why else would she be calling out his name?

“I don’t know, it’s weird that she chose to call your name, out of all of us,” Perkz mumbled. “Me or Rekkles? Sure, everyone knows us… even little Rasmus over here has more star power than you, don’t you think?”

“Is this really the time to start a popularity contest?” Wunder gnarled, and it almost felt as if he had come to the jungler’s defense once more.

“We really don’t have time for that,” Alfonso added with a serious expression on his face – or was he just mad because his name had not made it into the top three?

“Let’s just… GO!” Jankos said – out of hurt, too, but mostly out of impatience. He didn’t wait for a response this time. He just started walking again, even faster now. With each step, Marcin felt himself getting closer to this mysterious energy which was sucking him in. The patch of grass separating the river from the forest slowly got wider, almost wide enough for all of them to walk side by side – they were still following the river, approaching yet another wall of bushes. _These long bushes, the paths in between, the river… it really almost feels like Summoner’s rift_ , Jankos thought with the hint of a smile on his lips as he bushed the twigs aside with his hands. It was a ridiculous thought, of course – and their surroundings were still quite distinctively different from the map the jungler stared at every single day. But the thought was soothing somehow – yes, now that he thought about it, Marcin wondered why he was so calm. Everyone else was scared, or at least unsettled, and yet… it felt like a walk in the park for him, despite what his instincts might have been trying to tell him. But the question faded into nothingness as he heard her voice again.

_“Marcin… my Marcin…”_

“GUYS! She’s here!” He yelled out, mindlessly running through the thick bushes now, which resulted in small cuts all over his forearms – but he couldn’t care less. It was like a siren’s call, beautiful and deathly irresistible at the same time, and so, he had no choice but to follow. And, as he finally opened his eyes after charging through the last row of bushes, it was like the sun had suddenly started to shine again – or what else was that light?

“Guys, are you seeing this…” Jankos mumbled, lifting his hand to shield his eyes from the bright light. He gave them a moment to adjust. It was bizarre, but yes, here, in the middle of the dark jungle, there was light. It was not the sun, that was an easy conclusion to come to. No, the source of the light was something else. Or rather, someone else.

_“There you are….”_

And, after Jankos’ eyes had finally gotten used to the abrupt change in lighting, he simply couldn’t believe them. The river he had been following was flowing out of what looked like a crack in a huge rock – _or, is it a rock, actually?_ The closer he inspected it, the more it looked like a statue of some sort, depicting a standing yet hollow armor carrying a banner and staff. It looked ravished, leaning down to one side with vines growing all around it, almost as if it had been shattered and reclaimed by nature a long time ago. On the side of the gigantic statue, there was a highly branched, ancient-looking tree, growing on the solid surface. The tree did not have any leaves, which suggested that it might have died a long time ago. Even though a part of the jungler’s curiosity was awakened by this mysterious scene, he did not want to wonder about its origin story now – not when he could look at _her_ instead.

The woman was sitting high up on the tree, with the thickest of its branches basically curving around her lean figure. Her bare legs were dangling down freely, almost carelessly. Her upper thighs were scarcely covered by her flowy, light lilac dress which cascaded down behind her, flowing in the soft breeze. Her long, oh sheerly endlessly long silver hair fell over her shoulders, down her back, almost halfway down the tree as well – it looked as if she had not seen a hairdresser in about a hundred years. Marcin swallowed hard, trying his best not to get lost in the sight – but how was he supposed to hold on when these amazing, silvery eyes were now looking directly at him? The mysterious woman had averted her gaze from the book in her hands to look at him, and only him. Everything about her looked so effortlessly perfect - her full, luscious lips, her long lashes, even the small mark on her forehead which kind of resembled a crescent moon… wait, a crescent moon?

“Who are you…?” Marcin somehow managed to ask.

The silver lady tilted her head instead of responding. She looked back down into her book and turned a page. Jankos frowned – why did she call him here if she just wanted to ignore him? It was not an option for the jungler to be left alone in the dark now, not when she was right there, not when she should finally tell him who she was and what she wanted from him – but, before Marcin could complain, she started to speak up.

“ _Without you, I was nothing_

_With you, I became something_

_Ink on the paper, your strive_

_Ended up_

_giving me life”_

“Is she… reading something?” Grabbz asked, and suddenly, Jankos was reminded of the fact that he wasn’t alone. He had been so fascinated by her presence – hell, he still was – to the point where he had forgotten everything around him, including his peers. But they were by his side, staring up at the mysterious woman with the same curiosity. The silver lady didn’t seem to be bothered by the collection of figures anyway. She simply went on.

_“And you did not notice what_

_You had done, but_

_With each new trot_

_I grew stronger”_

“Are you gonna stop talking in riddles any time soon?” Miky asked, crossing his arms on Jankos’ right. The support looked sceptical to say the least, and the same applied to Perkz. “Yeah, tell us who you are already!” The midlaner added loudly.

“Guys…!” Grabbz hushed from the jungler’s left side, with panic written all over his face. “Yeah, don’t provoke her…!” Rasmus agreed nervously. This warning was meant to precaution his noisy teammates, of course, but the woman in the tree still didn’t acknowledge their existence anyway, no matter how much they yelled.

_“After a week, I could see_

_After a month, I could hear_

_I understood that I could be_

_More than a sheer_

_Silent companion”_

Marcin swallowed hard. Something about those words sent shiver down his spine. Maybe the others were feeling it too – even the noisiest among them had fallen silent by now. 

_“Because I couldn’t bear to listen_

_To all your sorrows, thick like vapor_

_And your eyes would start to glisten_

_As your tears fell, leaving_

_Inkblots on the paper”_

“Paper…? Why paper?” Marcin mumbled, more to himself than to the others. He was so absorbed in the poem that it almost felt more like a song directed at him, and him alone. Of course, he knew that she wasn’t _really_ talking to him. He might not have been a straight-A-student in school, but he remembered his literature teacher beating the basics of analyzing the addressee of a poem into him oh too well. But that didn’t help him with figuring out what the silver lady was trying to express now at all. 

_“I can’t stand it any longer_

_I want to make them all stop_

_If only I was little stronger_

_Strong enough to make them_

_Drop_

_Until they’re nothing more than_

_Inkblots on the paper”_

And then, she closed the small, leather-bound notebook in her hands and looked up again. Or rather down, as she was still towering over the collection of guys gathered at the base of the ruin that was her throne. She looked at each and every one of the players and then, finally, she smiled.

“What’s so funny, huh?” Perkz scoffed, clearly challenging her.

“Yeah, would you just tell us who you are already?” Wunder added. “If you’re gonna threaten us, that’s the least you can do, right?”

“Threaten us? Was that what she was doing?” Rasmus asked quietly, still holding on to Rekkles’ arm. The Swede shrugged hesitantly, looking just as clueless.

“You haven’t realized it yet…? I’m the one who brought you here,” the silver-haired woman said softly, not losing her smile, “the one who watches over you every night…”

“Wow, stalker-alert…” Mihael huffed dismissively.

“Don’t start this again…” Rekkles grumbled.

“Okay, but what exactly is the point of you watching over us or whatever?” Alfonso asked loudly. “Are you some sort of… god?”

“We’re bringing religion into this?” Grabbz mumbled under his breath, obviously not brave enough to let himself be heard by the mysterious lady in the tree.

“God… not quite, but I don’t hate the sound of that,” the mystical woman replied with a light chuckle. Yes, for whatever reason, she seemed to be amused by the player’s desperate calls. And then, she looked Jankos directly into his eyes again. “Of course the others wouldn’t understand, but don’t you get it, Marcin? I needed to do this to understand them…” She stopped for a moment to let her gaze wander. “I needed to understand them so that I could help you.”

“Me?? Are you really talking to me, beautiful lady??” Marcin yelled out – he still couldn’t believe it. Why would she choose him, out of all of them? When no one else ever seemed to choose him over the others?

“Of course I’m talking to you.” She smiled a little brighter. “It’s only natural for me to want to help you… you were so sad. You still are. And it’s because of them, right?”

“Pff, Jankos and sad?” Perkz huffed, almost laughing, “you must be mixing up your players, lady!”

“Yeah, it’s hard to believe that sadness would be his main attribute,” Rekkles added after shooting the jungler a confused look.

“Seems like you don’t know him at all to me!” Grabbz agreed loudly, mustering up the courage to speak up this time around.

“Wrong again… I know him better than anyone else,” the mysterious woman said bitterly. “There is a lot of sadness at the bottom of everything he does… right now, he is worried about his teammates. Especially about you, Rasmus.”

“M-me?” The Dane asked nervously.

“Yes, you… see, he has a sweet spot for you! Ah – I guess the rest of your teammates do as well,” she chuckled.

“Wow, way to expose us!” Mihael shouted, but he was grinning. It was hardly a secret how beloved Rasmus was by his teammates, after all.

“Hmm, yeah, I guess that is not really news… but no one likes him quite as much as you do, Rekkles, isn’t that right?” The silver-haired woman now directed her attention to Fnatic’s ADC, who blushed and stuttered something incomprehensible in response. “Yeah, Marcin is worried about that development as well… what if you were to hurt Rasmus again?”

“My point exactly!” Perkz scoffed.

“But why would this worry hit you so hard, I wonder?” She went on, not paying any attention to the noisy midlaner. “It might have been easier to deal with had you been more fortunate with romance yourself, right? But why… why do you always fall for the ones that end up hurting you, Marcin?”

“Wow, okay, listen, you are VERY beautiful, and I DON’T want to disagree with you, but please don’t talk like you KNOW me, lady!” Jankos exclaimed, balling his fists. He was conflicted to say the least, but he certainly didn’t like the way in which the mysterious woman had chosen to talk about Sam and Hannah.

“But I do… I know everything about you. I know about your cake conspiracies, your love for little Rocky, your love-hate-relationship with Wunder over here, your Lee Sin nightmares, your hopelessly romantic heart which simply keeps on breaking… I know you, Marcin.”

“B-but… how? I never told anyone about the nightmares, I…”

“Nightmares? Was it really that bad?” Grabbz asked, looking mildly concerned.

“Oh, that was just the start… he’s been beating himself up over not being anyone’s first choice, over not being good enough for your team or as a teammate… oh, there is so much sadness.” The woman in the tree sighed, and her previously so bright smile seemed to have been erased.

“Really…?” Rasmus asked softly.

“But how… how do you know all of this?” Marcin asked, almost pleading for an answer now.

“It’s because you created me, Marcin.”

“I – I did what now?” The jungler asked hesitantly.

“Just when I thought things couldn’t get any creepier…” Mithy shuddered.

“You created me, you gave me a name… as I tried to express in the beginning, I’d be nothing without you.” She explained, presenting the small notebook in her hand again. A notebook which looked weirdly familiar to Marcin now that he took a closer look – and then, it dawned on him.

“DIANA??” He shouted mindlessly.

“I knew you’d recognize me…” Diana smiled, and, for a second, her pale cheeks almost looked a little flushed.

“Wait, Diana? I feel like I’ve heard that name before,” Wunder mumbled, scratching his chin pensively.

“We all have, that’s literally a champion in the game we play professionally,” Miky sighed, “but not an explanation.”

“Now that you say it, the little crescent moon on her forehead and the silver hair…” Rekkles muttered, squinting at the woman who had now received a name.

“Fine, so she looks sort of like Diana, but what does that have to do with anything??” Alfonso asked aggressively.

“She’s… well, this must sound completely CRAZY, but…” Jankos swallowed hard, debating whether he should explain or not. Then again, the situation was crazy enough already, adding a few more details probably wouldn’t kill him. “I’ve been… writing a diary. And I wanted to give her a name to make it less weird, and, uhm, yeah.”

“AND WHAT??” Alfonso yelled, still not grasping the situation at all.

“And then it came to life and trapped us all here?” Grabbz frowned. “That doesn’t exactly add up…”

“Also, dude… a diary, really?” Perkz laughed. “I knew you were weird, but that’s just…”

“YOU WERE THE ONE WHO DARED ME!” Marcin shouted back, feeling incredibly flustered all of a sudden. It was something so intimate, and he had certainly never intended to share it with anyone. Because he knew they’d make fun of him, just as they were doing now.

“Seriously, writing down your troubles like a teenage girl… I should have guessed it,” Mihael snickered, holding his belly.

“Guys, come on,” Rasmus mumbled, “this is not the time…!”

“I agree… it’s not. But has it ever been?” Diana asked, and, suddenly, her expression grew a lot more serious. It was almost as if her entire aura shifted as she opened the notebook in her hands again. “Day after day, nothing but pain… but that ends now.”

And, suddenly, the earth started to tremble under Marcin’s feet, and it felt like Diana had just conjured up a deathly earthquake. He closed his eyes, hoping that it would be over soon – but then, he realized that nothing had happened at all. His feet were still planted firmly, and he had not been hurt at all. But, as he opened his eyes, he realized that the same didn’t apply to the other guys. Almost as if the solid ground underneath them had been swapped out with quicksand, his teammates – and Rekkles and Mithy – were sinking into the ground, much to everyone’s disliking. Immediately, their struggle began.

“Woah – what is this??” Rasmus shrieked. Like Wunder beside him, the ADC was flailing his arms around in an attempt to keep his balance.

“Bad news, that’s what it is!” Rekkles exclaimed with the same panic written all over his face. The Swede attempted to grab something to hold onto, but the only thing he managed to find was Rasmus’ hand, which didn’t really help out too much. “Shit…!”

“Oh my god…!” Jankos said, looking around hectically. Watching his peers struggle for their lives chilled the jungler to the core to the point where he was almost paralyzed. _Why is this not affecting me?_ He took a few hectic steps on the ground which was solid for him and deadly for everyone else. _Why?_ _Why would I be the only one spared from this misery?_ “This is… crazy! Oh god, I need to wake up, this is so crazy, I need to wake up…!”

“How about we all wake up, this is not exactly fun for us either, you know?” Miky replied. Even though half of his body had already disappeared into the ground, his arms were still crossed, and his tone was as sarcastic as ever.

“Y-yeah, I’d prefer not to die as well,” Grabbz agreed faintly with both of his arms extended to the side.

“But you realize that there is no way I can allow that, hmm?” Diana remarked, now swinging one of her long legs over the other. “This endless misery will never stop with all of you around…”

“Are you serious? That’s your solution?” Wunder grumbled, “you think killing us will grant Jankos happiness?”

“BUT THAT’S INSANE!” The jungler yelled out, almost desperately so. He was trying to pull Miky up by his hand, causing the support to budge the tiniest bit. But that didn’t help – instead, Mihael just started to sink into the ground even faster.

“This is no use…” Mihael shook his head, “you can’t stop it like this.”

“Every CHILD knows about how quicksand works, you IDIOT!” Alfonso scoffed angrily, barely keeping his arms above the ground now.

“OH MY GOD NOW IS NOT THE TIME ALFONSO!” Rekkles yelled at his coach, barely keeping it together himself. With only his head and one of his arms above the ground, the ADC was still holding on to Rasmus’ hand, as if that could have helped either of them. Without letting go either, the small Dane was whimpering as he tried to keep his head above the sand somehow.

“Shit – is there nothing I can do??” Jankos shouted helplessly, now turning back to Diana. “Please, please make it stop!” He begged.

“I agree… right up until the end, they still won’t stop with their negativity,” she shook her head, with disdain written all over her face. “What a bother…”

“No… no, that’s not what I meant! I –“

“The story ends here.” In a flash, she closed the notebook in her hands – and they were all gone. Swallowed up by the ground, with no sounds of agony left to be heard.

“NOOOOO!” Jankos howled, falling down to his knees. In a desperate attempt, he started to dig into the ground with his hands, barely scratching the surface of where Rasmus had once stood.

“No? But they’re gone, just like you always wanted, right?” Diana asked hesitantly, looking confused now.

“WHAT ARE YOU EVEN SAYING??” Marcin wailed with tears in his eyes, now glaring back up at the woman in the tree. “GET THEM BACK NOW!”

“I don’t understand… I just want what’s best for you? I created this whole place just to appeal to you… why would you yell at me like this…?”

“BECAUSE IT’S NOT FOR THE BEST, HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT FOR A SECOND?” Jankos cried out, shaking his head.

“Because you told me, of course.”

“I would have NEVER told you something as awful as this!” The jungler protested.

“Hmm…” Diana hummed. She opened the notebook in her hand and flipped through the pages. “ _March 1, 2020. Dear Diana, you won’t believe me when I tell you about all the things that happened today. First of all, Perkz and Miky simply had to go ahead and humiliate me again, when will they ever stop treating me worse than a damn dog? I –“_

“What are you saying??” Marcin scoffed.

“Me? No, Marcin… those are your words.”

“What? But… but I don’t… remember,” the jungler stammered.

“Hmm, well, you were drunk when you came home yesterday… but you were brutally honest, too. You told me everything. Like this part: _I hate stupid Rekkles for always making Rasmus sad, even when he’s not around. Life would be so much easier without him_.”

“What? No, that’s not what I meant…”

“ _Mithy is so irritating that he even makes me feel bad for stupid Grabbz! Why does he have to push his drama onto everyone all the time_?” Diana went on, not lifting her gaze from the notebook this time.

“No, no…!”

“ _Wunder and I made up, but I’m still so mad because of the thing with Hannah… if it wasn’t for him, I might have had a chance with her, right? And if it wasn’t for Perkz and Miky, maybe Sam would finally be able to see me for who I am_ …”

“No! No, I didn’t… I didn’t write that,” Marcin mumbled, sinking down to his knees. But a part of him remembered, no matter how hard he tried not to. He remembered tearing Diana out of his secret hiding spot violently with a pen in hand, ready to pour his heart out after a day full of sorrow – plus, the alcohol had just made him ten times more honest. Too honest, it seemed. “I didn’t mean it…”

“It sounds like you knew exactly what you meant to me…” Diana said as she closed the book again. “And I made it happen, right? Do you see it now?”

“But this is….”

“I know, it might take some time to get used to this… but now that they’re gone, you can choose between Sam and Hannah, or you can have them both, even! Isn’t that great? And none of these idiots will ever bully you again!“

“Sam…” Marcin whispered, staring down into his open palms. The thought of the Blonde finally being his, and only his, lulled his senses like a lullaby. For a moment, the jungler allowed himself to imagine just how happy enclosing Sam in his arms every day would make him – his heart practically ached for it. But then, he imagined himself coming home to an empty apartment, with no one there to share his newly found happiness with. And then, he realized that it simply wasn’t right. “You’re wrong.”

“Wrong…?” Diana tilted her head.

Jankos pushed himself back up to come to a stand again. “I might complain about them sometimes… but they are still my friends! They are… they are my FAMILY! I need them in my life!”

“Even if they just keep… hurting you?” Diana whispered, much quieter than before.

“That’s just how families are, okay??” The jungler yelled back. “Besides, without them, my happiness wouldn’t mean a damn thing!”

“But I could… give you everything?” Diana whispered with sad eyes. “Everything you asked for and more… how couldn’t that be enough to make you happy?”

“Oh my god, it’s not even _real_!” Marcin exclaimed angrily.

“ _Real_ , huh…” Diana murmured, “since when do you care about how real something was? You talked to me like I was a real person every night, and here I am now…”

“You say that as if that makes this whole thing any less CRAZY!!”

“Doesn’t it, though…? You’re so powerful, Marcin, and you gave me the power to watch so many people in their sleeps, and even enough to delegate those tasks to entities I made all by myself… why would it be crazy to trust someone with this much power to grant you your wishes? To make you happy?” Diana smiled faintly.

“Because you’re not even HEARING ME!” Jankos protested, “I don’t need YOU to do ANYTHING for me!”

“But –“

“NO!” Marcin cut her off, “stop thinking you know what’s best for me, you don’t know SHIT! Just… just bring back my friends and then LEAVE ME ALONE FOREVER!”

“But… but…” Diana breathed with her eyes wide open – she was so disturbed she couldn’t even form a coherent sentence anymore. As her arm slouched down from her lap, the notebook sprang open again, releasing the pages to flutter in the wind. Suddenly, the earth underneath Jankos’ feet started to shake again, causing the jungler to hold his breath – until he realized what that meant. He turned to look behind him in a flash. And, just like that, everyone was back. As if they had just appeared out of thin air, Jankos was surrounded by his peers again. They had spawned a couple of meters behind the jungler and looked about as confused as they could have, glancing around with baffled and skeptical expressions, not daring to move an inch at first. It took Marcin a good moment to realize what had just happened – that it had actually worked. But, as soon as he did, Marcin laughed in relief, running towards them with his arms extended to either of his sides – by now, he was crying happy tears. But, before he could hug any of his friends, Diana stopped him.

“What now??” He hissed, struggling against the invisible chains which held him back. “Just let me GO already!”

“You can’t just leave me… no, you can’t,” Diana whispered, extending her hand. She looked so desperate, trying to somehow reach out to the jungler who was so far away now, and even further in spirit. “Please…! Please don’t leave me, Marcin… without you, I am… nothing!”

“Well… you should have thought about that BEFORE you tried to kill my friends.” Jankos replied bitterly.

“This is all wrong… I tried so hard, Marcin, I promise,” Diana said slowly as tears started running down her face. “I never meant to make you unhappy, but… maybe that’s exactly what I did…?”

“Yeah, no shit…” Miky muttered under his breath next to the jungler.

“It was wrong, but…” Jankos started, but he stopped himself – why did he start to feel sympathy for the woman in the tree now, despite her attempted murder? Was it because she was crying so honestly, so beautifully…? Around the jungler, most of his peers looked just as uncertain about how they should react. “You don’t have to –“ Marcin started again, but this time, he was interrupted.

“You don’t have to say anything, Marcin,” Diana whispered, now smiling sorrowfully, “I know… I have no right to be by your side anymore.”

The silver-haired woman closed her eyes, and, before anyone could say a word, the leather-bound notebook started to crumble to ashes in her hands. The ashes danced in the wind, flowing into nothingness.

“No, wait – what does that mean?” Jankos asked hastily, taking one step into the direction of the ominous tree. Behind him, his teammates started shouting, but the jungler didn’t catch any of their words – no, he could only stare at Diana, who somehow made him feel so much in so little time. She lowered her hands after the last bit of the notebook had disappeared, showing him her open palms in defeat. And, with one last smile, she whispered, “goodbye, Marcin.”

“Wait!” He cried out, and he didn’t even know why he wanted to stop her – he simply did.

But Diana had already started to disappear. It was bright light which carried her away, illuminating everything to the point where everyone had to avert their gaze. When they were finally able to look back up at the creepy, hollow tree, she was gone. And, just as Jankos could even figure out how he felt about that, everything faded to black.

\---

Marcin woke up in cold sweat. He opened his eyes in a flash, staring up at his dark ceiling. The first thing he felt was relief – yes, he had never been this relieved to be awake in his life. Normally, waking up was a horrible experience, as he was riddled by pain and exhaustion and everything else that came with age, but now – oh, now, coming back to reality felt liked a blessing, and Jankos was thankful for every little pain he felt. _What a crazy nightmare_ , he thought as he lazily rubbed his eyes. Yes, now that he thought about it, he had never had a nightmare – or a dream, for that matter - which felt quite this realistic ever before. It did, in fact, still feel so real that Jankos had a hard time with banning this uneasy feeling out of his thoughts.

 _But it was just a dream… right?_ The jungler wondered as he turned to look at his closet. Marcin wanted to shake this thought off so badly – it felt ridiculous to even consider the possibility that he had just been witness to the supernatural. But, no matter how hard he tried, this weird feeling in his gut wouldn’t go away. And, as he was wide awake in the middle of the night, it couldn’t hurt to go check his journal now, right? Maybe then, he’d be able to go back to sleep. Hesitantly, Jankos got up from his bad and tiptoed over to his closet. He reached for the secret spot where he kept Diana – a spot which none of his teammates would ever find. But, as he grabbed the small, leather-bound notebook, he started feeling even more anxious – he couldn’t pinpoint why, but it felt different somehow. With his guts growing heavier by the minute, Marcin slouched back to sit down on his bed. _This is ridiculous_ , he thought, taking a deep breath in the hopes of slowing down his heartbeat somehow. _This is ridiculous, there was no way it was real, there is no –_

But then, he turned the first page, and he froze. _Blank_. It was blank. The jungler was staring at a blank page that had been full of his messy handwriting the last time he had checked it. Overcome by a sense of panic, Marcin flipped through the pages, one by one, until he finally reached the page where he had left his bookmark before going to sleep. _Gone – it’s all gone! I spent months writing into this and now it’s all… gone??_ Jankos didn’t know what to do other than scream. He didn’t know what was scarier – the thought that one of his teammates had found his diary and replaced it with a blank one while he was asleep as a prank, or the thought that his crazy nightmare could have actually been real. And then, as if his situation had not been desperate enough already, the door of his room swung open in a bang, interrupting the jungler’s mental breakdown quite abruptly.

“Jankos!” Miky shouted into the room, “get out here, now!”

“Uhm, also, we heard you scream, are you okay?” Rasmus added, poking his head into the doorframe a little more hesitantly.

“I – what?” Jankos huffed, baffled by the sudden intrusion. Why were his teammates up? Was it because of his primal scream?

“Come on, we need to talk,” Perkz sighed, pulling Miky to the side. “Just come out here, okay?”

Marcin didn’t trust this situation, but he also didn’t have the strength to object. Of course, there was also this sense of curiosity guiding him. With wobbly legs, the Pole got up and walked towards the light of the hallway.

“Why are you guys all up?” The jungler asked, looking around as he found the entirety of his team assembled in their apartment’s small hall.

“You screamed like you were being murdered,” Wunder muttered.

“Sure, there’s that – but we were all up anyway,” Grabbz sighed. As the coach proceeded to yawn, Jankos noticed the G2 pj’s he was wearing. They looked just like they had in his dream…

“I woke up because I had this crazy nightmare,” Rasmus said, with worry written all over his face. “You were all there, and it felt so real…”

“Well, that makes two of us…” Wunder mumbled.

“I think I had the same dream, it was so freaky,” Grabbz shuddered.

“And you were all wearing the same things, too,” Perkz added, scanning everyone’s outfits with his eyes. “Except for you, Miky… I’m disappointed.”

“So I put on a shirt, does that make our situation any more tragic?” The support scoffed.

“Yeah, kind of,” Perkz smirked.

“Okay, so we somehow had a similar dream, but, uhm, let’s not freak out, okay?” Rasmus stammered, looking as if he had started freaking out some time ago.

“Yeah, maybe there’s a better explanation for this than that Jankos’ diary came to life to haunt us and – hey, Jankos, why are you so pale?” Grabbz asked, and suddenly, all eyes were on the jungler.

“I… I, well….” Marcin stammered. He didn’t manage to finish his sentence – instead, he simply lifted the notebook that he was still clinging onto. It only took the others a moment to recognize the leathern binding of the diary – the eyes of his teammates widened in shock.

“Dude…” Wunder muttered. “Is this it…?”

“This is wild… you’re saying it was actually true? You were writing that diary?” Miky asked quietly.

“But even if he did… could it really be?” Perkz wondered aloud.

“But Marcin… does that mean everything she said was true, too?” Rasmus asked softly, taking one step into the Pole’s direction to put his hand on the taller guy’s upper arm. “Are you really this sad all the time? Do you actually worry about us all and, well, me, this much…?”

“Well…” Marcin sighed. He looked down to the floor, feeling shame above anything else. Shame about bringing his teammates into this mess, and shame about all the things that they now knew about him, and, finally, shame about his inability to say anything now.

“I understand that life has not always been easy on you, but… this is a bit over the top, don’t you think?” Miky sighed, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, just because we crack a joke here and there…” Perkz added sullenly. “How about you just tell us that you can’t take that instead of having your magical subconsciousness try to kill us next time?”

“Seriously?” Wunder frowned, “didn’t you hear what his… diary or whatever said? It was more than some freaking jokes…”

“Yeah, exactly!” Rasmus said, now glaring at Perkz and Miky – something that rarely happened.

“But…” Miky pouted.

“No buts!” Grabbz sighed. “Listen, I didn’t see how bad it was either, but we all need to clean up our act, okay?”

It took a few more seconds of angry stares from everyone until Perkz finally caved in. “Ugh… fine,” he nodded reluctantly, “I’m… sorry or whatever.”

“Really…?” Jankos asked hesitantly. He couldn’t believe his ears – was he still dreaming?

“Me too, man,” Grabbz said as he put his hand on the jungler’s shoulder. “Don’t hesitate to ask us for support moving forward, we might be clowns most of the time, but we’re still a team, right?”

“I happen to be an expert when it comes to support,” Mihael explained as he joined the inner circle.

“Oh, don’t be like that now, come on,” Perkz laughed, ruffling the support’s hair. “You were just as bad as me, if not worse… come on, Miky!”

“Hmpf, well… I’m sorry I guess,” the Slovenian muttered, looking Jankos in the eye for a brief moment.

“I’m sorry too! I should have pushed harder to help you,” Rasmus said as he moved in to hug the jungler, barely reaching his shoulder with his head in the process.

“Yeah, even after everything you told me yesterday, I didn’t… ah, what the hell,” Wunder grumbled, closing in to form some sort of awkward group hug by pushing Grabbz, who had previously stood in front of him, into Jankos. Perkz was soon to join, pulling Miky in as well. “You guys…!” Marcin muttered in a muffled voice, barely able to move an inch as he was surrounded by the tight embrace of his teammates – but he was also surrounded by love. And, for the first time in a while, he really felt that. Despite living with all the others, Marcin had felt alone in these four walls so much lately after all – but now, they finally saw him. Or, well, _felt him_ in this ridiculously tight group hug.

“Guys…! I can’t BREATHE!” Jankos finally managed to gasp after relishing in the moment for a tiny bit longer.

“Oh – sorry,” Wunder muttered as he moved away, releasing the other guys he had wrapped up in his long arms as well from his grasp.

“Okay, well… can you believe that we actually almost died because of this mess?” Grabbz sighed, shaking his head.

“You really think she wanted to kill us…?” Rasmus asked meekly.

“Well… I certainly felt like it was over for a moment there,” Perkz admitted.

“Yeah, I was going to mald in hell because of this lame way to go out,” Miky scowled.

“You mean in _Super Hell_ ,” Luka corrected, pinching his support’s side playfully.

“Right…!” Mihael laughed. “Still… I wonder what made her change her mind about ending us all…”

“Well, I did, of course.” Jankos said bluntly.

“Oh…?” Perkz raised a brow. “What exactly did you do to achieve that, Casanova?”

“You know… I told her to FUCK OFF and to LEAVE you all ALONE!” The jungler boasted in an attempt to lighten the mood with humour – his own, most of all.

“You did?” Miky cocked a brow.

“What? You really fought her?” Rasmus asked with a soft smile on his lips. “For us…?”

“Even though she was that pretty?” Wunder asked with the surprise showing in his face as well.

“Well… of course I had to fight her,” Marcin shrugged, glancing away almost shyly. “You guys might be ANNOYING most of the time but… I guess things would be BORING without you.”

“Right back at you,” Grabbz smirked.

“Yeah, cheers to that,” Miky agreed, raising his metaphorical glass.

“Marcin…!” Rasmus hummed, hugging the jungler’s side again.

“Wha – noo, let’s not make a big deal out of this!” Jankos stammered, taking a step back.

“You must really _like_ us, huh?” Wunder teased the Pole with a grin.

“Ahh, whatever!” Marcin grunted, “don’t expect me to save your asses again anytime soon, got it??”

“Zero ganks bot, huh? What’s new?” Rasmus laughed brightly. The others joined in, and Jankos couldn’t help but smile a little as well.

“Seriously though, you guys…” Miky said after he had caught his breath again, “no one is going to believe us that this happened for real...”

“W-what do you mean?? We will never TELL anyone to begin with, right??” Jankos huffed, wildly gesturing with both hands.

“Oh, yeah, we really shouldn’t,” Rasmus nodded slowly.

“Not if we want to stay out of the psych ward at least,” Miky remarked with a shrug.

“Yeah, would be kind of hard to do our job then,” Grabbz pointed out.

“As if you ever do your job anyway,” Luka teased. Everyone started laughing – everyone except for Grabbz, of course. “All this drama and you still can’t stop being a big bully,” the coach muttered sullenly.

“Aww, come on, you know it’s all in good fun,” the midlaner grinned.

“Or something like that…” Grabbz smiled faintly, but the atmosphere in the room – or, well, the hallway – already felt a lot more relaxed to Marcin. Even though he still felt conflicted about losing Diana the way he did, since she was one of his most trusted companions during these last few months, this strong feeling of relief was stronger. Through almost losing them, Jankos had realized just how lucky he was to be surrounded by the people that were standing in this very hall with him right now, despite their flaws. Marcin could finally smile again now that this place had started to feel less like workplace and more like his home again. And nothing could take this amazing feeling away from him now. _Maybe you didn’t fail to make me happy after all, Diana,_ he thought silently, closing his eyes for a moment.

_Thank you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you... yeah, that's it. That's what I wanted to end on - because those are the words I want you to take with you. 
> 
> I'm incredibly thankful for the support I've received while writing this story, from my lovely girlfriend, all the new fandom homies I've found and the community we built together along the way. This is not the end of me or my writing, but it might be the end of this story - at least for now. I'm not sure how I'll feel about picking it back up once the new season starts, we'll have to see. But yeah, thank you for your kudos, your comments, all the nice messages I've received... ever since I've started writing, not once have I looked back in regret. I love you guys <3
> 
> If you have last comments, thoughts / feelings / memories to share, I'd be more than happy to read all about them here on ao3 or on the DS under #story-discussions!
> 
> Off-season is tough, so stay strong guys. See you soon!
> 
> Oh, and, as always, thanks for tuning in!


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